MONEY TALKS

The tightly packed and difficult to access traditional environments, together with explicit arrangements with government functionaries and politicians, appear to facilitate selective businesses with relative protection from various forms of taxation and law enforcement.

The collusion promotes capitalistic cohesion and collective power. The bribing merchants, with vested incentives, are enticed to conduct businesses in these specialized commercial zones, even if they need to commute 25-30 kilometers to work, daily. Hence, small businesses, once run by the residents, are slowly being taken over by businessmen from the Greater Lahore, who bend the law and coerce the locals to relocate (AKCSP 2018).