Thiruvananthapuram, April 2: If you strike, be ready for the strikeback.

Traders, who are generally on the same side as the public in fighting hartals, learnt the bitter truth today when crowds prevented them from resuming business after their three-day strike against Value Added Tax (VAT).

The angry response came as the traders were lifting shutters in Kozhikode this morning after the March 29-31 shutdown ? under the banner of the Kerala Vyapari Vyavasayi Ekopana Samiti ? had culminated in a siege of the secretariat and hurling of abuses at the public.

An indication of the public fury came last evening when crowds threw stones at a shop owned by a prominent trader when it opened briefly for business.

Popular anger began mounting after activists of the traders? body, who also held the city to ransom by blocking traffic along the arterial Mahatma Gandhi Road, obstructed employees and stopped people from coming anywhere near the secretariat.

This morning, the public hit back in the northern district, where the samiti is strongly entrenched.

?We have nothing against traders. They will resort to a worse form of agitation in future. So this should serve as a warning,? said a youth who led the counter-agitation.

Several organisations, including the All Kerala Exporters? Association, have come out in support of the public.

Sensing that public mood was against them, leaders of the traders? body today sought an appointment with chief minister Oommen Chandy, an apparent climbdown after declaring war on the government the previous day.

The government, however, has ruled out a rollback, signalling it is ready to take on the powerful trading community, the main source of funds for political parties.

Talking to reporters after holding talks with a delegation of traders on the issue of VAT, Chandy said Kerala could not abstain from implementing the tax. If the traders are facing any difficulties in its implementation, the government was willing to look into it.

The government, the chief minister added, would appoint an expert committee to look into the complaints of traders.

The government is also planning to file cases against politicians, fixing vicarious liability on them for destruction of public property during earlier agitations.

District government pleader S.K. Ashok Kumar told The Telegraph some Opposition politicians had sent their replies to notices served on them three months ago asking them to pay damages to the tune of Rs 500,000.

?The replies are not satisfactory. The next step would be to haul them before the munsif court when it reopens after vacation on May 14,? Kumar said.