A complete shutter-down and wheel-jam strike was observed across Sindh on Wednesday, officials said.
However, life in a few areas of Karachi remained per routine. The strike call was given by the Jiye Sindh Qaumi Mahaz (JSQM) against the alleged “killing” of its chief Bashir Khan Qureshi. A protest demonstration was held in Hyderabad while roads were also blocked at various places.
All business activities came to a grinding halt in big and small cities of the province, including Sukkur, Nawabshah, Larkana, Khairpur, Tando Muhammad Khan, Mirpurkhas, Mithi, Islam Kot and Sakrand. The strike was also observed in various localities of Karachi, including Gulshan-e-Iqbal, Gulistan-e-Jauhar and Gulshan-e-Hadeed.
Some gunmen opened fire early morning in Hyderabad and other parts of the province and forced traders to shut their shops, while miscreants gutted two rail wagons in Kotri and torched a truck and bus in Karachi. Few cracker blasts and firing incidents were also reported when the police arrested JSQM activists from various parts of the province. Meanwhile, police claimed to have taken into custody several arsonists on charges of sparking panic among citizens. JSQM Secretary Genereal Asif Baladi claimed that Qureshi didn’t die of heart attack instead he was killed by state elements. Party leaders had demanded the government that the autopsy be conducted by a private hospital in order to determine the actual cause of the death, but officials have failed to meet the demand as yet.
