Businesses and shops in Karachi and other cities of Sindh were shut on Friday, after the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) announced a day of mourning following the murder of one of its activists.
The body of Mohammad Asif, 40, with a single bullet wound in his head, was found near the ‘Sukhan River’ on a link road leading to the Superhighway in Karachi’s Steel Town on Thursday.
The incident was followed by a call for observing a countrywide ‘day of mourning’ on Friday by the MQM that accused intelligence agencies of their involvement in ‘kidnapping and extrajudicial killing’ of its workers.
Speaking at a press conference at the party headquarters, better known as Nine-Zero, on Thursday evening, MQM coordination committee deputy convener Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui said: “We deserve every right to know under which law law enforcement agencies pick up the citizens, torture them and then dump their mutilated bodies.”
He also disclosed details of other kidnapped, missing and murdered party activists Siddiqui urged the judiciary, rights organisations and international community to take notice of the matter, declaring the murders as extra-judicial killings.
Meanwhile, schools and petrol stations were closed in Karachi. Earlier, the traders, transporters and fuel stations associations unanimously announced that they would stay away from their businesses for both support and ‘security’ reasons. Examinations under Federal Urdu University scheduled for today were also postponed.