Karachiites mock govt, law enforcers for frequent strikes

Karachiites have started mocking the government and law enforcers for frequent strikes in the city.
Satirical cellphone messages kept circulating in the city on Thursday with people congratulating each other on the sighting of “Eidul Hartaal” moon in the city.
The comical short messages came after at least four religious parties announced on Thursday to observe either a strike on Friday or peaceful protest. The city gave a deserted look with paranoid traders keeping shutters down, transporters their vehicles off the road and commuters remaining indoors.
Called by the Majlis Wahdatul Muslimeen (MWM), Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ), Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Sami and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl, the strike brought life in the city to a grinding halt with trade bodies claiming to have incurred Rs 4 billion losses.
These billions stand in addition to the losses borne by some 2.5 million daily wagers who, All Karachi Tajir Ittehad (AKTI) chairman Atiq Mir lamented, could not go to work.
The day’s closure and the consequent uncertainty in the law and order also took its toll on the sentiment-driven Karachi stock market where the risk-averse equity investors played with extreme caution.
The benchmark KSE 100-share index slid by 61.45 points to close at 27002.89 points.
The investors’ cautiousness lowered the trading volume to 240 million shares from Thursday’s 399.9 million.
“Concerns for security unrest” was cited by stocks analyst Ahsen Mehanti along with other factors for the day’s bearish trend on the country’s largest bourse.
Daily trade and businesses in the city also were hit hard as the AKTI chief put the day’s losses at Rs 4 billion.
The traders did not support the strike that, he viewed, seemed to have been forcefully made a success.
“The strike seemed to have been imposed at gunpoint as it completely shut the city,” said Mir whose association represents over 300 of the city markets.
The transporters, having faced losses in the past, preferred to keep their vehicles off the roads.
“Transporters could not muster courage to appear (on roads) even in the day’s second half,” the outspoken trader observed.
The markets, he said, remained closed because of the deep-rooted fear among traders, transporters and citizens.
Mir said traders were grappling with a deep financial crisis due to uncertain law and order in the city for over six years. “Friday’s strike just added fuel to the fire,” he opined.
Lamenting that over 2.5 million daily wagers had to suffer from the day’s closure, Mir blasted the Sindh government for its failure to establish peace in the metropolis.
The violence is evident from the fact that the party’s PS 96 president Mujeebur Rehman was shot dead on Friday in Banaras.
Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah took “notice” of the killing and ordered a probe.
“Terrorists have once again started to targetting the PPP workers in Karachi,” said PPP Karachi office-bearers Abdul Qadir Patel and Najmi Alam.
Meanwhile, a city police spokesman, claimed to have arrested 113 suspects, including two terrorists, three murderers, 13 robbers, 25 illegal arms possessors, 11 drug traffickers, 15 absconders and one proclaimed offender during last 24 hours of targeted raids.
The police also claimed to have recovered 30 guns, two grenades, 11 grammes of heroin, 2.9 kilogrammes of charas and three bottles of liquor.
Fed up with all these numbers and the blood-letting in the violence-prone city, the Karachiites turned to comical mood as soon as the strikers spelt out their minds on Thursday.
This reporter received a number of SMSs mocking Friday’s strike.
“Eidul Hartaal ka chand nazar agaya hay (moon for Eidul Hartaal has been sighted),” reads one such message.
“Karachi wale kal apny rivayati josh-o-jazbay k sath Eidul Hartal manaen gay (Karachiites would celebrate Eid with traditional zeal and fervour),” the satire goes on.
“Apko or sub kaam chor logon ko hartal mubarak ho (Congratulations to you and all sluggish people on this occasion of strike),” it concludes.
The strike and subsequent protest call from the MWM brought the supplies of grain, fruits and vegetables, medicines to a complete halt, besides suspending academic activities in the city.