A shutter-down strike was observed in different cities of the province Thursday against the demand of a new province in Sindh.
The call of the strike was given by Qaumi Awami Tehreek (QAT) head Ayaz Latif Palijo. According to reports from different parts of interior of Sindh, the shutter-down and wheel-jam strike was partial to complete.
Reports said civic and business activities were paralyzed in Thatta, Sujawal and other cities where a complete strike was observed. However, transport and markets remained partially closed in many cities including Larkana and Hyderabad.
Shops and petrol stations were closed in several areas of Hyderabad including Qasimabad and Gul Centre while a protest was held by the QAT workers near Naseem Nagar Chowk.
The strike was also observed in Dadu and Jamshoro districts where the QAT workers took out a rally. Protests took place in several areas of Larkana as well. A rally was taken out from Shahi Bazaar to the Press Club in Thatta. Workers of the Sindhi Tehreek forcefully shut shops which were opened in the city. In Sukkur, the QAT workers held a sit-in at City Bypass while in Nawabshah shops were forcefully shut while traffic was delayed on Hospital Road when protesters burnt tyres.
The strike against the formation of new provinces also received positive response in Mirpurkhas, Jacobabad, Khairpur, Badin and other cities of Sindh. The Sindhiani Tehreek, a women wing of the QAT, staged protest demonstrations in Thatta and Sujawal by burning tyres on National Highway and closed shops forcibly.
The QAT also staged a sit-in at Karachi’s Numaish Chowrangi suspending vehicular traffic for several hours on roads leading to Guru Mandir, Garden, Soldier Bazar, Sadar and Corridor-III.
“All parties in Sindh have always tried to avoid confrontation with the MQM, but it has targeted Sindh’s unity,” Palijo said at a press conference in Hyderabad on Wednesday.
The PPP, PML-N and nationalist parties supported the strike.