A complete strike was observed in Sindh province to mourn the martyrs of Shikarpur imambargah bomb blast, and all big and small towns and cities including Karachi remained shut on Saturday when a mass funeral prayer of the deceased was offered here and the victims were laid to rest.
Some 60 people had died and 50 others had injured on Friday when a powerful explosive device went off in ‘Karabala Mauala Imambargah Mosque’ at Lakhi Gate Square of the historic northern town of Shikarpur, 470 kilometres from Karachi. Most of the deaths occurred due to poor medical facilities at the government-run district headquarters hospital of Shikarpur and the critical patients were shifted to the hospitals of Larkana and Sukkur and many of them died before reaching the hospitals.
On Saturday morning, the funeral prayer of the martyrs were offered amid tight security at the Lakhi Gate Square and a large number of people attended the congregation. Later, the victims were buried in different graveyards of the town.
However, the whole province remained shut to mourn the martyrs. Bazaars and markets were shut and public transport off roads. However, due to extraordinary security measures no untoward incident took place.
Like other parts of Sindh province, a complete shutter-down strike was also observed in Ratodero, Naundero, Larkana and other adjoining areas and villages on Saturday to mourn the martyrs of Shikarpur tragedy.
Protestors blocked main Sukkur-Larkana Highway at Mahotta and Chooharpur villages. They burnt tyres and bushes and chanted slogans against the banned outfits and the Sindh government.
Due to strike all shops, business centres, bazaars, petrol pumps and shopping centres remained closed in these areas due to which commuters felt great hardships.
They demanded foolproof security measures to all the vulnerable points so that such incidents do not occur in future. Meanwhile, in Naundero, protestors took out a large rally, burnt tyres and chanted slogans near municipal & Khooni Chowk where they also staged sit-in which was participated by Mumtaz Sethar, Roshan Ansari, Barkat Jaffery, Ashiq Mangi and many others. Local JUI-Fazal (JUI-F) and PPP leaders of Naundero including Khalid Memon and Sikander Katper strongly condemned the incident.
In Larkana, protestors blocked main thoroughfares and roundabouts at various places including Empire Road, Lahori Muhalla, Airport Road, Jinnah Bagh and Gajanpur roundabouts due to which everything came to standstill including transport.
The protesters said terrorists were roaming freely without any proper check by the government organisations due to which common men were suffering the agonies for no fault of theirs and the Sindh government completely failed to protect their lives. Meanwhile, three more injured died at Chandka Medical College Hospital which include Aqeel Channa, Abid Soomro and Abdul Majeed Jalbani. Two injured Ali Dino Siyal and Nizamuddin Bhutto were discharged after treatment and three others were admitted to CMCH but the fourth injured Kashif Mangi was shifted to Karachi. The admitted persons include Ali Hassan Luhar, Salman Khakhrani and 6-year boy Ali Raza, son of Kashif Mangi. Khakhrani has been admitted to the surgical ward and two others in Orthopaedics Surgery Ward.
Meanwhile, 14 severely injured of Shikarpur bomb blast were shifted to Karachi by a Pakistan Air Force (PAF) aircraft C-130 on wee hours of Saturday. On the occasion, spokesperson of CM House Waqar Mehdi, Sharmila Faroqi, Rashid Rabbani, Commissioner Karachi and other officials were present.
However, leaders of different political, religious and social organisations visited local hospitals to enquire about the health of injured. Speaking to media persons outside a hospital, Majlis Wahdat-e-Muslimeen (MWM) leader Hassan Zaffar Naqvi, Muttahidda Quami Movement (MQM) Rabita Committee Member Gul Faraz Khan, Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid-e-Azam (PMl-Q) leader Haleem Adil Sheikh and Tehreek-e-Insaf leader Khurram Sheryar Zaman strongly condemned the Shikarpur incident. They demanded to upgrade the district headquarters hospitals of the province including Civil Hospital Karachi and fill the vacant posts of doctors and technicians on urgent basis.