Apart from bringing routine activities to a complete halt on Tuesday, the ‘Day of Mourning’ to protest the loss of innocent lives inadvertently led to another life being on the verge of death.
Teenager Afshan – a resident of Kotri city – is only one of hundreds of children suffering from thalassaemia in the province, who travel to Karachi every fortnight for free-of-charge transfusion of fresh blood from private thalassaemia centres.
On Tuesday, the girl was supposed to come to the city for her treatment but her parents were unable to take her to Karachi due to the unavailability of public transport.
The city witnessed a complete shutdown on Tuesday on the call of Muttahida Qaumi Movement, with all traders, transporters and gas station owners opting to keep regular operations offline.
All major markets, shopping centres, commercial areas and most private institutions, banks, fast food outlets were closed and even pushcart vendors disappeared from the roads.
Most of the roads were deserted due to absence of buses, coaches or any other means of transport while all inter-province transport also remained off road. Only ambulances, with their sirens blaring, were observed speeding along the main thoroughfares.
Moreover, due to the worsening law and order situation, patients suffering from thalassaemia from other districts of the province have been severely affected as they are unable to travel to Karachi for fresh blood transfusions.
Afshan’s father is a moazzan. When his daughter was diagnosed with thalassaemia, needing expensive fortnightly treatment in Karachi, the family was confused. Later, a philanthropist organisation came to their help and offered free blood transfusion.
“Due to continuous tension in Karachi, we have already postponed [Afshan’s] treatment three times in August only. Usually we travel by public transport but if there is tension or in absence of transport, we hire an ambulance that costs us 400 times,” her elder sister told Pakistan Today over the telephone.
In the largest city of Pakistan, there are many thalassaemia centres where patients from all over the country come to get fresh blood, which is their survival.
Due to the strike on Tuesday, private schools’ association announced the closure of all schools. Government schools and colleges remained open but attendance was very thin.
Children were seen playing cricket on the empty roads with police mobiles patrolling the areas.
Despite Ramazan, few people were seen at the mosques as majority of the people preferred to stay in their homes. On some roads in Saddar, daily wage workers were seen waiting for clients.
In the evening, some markets, roadside hotels and petrol pumps started opening but an overall tense situation prevailed. Some fruit vendors on pushcarts also retuned to their places and rickshaws and taxies and in some areas minibuses were seen late in the evening, but even then the usual hustle and bustle did not return to the markets.
