Markets silent in wake of shrine blast

Shops and markets in parts of Karachi remain shut and business are severely affected.

KARACHI: Shops and markets in parts of Karachi remained shut and business was severely affected. A tense atmosphere prevailed in the city in the wake of twin suicide blasts at Abdullah Shah Ghazi’s shrine on Thursday. “All major markets in the city were closed down,” said All Karachi Tajir Ittehad President Atiq Mir. He contended that “armed men approached shops in different areas and threatened them with dire consequences if they did not shut shop”. He also asserted that “no police or rangers were present in any of the troubled areas”, adding that “Liaquatabad, old city and Saddar were especially tense”.

Shops and businesses along MA Jinnah road, one of the city’s major arteries, had remained closed on Thursday as well. Their closure was extended to a second day after the blasts.

Roads leading to the shrine were closed by the police on Friday and only a few shops in the area remained opened. Shoppers were also largely absent from the markets that did open for business.

Attendance at factories located in Korangi industrial area was affected by a lack of public transport. The director of a factory located in the area, Asfandyar Farrukh, said, “We witnessed about 70 to 80 per cent attendance at our factory and it appears that the situation was similar in adjoining factories.”

FB Area Association of Trade and Industry chairman Shahid Ismail said that trucks arriving to pick up containers for export shipments couldn’t reach industrial areas. He said that 70 per cent of industries in his vicinity are export oriented and their business was severely affected because of the law and order situation after the blasts.

Elsewhere in the city, the situation was relatively calm. SITE Industrial Area Association Chairman Salim Parekh said, “Our area was relatively calm and it was business as usual for us.” He said that attendance at factories in the area had not been significantly impacted as public transport was available.

Published in The Express Tribune ,October 9^th, 2010.