At one end, Sharae Faisal was blocked by workers resulting in massive traffic jams, while at the other end, PTI leaders held a press conference to reiterate that Karachi, the financial hub of the country, shall remain closed on Friday, December 12.
"Karachi ko bund rakhain gay (We will shut down Karachi)," said Syed Hafeezuddin, repeating part of the party's Plan C to hold shutter down strikes across the country.
PTI's Sindh chapter president, Nadir Akmal Leghari, who addressed the press conference at Palwal House in DHA, lashed out at the Pakistan Muslim League - Nawaz (PML-N). "To hide its rigging, the government can stoop to any level. This won't do any good to democracy."
Day of mourning
Condemning the Faisalabad incident, the PTI leadership has declared Tuesday a 'day of mourning' across Sindh, adding that it will hold a demonstration at Regal Chowk on Tuesday at 5pm.
For the December 12 shutdown, the party chairperson Imran Khan will be coming to Karachi on Friday afternoon. The city will likely be shut down for the whole day while the sit-ins which are now expected to be held at 30 locations will commence after Friday prayers.
Protests
Dozens of party workers came out to protest in Karachi. At Sharae Faisal, PTI workers gathered at the Insaaf House and then blocked the roads, which resulted in traffic jams.
At the time of filing of this report, the protesters were marching towards the PML-N headquarters at Karsaz.
In Hyderabad, supporters of the two parties engaged in a brief clash on Monday. The incident unfolded outside the Dial Das Club, located around 200 meters away from the press club.
In Sukkur too, dozens of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) workers and supporters, led by the party's regional coordinator, Dr Rab Nawaz Kalwarh, gathered at Minara Road to protest the incidents of violence in Faisalabad.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 9th, 2014.
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Gullu butt's of pti.
It is amazing that the govt is still not ready to form a judicial comission to probe possible election rigging and in the meanwhile the narrative now is set by IK.
@Napier Mole: I'm from Faislabad and despite what your corrupt brain tells you about PTI almost everyone here supports IK. The main reason why businesses weren't closed today is because Gullu thugs were roaming the streets with guns threatening businessmen to not close their stores. What kind of government of majority does this to it's own people? these people are the no better than Isis or Apartheid South Africa, we need to stop them now before it's too late.
It doesnt take much to block a main road esp if the police is ordered to restrain their hands. Hence, when reporting any blockage at Shara e Faisal, any independent analysis must also take into account that this does not amount to a support for PTI. Moreover, among all the sound and fury of Faisalabad, let it not be forgotten that the city did not close off spontaneously in the morningand it was only the road blockage efforts of, lets face it, a highly insignificant number of PatI supporters which led to the subsequent chaos. PTI thus just managed to salvage some political mileage from the death of a worker in the absence of whuch headlines woyld have only reported a lack of response by Faisalabad to PTI's lockdown call.