Day of mourning: Life in Karachi brought to a halt
MQM takes back call to extend strike to Monday
MQM takes back call to extend strike to Monday
SUKKUR/HYDERABAD/KARACHI:
A complete shutter-down and wheel-jam strike was observed in Karachi on Sunday in response to a call for a ‘nationwide day of mourning’ by the Muttahida Qaumi Movement in protest against killings of its workers.
A partial strike was also observed in Hyderabad and Sukkur, but most parts of lower Sindh remained unaffected by the call. MQM withdrew its call to extend the day of mourning to Monday (today).
All business centres and commercial hubs in Karachi were closed throughout Sunday and public transport remained off the roads as the Sindh Tajir Ittehad and Karachi Transport Ittehad also backed MQM’s call to express solidarity with the party.
Karachi residents faced massive problems on account of a fuel shortage created due to closure of fuel stations in the city. Extra contingents of police and Rangers were deployed at various locations in the city to avoid any untoward incident.
The city returned to normalcy around 5pm after the MQM chief Altaf Hussain appealed to party’s coordination committee to take back the call to extend the day of mourning.
“We don’t want to enhance the problems of citizens,” Hussain said in his statement. “The government has failed to protect the lives of innocent citizens. Those involved in the killings of MQM workers should be arrested and punished,” he added.
Addressing MQM workers protesting outside the Chief Minister’s House earlier, Altaf had warned the party would extend its call to Monday (today) if Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah did not come out to console the family members of the deceased workers.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 12th, 2015.
A complete shutter-down and wheel-jam strike was observed in Karachi on Sunday in response to a call for a ‘nationwide day of mourning’ by the Muttahida Qaumi Movement in protest against killings of its workers.
A partial strike was also observed in Hyderabad and Sukkur, but most parts of lower Sindh remained unaffected by the call. MQM withdrew its call to extend the day of mourning to Monday (today).
All business centres and commercial hubs in Karachi were closed throughout Sunday and public transport remained off the roads as the Sindh Tajir Ittehad and Karachi Transport Ittehad also backed MQM’s call to express solidarity with the party.
Karachi residents faced massive problems on account of a fuel shortage created due to closure of fuel stations in the city. Extra contingents of police and Rangers were deployed at various locations in the city to avoid any untoward incident.
The city returned to normalcy around 5pm after the MQM chief Altaf Hussain appealed to party’s coordination committee to take back the call to extend the day of mourning.
“We don’t want to enhance the problems of citizens,” Hussain said in his statement. “The government has failed to protect the lives of innocent citizens. Those involved in the killings of MQM workers should be arrested and punished,” he added.
Addressing MQM workers protesting outside the Chief Minister’s House earlier, Altaf had warned the party would extend its call to Monday (today) if Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah did not come out to console the family members of the deceased workers.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 12th, 2015.