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Opposition strike paralyses major cities

* Seven killed in further Karachi violence
* Strike also observed in Lahore, Peshawar, Pindi, Quetta
* 10,000 lawyers protest in Lahore

Staff Report

KARACHI: A strike called by opposition parties and lawyers’ bodies in protest against the recent violence here shut down shops and markets in all major cities on Monday including Karachi, where seven people died in further violence.

The strike was also observed in Lahore, Peshawar, Rawalpindi and Quetta, while lawyers boycotted courts across the country.

In Karachi - where nearly 40 people were killed at the weekend in clashes between pro- and anti-government supporters as Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry arrived in the city to address the Sindh High Court Bar Association - sporadic unrest spilled into a third day as angry protesters fired in the air, burnt tyres and blocked roads overnight, witnesses said.

Three teenagers were shot and killed in Liyari, Shah Baig Line. The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) said they were shot and killed by security forces as they were protesting against the May 12 violence. However, Rangers spokesman Captain Fazal said they were killed in a gang war.

The body of Muhammad Yasin, 32, was found in a sack in Bin Qasim Town, near Khaggar Phatak. Police said Yasin had been kidnapped and then shot dead. He was an imam at Dhabaji Mosque.

In Orangi Town Pirabad, unidentified gunmen shot dead Ibrar Hussain, 32, who was a father of six.

A PPP worker who was injured on May 12 died in Liaqat National Hospital on Monday night. And in Alfalah Society, an identified man was shot dead. Rangers personnel also arrested five men, two of them for carrying firearms.

Police fired tear gas shells after PPP supporters pelted security forces with stones and fired in the air, police said.

Karachi police chief Azhar Farooqi said that security forces had stepped up patrols but the city was tense on Monday. “The city is totally paralysed. Shops are closed and very little public transport is on the roads. People are scared,” Farooqi told Reuters. Banks, gas stations, and restaurants also stayed closed.

Authorities in Karachi said in a statement they had called a public holiday to “mourn the deaths of those killed”.

In Lahore, most shops and markets stayed close. The Anjuman-e-Tajiran (AT) claimed at a press conference that there was a “100 percent shutter-down strike” in 480 markets in the city. AT officials claimed some markets in Gulberg, Defence and Cavalry were “forcibly” opened in the afternoon.

Lawyers also held their biggest rally to date in Lahore, some 10,000 marching from Aiwan-e-Adal to Governor’s House to condemn the government and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), who they blame for the Karachi violence. They also boycotted courts. Opposition activists also rallied from Naseer Bagh to the Punjab Assembly and staged a sit-in in front of Governor’s House.

Most markets in Rawalpindi stayed shut in the morning in support of the strike and lawyers fighting for the reinstatement of Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry.

The strike was only partially observed in Islamabad. Hundreds of PPP activists rallied in front of the parliament building in the capital chanting anti-Musharraf and anti-MQM slogans to condemn the violence in Karachi, in which 16 PPP workers were killed. They also tried to storm the parliament gates but were blocked by police.

A shutter-down strike was also observed across the NWFP, particularly in Peshawar, Mardan, Kohat, Bannu, DI Khan and Swat districts, while there was partial support for the strike in Swabi district. Lawyers and opposition activists rallied at Qissa Khawani Bazaar in Peshawar where they burnt effigies of President Gen Pervez Musharraf and MQM chief Altaf Hussain. Lawyers across NWFP also boycotted court proceedings.

There was also a complete provincewide strike in Balochistan, and markets, banks restaurants and government offices remained closed in Quetta.

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