The Pakistan Tehreek-e- Insaf (PTI) on Saturday claimed that the shutter-down strike observed across Sindh on the call of the Tehreek Tahafuz-e-Aain Pakistan (TTAP) received an overwhelming public response, and the strike became a referendum against poll rigging.
Sindh PTI President Hakeem Adil Sheikh said citizens voluntarily shut down businesses and stayed indoors to protest against the ‘theft of public mandate’. He described the strike as historic, saying that the people of Sindh had delivered a clear verdict against electoral rigging by peacefully closing markets and business centres.
He said cities and towns across the province from Karachi to Kashmore and from Keti Bandar to Thar remained shut, while major commercial hubs in Karachi, Hyderabad, Sukkur, Larkana, Mirpurkhas and Shaheed Benazirabad divisions also observed complete closure.
Inter-city transport services from Karachi to other cities remained suspended. Sheikh said the strike was entirely voluntary and peaceful, without any pressure, coercion or violence, adding that the public had proved their commitment to the Constitution and their vote by keeping shops and markets closed.
He said traffic remained thin across Karachi, while major markets and business districts stayed shut throughout the day, with even early-opening shops closing down voluntarily. Condemning attempts by police to forcibly reopen shops and the arrest of party workers, Sheikh said such actions were unacceptable.
He alleged that raids on homes, arrests under the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) law, and violations of the sanctity of private spaces reflected political victimisation. “Public voices cannot be silenced through arrests and repression,” he said.
Calling the strike a public referendum, he said the people of Sindh had rejected the alleged theft of the February 8, 2024 mandate. Unlike past strikes marked by baton charges, threats and violence, today’s protest remained entirely peaceful and exemplary, he added. “There was no coercion, no threats, no road blockades, no tyre burning and no stone-pelting the public simply stayed at home and delivered its verdict.”
He demanded that decision-makers dismantle what he termed a ‘corrupt mafia’, restore the stolen mandate and transfer power to the leadership genuinely elected by the people, stressing that political stability was impossible without respecting public opinion.
Karachi PTI President Raja Azhar, Sindh Vice President Rizwan Niazi and Karachi General Secretary Arslan Khalid said that major markets across Karachi remained closed, with traders and citizens ensuring the success of the strike.
They condemned police efforts to forcibly reopen markets, alleged harassment of traders and incidents of breaking shop locks, and said that Karachi’s residents were politically conscious and fully aware of their rights.
They said Karachi had always stood for ideological politics and once again demonstrated political awareness. Criticising the Sindh government for failing to resolve Karachi’s issues, they said suppressing public voices through force was condemnable and unconstitutional. Peaceful protest, they added, was the fundamental right of every citizen.
PTI leaders said areas including Saddar, Lyari, MA Jinnah Road, Tariq Road, Shah Faisal Colony, Gulshan-i-Iqbal, Landhi, Korangi, Malir, Keamari, FB Area, DHA Phase II, Ittehad Commercial, Bahria Town, Gulshan-e-Hadeed, Ibrahim Hyderi, Safoora, Golimar, Nazimabad, Hyderi, Liaquatabad and Boulton Market remained completely closed.
Similar shutdowns were observed in Hyderabad, Sukkur, Larkana, Mirpurkhas, Nawabshah, Badin, Kashmore, Ghotki, Shikarpur, Jamshoro, Thatta, Sujawal, Moro, Matiari, Khairpur, Kandiyaro, Ranipur, Golarchi, Mirpur Mathelo, Naushahro Feroze, Sakrand, Sanghar, Tando Jam, Tando Allahyar, Hala, Bharia City, Kandhkot and Ubauro, among other towns.
JI leaders held
Police on Sunday detained several Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) leaders, including the party’s acting Karachi chief Muslim Pervez and Sindh Assembly member Mohammad Farooq, before releasing them after brief custody during an attempted press conference outside the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) Sindh office.
The JI had announced a public press conference outside the ECP Sindh office in connection with the February 8, 2024 general elections and completion of two years since the polls. Party workers and leaders had started gathering at the venue before the scheduled time when police intervened.
Police reportedly removed the tent set up for the press conference and stopped party leaders as they attempted to begin the media briefing. According to a JI spokesperson, the arrests were made during the press conference, while police also ordered closure of shops and hotels located outside the ECP office.
Those detained included Pervez, Farooq, district leaders Sufyan Dilawar and Mudassar Hussain Ansari, along with several other office-bearers and workers. Jinnah Town Chairman Rizwan Abdul Sami claimed that the party’s tent was dismantled but said the party would continue holding press conferences.
Police also reportedly called a prisoner van to the scene and took into custody several leaders and workers. The party’s sound system was also taken into possession by police. Police later released the detained leaders and workers after holding them in custody for a short period. Parvez strongly condemned the police action and arrest of JI leaders and activists at the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) office and said that the form 47 regime wasconstantly violating the constitution.
Addressing a press conference held at the JI’s headquarters Idara Noor-e-Haq after his detention and release by the police, he said Pakistan’s constitution allowed the citizens to express their views peacefully and democratically anywhere.
He said the JI was expressing its opinion before the press at the ECP office against rigging in the February 8 2024 polls in accordance with the Constitution, but the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP)-led Sindh government displayed fascist behaviour by arresting party workers, which was a clear violation of democratic values.
He said the press conference was organised to record protest against rigging of the last general elections with the help of fake Form 47 as February 8 marked two years since that rigging. However, he said, the government violated the right to express and took the JI leadership into custody amid the press conference outside the ECP.
Several JI activists were also taken into custody without any legal justification. They were later released after growing pressure by people. Pervez announced that a sit-in would be held outside the Sindh Assembly on February 14 as per the plan under all circumstances against the incompetence of the Sindh government and its control over Karachi’s institutions.
He said the JI had previously staged a historic 29-day sit-in outside the Sindh Assembly, and the protest would be held again to ensure implementation of the agreement reached with the government, he said.
He accused the ECP of carrying out the worst electoral rigging, and demanded immediate rectification of the election results. He said those declared victorious through Form 47 themselves knew they were not the true representatives of the people, and JI Emir Hafiz Naeemur Rehman set a moral example by refusing to take oath on his seat.
He said the February 14 sit-in would raise all issues of Karachi and arrests could not stop the party’s movement. He also thanked party officials and workers who peacefully courted arrest to exercise their democratic right.
MPA Farooq said the Sindh government, frightened by the announced public press conference against the ‘Form-47-based fake government’ resorted to fascist tactics and arrested 19 party workers and officials.
He said these arrests were made to prevent the February 14 sit-in outside the Sindh Assembly, reflecting the government’s panic and anti-democratic attitude. He warned that the JI would not withdraw from its constitutional and democratic rights and the sit-in on February 14 would take place in any case. No intimidation, threats, or arrests could force the party to retreat from its stance, he asserted adding that even if FIRs were registered, the party would continue peaceful sit-ins and protests for public rights.
The MPA said he would raise strong protests in the Sindh Assembly against the arrests and expose the government’s actions in the House, concluding that the JI was not afraid of such tactics and would continue its struggle for the rights of the people.
GDA statement
Leaders of the Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA) on Sunday alleged that local police authorities detained more than two dozen of its workers ahead of a planned press conference at the Functional House in Karachi against what the party terms the ‘fake’ elections of February 8, 2024.
The arrests, they said, were an attempt to suppress peaceful political activity. In a strongly worded statement issued to the media, Sindh Pakistan Muslim League-Functional Secretary General and GDA Information Secretary Sardar Abdul Rahim condemned the police action, urging the administration to refrain from what he described as ‘heavy-handed tactics’.
He claimed that the alliance observed a peaceful province-wide day of protests against the ‘rigged’ general elections.
According to him, a large number of party workers and supporters gathered outside district press clubs across Sindh, chanting slogans against what they called ‘bogus elections’.
Rahim said the country was currently passing through a sensitive and critical phase and held the ‘illegitimate government’ responsible for the prevailing situation. He demanded immediate release of the detained workers.
He also condemned the recent suicide blast at an Imambargah in Islamabad, expressing deep sorrow over the loss of innocent lives and extending heartfelt sympathies to the families of those killed and injured.
Referring to the Gul Plaza tragedy in Karachi, he termed it a painful incident and said it reflected poor governance, flawed planning and administrative failure in Sindh. He added that such recurring incidents showed a lack of good governance and a weak writ of the government in the province.
Criticising the 2024 general elections in the country, he described them as one of the darkest chapters in Pakistan’s political history, alleging that massive rigging had led to defeated candidates being declared successful while genuine winners were denied victory. He stated that the GDA did not accept the assemblies, formed as a result of the sham polls, as legitimate.
He claimed that three GDA members elected to the Sindh Assembly had neither taken oath nor intended to do so, as they believed the assemblies did not represent the true public mandate.
Rahim said the decision to hold protests was taken unanimously at a meeting of the GDA core committee chaired by Pir Pagara, the spiritual leader of the Hur community. Under this decision, he said, people participated in organised and peaceful demonstrations from Karachi to Kashmore.
He added that through these protests, the people of Sindh had expressed their strong resentment against the present government. Expressing concern over police actions aimed at suppressing public voices, he said that instead of taking action against actual criminals, false cases were being registered against innocent youth.
Rahim claimed reports had been received from various districts that police created obstacles for citizens travelling to join peaceful protests, despite the fact that holding peaceful demonstrations was a constitutional and democratic right of every citizen.
The GDA leader concluded by saying that the PML-F and the GDA had always pursued their struggle through peaceful, democratic and constitutional means and would continue their efforts for the supremacy of the Constitution and rule of law. He added that the people of Sindh would never accept public representatives ‘imposed through Form 47’.
