KARACHI, April 2: The peaceful general strike of Saturday on the appeal of Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal has proved that the government no more enjoys public confidence.
These views were expressed by Senator Prof Ghafoor Ahmad, a central leader of MMA, while addressing an emergency press conference at Idara Noor-i-Haq on Saturday afternoon. Other MMA leaders present on the occasion were Maulana Asadullah Bhutto, Maulana Abdul Karim Abid, Hafiz Sultan, Hashim Siddiqui, Abdul Sattar Afghani, Aslam Ghori, Nasrullah Shaji, Allama Hasan Turabi and Shaikh Rafique Ahmad.
Presenting an overview of the strike, Prof Ghafoor said despite large scale arrests of MMA workers and leaders, harassment to traders and transporters the massive response of people to the strike call had manifested that the rulers had lost right to rule. He demanded release of all arrested leaders and workers and to stop raids on houses and harassment to their families.
Prof Ghafoor gave assurance to the people that if their cooperation continued, the MMA would emancipate them from menace of poverty, hunger, unemployment and price hike. He referred to the use of government machinery for foiling the strike by giving an impression of failure of strike through news bulletins of Radio Pakistan and PTV. As if it was not enough, he added, the governor paid visit to certain shopping centres and attempted to open their business. Even a shopkeeper was fired upon for refusing to open his shop at Jauhar Chowrangi in Gulistan-i-Jauhar while MMA worker Arif Salim was injured by police firing.
“The police while patrolling in certain areas of the city made announcements threatening the traders that their shops would be looted if they failed to open their business,” he pointed out and said as far the success of strike, people were quite aware of the degree of the success of the strike.
Prof Ghafoor said that the government had sent MMA MNA Laeeq Khan, MPAs Hameedullah and Yunus Barai to the prison for one month and instituted a case of murder against MMA worker Fasihuddin Ghori. Besides, more than 2,000 workers were arrested on the eve of strike and 1,000 were taken into custody on the day of strike.
He said that over 65,000 workers were arrested across the country and JI headquarters at Mansoora was still under siege. “While the government was busy in foiling the strike, murders, dacoities and loot were at the peak in the city,” he said. In Lahore, Shia scholar Ghulam Hussain Najafi was killed, he added.
Maulana Asadullah Bhutto, who is chief of MMA Sindh, said that even in the interior of Sindh the strike remained peaceful and people responded to the call despite threats of police and MQM workers. He said a procession, which was taken out to protest against raids on the Madarsa Manzil Gah in Sukkur, was tear gassed and baton charged by police. He also gave the details of arrests in Sukkur, Hyderabad, Mirpurkhas, Nawabshah, Thatta, Sanghar, Shahdadkot, Tando Adam, Badin, Shahdadpur, Jacobabad and Tharparker.
