KARACHI, March 3: As elsewhere in the country, a complete strike was observed in the city on Friday on a call given by various parties and organizations to protest against the blasphemous cartoons published in certain European newspapers.
Different transport associations, trade bodies and business and social concerns, though had not formally endorsed the call, joined in the protest. Buses, minibuses and coaches remained off the roads throughout the day, badly affecting attendance in offices.
The inter-city buses also remained off the roads. Even the private transport was negligible on the roads as people stayed indoors.
All the educational institutions remained closed as the Sindh government had already declared a holiday for the schools, colleges and universities for Friday.
All the big and small markets of the city centre such as Saddar, Tariq Road, Bahadurabad and peripheral shopping centres on the University Road and Malir areas observed a shutter down strike.
The commodity life line of the country, Boulton Market, also stayed shut. The normal port activity also suffered due to the shortage of labour.
However, the Karachi Stock Exchange did function, but the management of the KSE issued a statement condemning the publication of the blasphemous sketches in European newspapers. Major medical stores also remained closed, causing inconvenience to patients.
Almost all the petrol stations in the city remained closed. Tents were pitched at these stations by their managements. At a few places petrol stations functioned but their exteriors were covered with tents. Motorists who were low on fuel faced immense difficulties due to the closure of petrol pumps.
HOSPITALS: Most hospitals remained non-functional on Friday as paramedics and doctors did not turn up in adequate numbers in their respective institutions. The outpatients departments in all the government hospitals presented a deserted look as patients and staff could not reach there due to a complete in the morning. However, patients needing emergency aid were attended to, hospital sources said.
A senior doctor in the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre said “it was a quiet day” as patients, staff and doctors from outside could not visit the hospital. Skeleton staff was present to look after the wards and emergency centres, but the operation theatres could not be operated, he added.
Similar situation prevailed in other hospitals. Hospitals mostly retained the staff that were on duty on Thursday, in addition to relying on doctors, nurses and other paramedics residing on the hospital premises.
COURTS: The City Courts wore a deserted look on Friday as the legal proceedings remained suspended due to the strike.
Whereas the lawyers did not turn up in protest against the publication of the blasphemous cartoons, the paralegals and court staff also could not reach the courts because of the absence of the public transport.
The courts could not proceed with the cases though the court police brought under-trial prisoners from the Central and Landhi prisons.
The judges and judicial magistrates did arrive, but they also left shortly after sitting in their chambers for some time.
The two public canteens on the premises of the City courts also did not pull up their shutter, and the stamp vendors also kept their business closed.
The court police told Dawn that they brought more than 200 UTPs to the courts from the Central Prison and 30 others from the Landhi jail. However, the cases could not be heard owing to the absence of the defence and prosecution attorneys and court staff.
Proceedings in the anti-terrorism courts on Queen’s Road, the accountability courts and anti-narcotics in Clifton and district Malir courts also remained suspended.
CITY GOVT: Almost all sorts of public dealing and other routine work was paralysed in various departments of the city government and town municipal administrations owing to poor attendance as a result of Friday’s anti-cartoon strike.
The CDGK’s offices in the Naib Nazim’s secretariat (the defunct KMC’s head office) also presented a deserted look.
Except for those who have official transport, officials could not attend their offices because of the absence of public transport. However, the city nazim, Syed Mustafa Kamal, present in his office till evening, disposed of official files and also visited parts of the city to inspect on-going development works.
Similarly, works in the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board and the Karachi Building Control Authority was badly affected owing to thin attendance.
Residents of different localities complained that they could not even lodge their water- and sewerage-related complaints as the telephone calls made at the KWSB’s complaint centre were not answered.
The garbage-lifting work was also badly affected as trash remained littered around dustbins and on roadsides in different parts of the city, presenting an ugly sight and creating unhygienic conditions.
Although the garbage lifting and disposing work that has been privatised recently by the town municipal administrations and is supposed to be undertaken during nights, private contractors’ staff could not carry out the work in various localities on the eve of the strike for fear of violence.
KARACHI, March 3: As elsewhere in the country, a complete strike was observed in the city on Friday on a call given by various parties and organizations to protest against the blasphemous cartoons published in certain European newspapers.
