HYDERABAD, Dec 20: Normal life was paralysed in upper Sindh and a partial strike was observed in other parts of the interior and in some areas of Karachi on Tuesday on a call given by the Jeay Sindh Qaumi Mahaz against the proposed construction of the Kalabagh dam.

Reports from the interior of Sindh said that except for Sanghar and Tharparkar districts, City and Latifabad talukas of the Hyderabad district, Mirpurkhas city and Sukkur, a complete strike was observed in all districts. Vehicular traffic from Hyderabad to the Sindh interior and vice versa was thin.

Life was normal in most areas of Karachi although seven vehicles had been burnt on the eve of the strike. Shops and markets were closed in Safoora Goth mostly while business activities in some areas of Lyari were partially closed. No report of violence was received from any locality of Karachi.

Scattered incidents of violence, including pelting of stones and road blockades, were reported from Dadu, Jamshoro and Nawabshah districts. An incident of firing between the Motorway police and protesters near Qazi Ahmad was reported. Window-panes of many vehicles were smashed in Jamshoro. Tyres were burnt on roads, which had been blocked by placing logs in the Nawabshah district.

In the Kotri town, three people were beaten by protesters when they refused to close their shops. They were admitted to a Kotri taluka hospital and a case was registered by the Kotri police against the assailants.

JSQM activists staged protest rallies at the Clock Tower in Gharibabad and other parts and staged a sit-in outside the Sukkur Press Club.

Demonstrations were also held in other towns.

Attendance in educational institutions was thin.

According to JSQM chairman Bashir Qureshi, police arrested 125 activists of his party. All nationalist parties of the province supported the strike. Police were also reported to have raided the media centre of the JSQM in Qasimabad.

Mr Qureshi categorically denied that party activists were involved in any incident of violence.

He termed the strike a referendum against the Kalabagh dam and warned the authorities to release the arrested activists within three days, failing which he would give call for another strike.