QUETTA: Traffic between Balochistan and other provin­ces was disrupted for several hours on Wednesday as the Ja­m­iat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) staged a wheel-jam strike.

The protest was called against alleged rigging in the Jan 5 by-election for the provincial constituency PB-45 (Que­tta-8), in which the Pak­is­tan Peoples Party (PPP) candidate was declared the winner by the Election Comm­ission of Pakistan (ECP).

JUI-F leaders claimed the results from 15 polling stations were altered on Form-47 to fav­our the PPP candidate, wher­eas Form-45 allegedly showed a victory for the JUI-F candidate.

Protesters blocked nat­io­nal highways at multiple points, including Baleli, Pishin, Qila Abdullah, Chaman, Mastung, Uthal, Loralai, D.G. Khan Road, Hub, Lasbela, Khuzdar, Awaran, Surab, Kalat, Qila Saifullah, Ziarat, Usta Muha­mmad, Dera Murad Jamali, Dera Allah Yar, Turbat and Gwadar. Other key routes, such as the Quetta-Taftan and Noshki-Kharan highways, were also obstructed.

Protesters torched tyres and placed barricades and boulders on the roads, bri­nging traffic to a complete halt. Hundreds of vehicles, including trucks, buses and private cars, were stranded, causing significant inconvenience to travellers and transporters.

The JUI-F leadership decided to end the wheel jam strike at 2pm, citing the difficulties faced by transporters and passengers. Traffic on highways was gradually restored.

The party declared the strike a success.

Behram Baloch in Gwadar, Ali Jan Mangi in Dera Murad Jamali and Abdul Wahid Shahwani in Khuzdar also contributed to this report

Published in Dawn, January 9th, 2025