KARACHI: Business activities and public transport operations came to a standstill on Thursday as major trade centres and markets across the metropolis remained closed in response to a countrywide “shutter-down strike” call by Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) against the petroleum levy.
At the same time, buses and other commercial vehicles stayed off the roads; consequently, the city’s usually congested roads appeared empty.
The strike call received support from nearly all major associations and bodies representing businessmen and traders in the city, as well as the Sindh High Court Bar Association (SHCBA) and Karachi Bar Association (KBA).
The JI termed the strike “historic and unprecedented.”
Since early morning, major commercial hubs, wholesale markets and prominent shopping plazas in almost all seven districts of the city remained closed. Industrial and textile-related units in different industrial zones also suspended production and export-related activities for the day.
Business leaders said they had voluntarily shut their businesses to press the government to accept their demands. They termed the shutdown a “unanimous response” and made it clear that they would not accept the existing price structure of petroleum products.
The city’s business community and lawyers backed the JI’s countrywide “shutter-down strike” against the petroleum levy, high taxes and costly electricity tariffs, with traders saying the closure reflected growing public anger over rising costs.
Addressing the media at Regal Chowk along with business leaders and later addressing lawyers at the Governor House, JI Karachi chief Monem Zafar Khan thanked the city’s traders for observing the strike, saying more than 300 small and large markets remained closed.
He said the shutdown showed that Karachi’s business community had rejected the existing burden of the petrol levy and other taxes, as well as agreements with independent power producers (IPPs) that, according to him, were placing an unbearable financial burden on consumers.
“The government will have to withdraw the petrol levy and reduce the prices of petrol and electricity,” he said, adding that the JI’s campaign would continue through protests and sit-ins.
SHCBA president Haseeb Jamali said the petrol levy was not merely a JI issue but a concern shared by the entire nation.
He said the lawyers’ community stood with the JI in its struggle for people’s rights and urged the government to address inflation and public hardships.
KBA president Amir Nawaz Waraich also expressed solidarity with the JI campaign, saying the lawyers’ community supported its demand for withdrawal of the petrol levy and would stand with efforts aimed at protecting public interests. However, several retail outlets in residential neighbourhoods, roadside eateries and restaurants continued to operate. Some transport operators and fuel stations also remained open.
Six ‘JI workers’ arrested
Police on Thursday claimed to have arrested six “JI workers” over charges of allegedly torching old bikes and tyres to block roads in Korangi in connection with their country-wide strike against petroleum prices.
Korangi SSP Fida Husain Janwari told Dawn that six workers said to be affiliated with JI had been arrested.
He said the held workers had brought two old, discarded motorcycles and some old tyres from a junk dealer. They allegedly set the old bikes and tyres on fire at Korangi Crossing to block traffic on the main road.
The SSP said contingents of the police rushed to the spot and controlled the situation. He added that the police had decided to lodge an FIR against the suspects on charges of terrorism.
Published in Dawn, September 4th, 2026
