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HYDERABAD, Jan 10: On the call of the Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum and All Parties Conference, strike was observed in some parts of Sindh on Wednesday to condemn the sale of two Karachi islands to a foreign company. However, no strike was observed in Naushahro Feroze district and some other areas.
In Hyderabad, partial strike was observed in Sindhi-speaking areas of Qasimabad, Wahdat Colony, Nasim Nagar, Bhitai Nagar, Bhitai Town and Hala Naka. No strike was observed in Latifabad and City talukas.
As it was a shutter-down strike, there was no interruption in vehicular traffic and public transport plied on different routes as usual. However, heavy contingents of police were deployed throughout the district to maintain law and order.
Activists of the Green Rural Development Organisation staged a protest demonstration outside the press club. They were carrying banners and placards and raising slogans against the sale of the islands.
Speaking on the occasion, People’s Party Parliamentarians leader Jam Saqi, Qamar Shaikh and Sawan Chang said that even before the partition, the islands were the property of Sindh. They said that if the sale of the islands would badly affect thousands of fishermen who would be rendered jobless.
They expressed the fear that the island sale would contribute to the process of converting the indigenous population into a minority and division of Sindh.
They demanded that the decision to sell the islands be rescinded.
JACOBABAD: Shutter-down strike was observed here I protest against the sale of the islands. Processions were taken out by activists of the Jamaat-i-Islami and Sindh Taraqqi Pasand Party.
After marching on main thoroughfares of the city, participants of the two processions reached outside the press club where they staged a sit-in for an hour. As a result, vehicular traffic remained suspended.
Speaking on the occasion, the district general secretary of the JI, Hafiz Nasrullah Channa, Nadeem Qureshi of the Pakistan People’s Party-SB and STP leader Dil Murad said that the islands were property of Sindh but they had been sold out with the consent of the provincial government. They also opposed the construction of the Kalabagh Dam.
They vowed to resist the sale of the islands and to continue protests against what they called anti-Sindh conspiracies.
BADIN: Trade activities in the towns of the district remained suspended as complete strike was observed in Badin, Golarchi, Matli, Kadhan, Talhar and other towns.
Trade centres, markets and shops remained closed and the fishermen hoisted black flags on their boats.
