UMERKOT: A strike was being observed on Thursday in most parts of Sindh over a call given by the Save Sindh Movement against the Local Government Ordinance passed in the province recently, DawnNews reported.

Rallies were taken out in many cities by the nationalist parties which include the Sindh United Party (SUP), Sind Taraqi Pasand Party (STPP) and the National People's Party (NPP).

Police stopped a rally that was taken out in Hyderabad whereas several workers of a political party were reportedly injured in a clash between rival groups in Kandhkot.

Most educational institutes were closed due to the wheel-jam and shutter down strike call announced.

Markets and shops remained closed and vehicular traffic remained sparse on the roads.

A complete shutdown was being observed in Umerkot, Kunri, Samaro, Ghulam Nabi Shah town, Dhoro Naro, Dadu, Jamshoro, Mithi and other towns where as partial strike was being observed in Hyderabad, Mirpurkhas, Sukkur, Larkana,  and Karachi cities of the province.

A heavy contingent of police had been deployed in the province to avoid any untoward incident.

Nationalist leaders Mir Amanullah Talpur, Mohammad Ali Junejo, Abdul Karim Mangrio and other said that the people of Sindh had announced the rejection of the new ordinance and that they would never let any “anti-Sindh decision” to be implemented.

It may be noted that the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Awami National Party (ANP), Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf (PTI) and Pakistan Muslime League-Functional (PML-F) had earlier announced support for the strike but later withdrawn the call to observe  mourning for  the victims for the factory fire tragedy in Karachi.