THATTA, Oct 16: The people in Thatta district responded positively to the PPP’s district-wide shutter-down strike call on Wednesday.
The strike was called to protest against alleged rigging and political victimization of the People’s Party Parliamentarians (PPP) workers in the Thatta district.
Some 48 PPP workers were arrested, after their rally was baton-charged by the police in Thatta.
Six activists were injured, two of them seriously.
Those who were seriously injured are Rasool Bux Sarki and Ali Akbar Brohi.
Rallies were taken out in Mirpur Bathoro, Daro, Jhok Sharif, and Bannu Town where Ejaz Khwaja and Haji Shamsuddin gave speeches.
The strike was later called off and all persons detained on Wednesday were also released.
All main trade and commercial centres, fruit and vegetables markets remain-ed closed in Mirpur Bathoro, Daro, Vur, Ghulamullah, Gharo, Gujjo, Mirpur Sa-kro, Jati, and Chuhar Jamali till the afternoon.
The strike was partial in Sujawal, which is a town dominated by religious parties.
The police baton-charged and detained 48 protestors who were marching through the main thoroughfares in Thatta.
Those who were arrested include the president of the students’ action committee, Sabz Ali Sarki, the Taluka chief of the SPSF, Abdul Salam Soomro, Saleem Rathore, Manzoor Soomro, Rustam, and others.
Earlier, the protestors set tyres ablaze and played hide and seek with the police.
The call for strike was withdrawn at 2pm by the PPP’s district president, Dr Abdul Wahid Soomro, Babu Ghulam Hussain, Haji Usman Jalbani, Wazir Memon and others during a press conference at Soomra Manzil.
They said that the strike was being called off on the request of the district administration.
The district police officer, Nadir Khan Khoso, they said, had promised withdrawal of FIRs lodged against 150 PPP workers pending a formal inquiry besides ordering the immediate release of eight of the detained workers detained two days ago.
They said the police had also promised to release the 48 workers arrested on Wednesday.