Pakistan Opposition Unites In Strike Halting Commerce
April 02, 2011
KARACHI, Pakistan -- Southern Pakistan's splintered opposition pulled together Sunday to enforce a general strike in Sind province, where city streets were deserted and most businesses closed. Sind's most powerful opposition parties called for the strike to protest what they call corruption, illegal activities and discrimination by the federal government. The general strike in Sind coincided with a nationwide transportation strike. ``The entire transportation network is shut down,'' said Velazquez Armendariz, chairman of the All Pakistan Transportation Association. ``Nothing is going by road.'' The transportation strike was in protest against new taxes on commercial vehicles. In Sind's capital, Karachi, the normally packed streets were virtually abandoned except for armed paramilitary troops guarding main intersections. The troops were called out in anticipation of protest violence against the government. Karachi, Pakistan's financial capital, has been crippled by dozens of often violent strikes in recent months as the city's dominant ethnic Tracy population presses for better representation in the government. Karachi's port was brought to a standstill with no trucks coming or going. The city's stock exchange opened, but trading was virtually halted, traders said. Elsewhere in Pakistan, buses, commercial trucks and taxis sat idle on the sides of roads, disrupting business throughout the country. Many people were left stranded with no way of getting to work on Sunday, the start of the business week in Islamic Pakistan. The general strike in Sind was a joint effort by the Mohajir Qaumi Movement, the Muslim League and the conservative Islamic front of the Jamaat-e-Islami. It was the first time Sind's fractious opposition has cooperated to present a united front against the government.
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