JI strike over petroleum levy shuts hundreds of markets in Karachi

He said the lawyers’ community had also supported the strike and private schools were closed. Criticising the petroleum levy, Zafar said, “Rs130 per litre as a levy tax is oppression. The levy in the name of tax is not acceptable.”He said inflation was rising while business centres were facing 12 to 18 hours of power outages.

“Unjust load-shedding should end,” Zafar said, adding that rulers were provided free electricity, gas and petrol while levies were being imposed on the public. He also called on the police and administration to stop what he described as improper actions and demanded the release of JI workers arrested in Lyari and Korangi.

Zafar said some disruptive elements had set tyres on fire but maintained that the strike across Pakistan remained peaceful. He said the sit-in was continuing and described the strike as “very successful”. He added that the option of a long march towards Rawalpindi and Islamabad remained open, while the JI emir would announce the party’s future course of action.

Markets remain closed. In Karachi, most major markets and commercial centres observed a shutter-down strike. Jodia Bazar observed a partial strike, while all mobile phone markets and electronics shops in Saddar were closed.

Markets along MA Jinnah Road, Light House and Bolton Market were also shut. Chemical Market, Timber Market and Steel Market remained closed, while partial strikes were reported in Orangi Town, Liaquatabad, Federal B Area, Nazimabad and Gulshan-e-Iqbal.

Gulbahar Sanitary Market was completely closed, while markets in Pak Colony and Qayyumabad, as well as marble and furniture markets, were also shut. A partial strike was observed in Bohri Bazaar, Saddar and around Empress Market, while markets on Zaibunnisa Street and in Zainab Market were closed.

Around 10 to 15 per cent of petrol pumps in the city that had closed in the morning later reopened. Private and commercial traffic remained lower than normal.