Several cities from all over the country observed on Saturday a closing strike called by Jamat-I-Islami (JI) against the current Israeli assault in Gaza and to show solidarity with the Palestinians.
The strike was announced by the head of JI Hafiz Naeemur Rehman, while pronouncing a burning speech to the “Palestinian Solidarity March” of the party in Islamabad. The demonstration protested against Israeli atrocities in Gaza and took place on the Islamabad highway.
The Israeli offensive, which began in response to the unprecedented attack of Hamas on October 7, 2023, has killed more than 51,000 Palestinians and destroyed much of the hospital and housing infrastructure in the enclave. It is feared that the death toll is much higher because thousands are still lacking under the rubble.
Today a strike was observed in twin cities in Islamabad and Rawalpindi, Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar and Quetta. Other parts of Sindh, Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Baluchistan also remained closed. The stores and markets remained closed and the vehicles were largely out of the roads.
In Karachi, several commercial agencies participated in the protest, including all the president of Karachi Tajir Ittehad Atiq Mir, general secretary of the Cooperative Market Aslam Khan, Market Paper Syed Liaquat Ali, etc.
In addition to Karachi, the strike was observed in other cities of the province, including Hyderabad, Sukkur, Larkana, Mirpurkhas, Ghotki, Nawabshah, Thatta, Jacobabad, Kandhkot and Shikarpur.
Meanwhile, JI and other religious festivities also took the solidarity demonstrations from morning to night.
The demonstration in Larkana was directed by Sindh Ji Ameer Kashif Saeed Sheikh and the lawyer of the Ameer district, Nadir Ali Khosa.
In Punjab, the business community observed a closing strike throughout the province. All business centers and stores closed in Lahore, Faisalabad, Gujranwala and Jhelum.
A similar strike was observed in Quetta and other parts of Baluchistan, since the markets, stores and other shopping centers remained closed.
The provincial chief of Baluchistan Ji, Maulana Hidayatur Rehman Baloch, thanked people for making the strike peaceful and successful, adding that “we join against oppression, coercion and illegality, we will become a great force.”
The closing blow was also observed in KP.
The defender of the Ji Bahrullah Khan district directed a manifestation of protest at Qissa Khwani Bazaar in Peshawar.
Maulana Abdul Akbar Chitrali de Ji asked for prayers for Muslims who lost their lives in Israeli aggression.
The demonstrations were also held in divisions of the province of Hazara, Malakand, Mardan, Kohat, Di Khan.
