QUETTA: A province-wide shutter-down and wheel-jam strike was observed across Balochistan on Monday in response to a call by a seven-party alliance against the recent suicide bombing outside a Balochistan National Party (BNP) rally.
The strike brought commercial and business activities to a standstill in most cities, while roads remained deserted and major highways were blocked.
In Quetta, clashes broke out between police and political workers after protesters set tires ablaze and blocked roads. Police resorted to baton charges and teargas shelling to disperse them. Vehicles, including rickshaws, were damaged during stone-pelting and firing incidents, which left SHO Brewery Abdul Qadir Qambrani injured. Dozens of political leaders and workers were arrested and shifted to various police stations.
The strike followed the September 2 suicide blast outside a BNP rally in Quetta, which claimed 15 lives including BNP activists and a police officer and injured more than 40 others. Senior political leaders such as BNP chief Sardar Akhtar Mengal, Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) chairman Mehmood Khan Achakzai, Asghar Khan Achakzai, and others had narrowly escaped the attack. They later described it as a conspiracy to target Balochistan’s top political leadership and jointly called for province-wide protests.
The strike call was issued by BNP, PkMAP, Awami National Party, National Party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, Jamaat-e-Islami, and Majlis Wahdat-e-Muslimeen, with support from JUI factions, PTM, and other groups. Unlike usual partial shutdowns confined to specific areas, Monday’s strike saw rare province-wide effectiveness, severely disrupting daily life.
The shops and markets remained closed in Quetta, Chaman, Pishin, Killa Abdullah, Zhob, Loralai, Mastung, Khuzdar, Turbat, Gwadar, and several other districts. Roads wore a deserted look while government and private schools also stayed shut. The closure of tandoors, hotels, and pharmacies compounded public hardship, especially for patients seeking medical care.
Two days earlier, the Balochistan Home Department had imposed Section 144 across the province, banning gatherings of more than ten people and warning of action against forced closures. However, police clashes with protesters erupted at Airport Road, Sariab Road, Western Bypass, and Jinnah Road, where demonstrators pelted stones and blocked traffic. Police responded with baton charge and teargas, leading to multiple injuries. Over 30 people were arrested from different areas of Quetta.
ANP provincial president Asghar Khan Achakzai accused the government of sabotaging the peaceful protest through force, claiming that several central and provincial leaders including PkMAP’s Abdul Rahim Ziaratwal, Qahar Khan Wadan, BNP’s Nasir Shahwani, ANP’s Khan Zaman Kakar and Sanaullah Kakar, and others were arrested. He said the strike was among the most successful in Balochistan’s history, stretching “from Zhob to Gwadar,” and described it as a referendum by the people against the “Form-47 government” and powerful institutions.
BNP spokesperson and former federal minister Agha Hassan Baloch confirmed that leaders from BNP, PkMAP, ANP, National Party, PTI, and Jamaat-e-Islami including Zahir Shah, Manzoor Kakar, Naqeeb Afghan, Qadir Bakhsh Mengal, Hashim Kakar, Latif Qalandrani, and Zafar Mengal had been detained.