Pakistan Views

Public transport kept off the road to protest against exorbitant increase in the prices of petroleum products and years-long freeze in transport fare on Tuesday.
The impact of the strike, called on the initiatives of Karachi Transport Ittehad, could be felt across the city, as traffic remained thin throughout the day and too many passengers, chasing too few motorcycle rickshaws and taxis in the morning to reach their places of work. The non-availability of transport affected movement of the people, who could not reach their offices. Industrial units ran below capacity; business centres, and main markets were without much business activities and attendance in offices was thin.The strike also affected movement of goods from New Sabzi Mandi. Vegetable markets were short of supply and those, who had some old stock, sold it on higher prices. There were stranded commuters on the main Super Highway and near Sohrab Goth, who were seen asking for lift from private cars. People were reluctant to accede to the requests of unknown people. The rickshaw and taxi drivers took full advantage of the situation and fleeced helpless people as much as they could.
Taxis charged Rs 100 for a distance of four kilometres, whereas the motorcycle rickshaw charges ranged between Rs 75 and Rs 80. For fear of acts of violence and vandalism, private car owners preferred to remain indoors or hired rickshaws to go out of their offices and homes. Many parents did not allow their children to go to schools. In the meantime, murder of Dilber Rehmani, a Jeay Sindh Mahaz leader, in the suburb of Karachi, sparked tension among people of different ethnic background. People resorted to firing in the air, erected barricades and played hide and seek with the police throughout the day.
The murder and the protest strike of transporters forced all shops selling daily use articles to close down. People neither moved out from their homes nor could sit idle inside at the cost of their daily wages. The transporters have said that they may extend strike if no favourable statement comes from the government.