• Partial shutdown in Peshawar, complete shutter-down in Quetta
• Markets in Lahore, Islamabad remain open
• Roads blocked in Karachi ‘to deter protests’
• Torch rally outside Faisal Mosque scuttled due to ‘road closures, arrests’
• PTI leaders hail public response; Punjab CM claims ‘zero’ strike in Punjab
LAHORE / ISLAMABAD / PESHAWAR / QUETTA: Most of the markets in Lahore and Islamabad were open on Sunday, despite a strike call by opposition alliance Tehreek Tahafuz Ayeen-i-Pakistan (TTAP) in protest of alleged discrepancies in the 2024 general elections.
A partial shutdown was observed in Peshawar, while a complete shutdown strike was reported from Quetta.
The PTI, a part of the TTAP, had announced a strike for Sunday to mark the second anniversary of the Feb 8, 2024, general elections, which it alleges were marred by rigging.
The party also said it will observe a day of mourning following Friday’s suicide bombing at an imambargah in Islamabad that claimed at least 36 lives.
In the evening, the TTAP could not hold a torch-bearing rally outside Islamabad’s Faisal Mosque as planned, claiming road closures and the arrest of over two dozen workers.
Despite the alleged arrests of over two dozen workers — including eight women — and road closures, Senate Opposition Leader Allama Raja Nasir Abbas, former senator Mushtaq Ahmed, and other TTAP leaders Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar, Akhunzada Hussain Ahmed Yousafzai and Amir Mughal managed to reach the site.
Mr Khokhar said, “It is the start of the movement and should not be considered as a one-day event.”
Mr Mughal, the PTI’s Islamabad chapter president, alleged that police had already started a crackdown on party workers. He claimed that over two dozen workers, including eight women, were taken into custody from Sector E-7, where Faisal Mosque is located.
However, police did not confirm the arrest of any PTI worker.
Mixed response
In KP, the PTI said it would hold rallies and processions at district and tehsil levels. Some traders and transport unions also agreed to join the party’s protest.
A partial strike was being observed in Peshawar’s interior city. Shops in Qissa Khwani Bazaar and other streets of the interior city were mostly open, but those in Hashtnagri and Rampura were closed.
PTI workers from across the city gathered at Hashtnagri Bazaar from where they took out a protest. Upon reaching the historic Chowk Yadgar, the rally’s venue, the procession converted into a public gathering, which was addressed by the PTI provincial president Junaid Akbar Khan and others.
PTI leader Omar Ayub Khan said in a post on X that there was a shutter-down strike in Haripur Bazaar and a “total public transport wheel jam”.
Meanwhile, daily life in Karachi and other parts of Sindh remained largely unaffected on Sunday. However, police blocked many roads across the city, especially in the areas leading to the Karachi Press Club and the Election Commission of Pakistan, to thwart any protest by the opposition alliance.
All Karachi Tajir Ittehad Chairman Atiq Mir told Dawn that although markets were shut, the reason was that it was a public holiday.
He said 100 markets at Jodia Bazaar, 50 markets in Saddar, 40 markets on Tariq Road and around 40 markets in Clifton and Defence Housing Authority (DHA) were closed.
But he clarified, “Generally, Sunday is a public holiday and most markets remain closed. However, vendors usually do business on Sunday.”
Nevertheless, PTI Sindh President Haleem Adil Sheikh shared pictures, saying that Jackson Electronics Market was among the bazaars shut in Karachi’s Keamari district.
In Punjab, markets in Lahore exhibited the usual Sunday momentum, with routine traffic movement observed. Most markers remained closed due to Sunday and the Basant festival, which was in its last day.
The PTI’s Lahore chapter claimed on X at 11:45am that police had reached Sujawal Bridge in Sadiqabad to force people to open their shops.
Meanwhile, most markets in Islamabad and Rawalpindi remained open on Sunday as traders did not heed the PTI’s strike call. These included the main markets in different sectors and sub-sectors of the city.
While Sunday bazaars act as a litmus test for such calls by political parties, the H-9 weekly bazaar remained open. A Dawn correspondent reported that a large number of people were visiting the weekly bazaar.
Strike in Balochistan
Meanwhile, a complete shutter-down and wheel-jam strike was reported in Quetta. All shops, markets, shopping malls and bazaars were shut. Traffic on the roads was also thin, with some roads in the city closed due to traffic.
Mobile internet services have been suspended again, a Dawn correspondent reported.
Workers of the PTI and the Pashtoonkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP), headed by TTAP chief Mehmood Khan Achakzai, staged demonstrations in some areas of the city.
Arrests were also reported in the city. There were also reports about cops detaining several political workers who were forcibly closing shops and blocking roads.
In a post on X, PTI’s Balochistan chapter shared a list of 40 TTAP workers it claimed had been arrested so far.
Clashes also took place in the Brewery and Khaizi Chowk areas along the Western Bypass between police and political workers as they had blocked the road by burning tyres and putting up barricades.
The same situation was also witnessed in the Eastern Bypass area, which was closed in the morning, but people started their businesses and opened shops in the Bosa Mandi area after 1pm.
Reports reaching from Chaman, Qila Saifullah, Qila Abdullah, Pishin, Harnai, Duki, Ziarat, Kan Mehtarzai, Muslim Bagh, Loralai, Barkhan, Usta Muhammad, Nasirabad and other areas suggested that small protest demonstrations of PTI and other parties, including PkMAP, were held.
PTI hails public ‘response’
In a statement on X, PTI Secretary General Salman Akram Raja asserted that a strike was a “documented Constitutional method to express irritation with the system”.
He said the public could express their “hatred towards lies and oppression from their doorsteps” in this way. “Shop closed, vehicle jammed. No tyrant can compare to 250 million. Today is the day of a strike.
Meanwhile, KP Chief Minister Sohail Afridi congratulated all participating parties for a “successful” shutter-down and wheel-jam strike.
PTI leader Asad Qaiser also congratulated the nation on the “successful” observance of Feb 8 as a “black day”.
Talking to Dawn, he claimed that at a number of places, including Swabi, “powers that be forced people to open their shops and also threatened transporters that strict action will be taken if they do not bring their vehicles on the road”.
On the other hand, Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz said in a post on X: “ZERO protest/strike/shutter down in Punjab. ZERO.”
Imtiaz Ali and Imran Ayub in Karachi also contributed to this report
Published in Dawn, February 9th, 2026
