In reaction to the December 2 suicide bombing at the Quetta rally, nationalist political parties organised a complete wheel-jam and shutter-down strike across Balochistan, including the provincial capital, on Monday.
According to the 24NewsHD TV channel, the protest brought life to a standstill in many areas, disrupting transport, trade, and routine life in the province.
Quetta police detained several political activists for blocking roads and disturbing public order during the protests. In addition, one political worker was also arrested in Jaffarabad, where tensions briefly escalated during demonstrations.
Due to the strike, Balochistan’s connection to other provinces was completely cut off, with key national highways blocked at several points. This caused significant delays for patients and travellers heading to other cities, leading to widespread inconvenience.
Authorities had placed stringent security measures across the province to prevent any untoward incident. Fortunately, the day passed without major unrest.
The strike was jointly called by multiple political parties, including the Balochistan National Party (Mengal group), Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party, National Party, Awami National Party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), and Majlis Wahdat-ul-Muslimeen.
The protest aimed to condemn the deadly attack in Quetta and demand greater accountability and security reforms.
Business activities came to a halt in several key towns such as Chaman, Zhob, Kalat, Surab, and Jaffarabad, where shopkeepers kept shutters down in solidarity.
The commercial closure led to heavy financial losses for traders, many of whom expressed frustration over the lack of long-term solutions to terrorism.
Meanwhile, Federal Minister for Railways Hanif Abbasi issued a strong reaction to the strike, stating that the call for protest, allegedly influenced by the PTI founder Imran Khan, was overwhelmingly rejected by the public.
He said, “Once again, the people of Pakistan have sent a clear message rejecting the politics of anarchy and division. The nation wants progress, stability, and unity—not chaos.”
He added that the youth, once seen as the backbone of PTI’s movement, were visibly absent from today’s demonstrations. “In fact”, Abbasi claimed, “you couldn’t find a single PTI supporter today, even with a telescope.”
