The party has also announced it will observe a mourning day following Friday\u2019s suicide bombing<\/a> at an imambargah in Islamabad that claimed at least 36 lives<\/a>.<\/p>\n In a statement on X, PTI Secretary General Salman Akram Raja asserted that a strike was a \u201cdocumented Constitutional method to express irritation with the system\u201d.<\/p>\n He said the public could express their \u201chatred towards lies and oppression from their doorsteps\u201d in this way. \u201cShop closed, vehicle jammed. No tyrant can compare to 250 million. Today is the day of a strike.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is a day of mourning over the stolen vote and terrorism in Balochistan and Islamabad,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n \n <\/a>\n <\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n Recalling the Feb 8, 2024 elections, Raja termed it a \u201chistoric moment of the Pakistani nation\u2019s democratic expression\u201d. He highlighted that the people voted<\/a> for PTI in support of its founder Imran Khan despite \u201cmonths-long oppression and snatching the electoral symbol\u201d.<\/p>\n He further said, \u201cOn that dark evening, the wolves who looted the votes of those young people and of the entire nation across the country, they negated the very existence of millions of human beings.\u201d<\/p>\n \n <\/a>\n <\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n The TTAP and PTI shared purported visuals of shops shut in various cities, including KP\u2019s Peshawar<\/a>, Abbottabad<\/a>, Balakot<\/a>, Haripur<\/a>, Bajaur<\/a>, Upper Chitral<\/a> and Lakki Marwat<\/a>; Sindh\u2019s Hyderabad<\/a>, Mirpurkhas<\/a>, Umerkot<\/a>, Badin<\/a> and Nawabshah<\/a>; Punjab\u2019s Mandi Bahauddin<\/a>, Mianwali<\/a>, Muzaffargarh<\/a>; and Balochistan\u2019s Quetta<\/a>, Chaman<\/a>, Zhob<\/a>, and Kuchlak<\/a>.<\/p>\n It also posted videos showing PTI workers and supporters gathered in KP\u2019s Kohat<\/a>, as well as Balochistan\u2019s Nasirabad<\/a>, Qila Saifullah<\/a>, Chaman<\/a> and Pishin<\/a>.<\/p>\n \n <\/a>\n <\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n On Saturday, PTI leader Asad Qaiser had told Dawn<\/em> the party had neither postponed nor cancelled its protest programme. \u201cThe day will be observed as a National Day of Mourning and, at the same time, protests will be held across the country against rigging in the general election,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Qaiser said February 8 was not only about PTI founder Imran Khan and the party leadership.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is a day on which the nation was deprived of democracy and the right to choose its representatives,\u201d he said, adding that the party would hold protests and a shutter-down strike \u201cwith the masses\u201d against the alleged electoral manipulation.<\/p>\n 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\u2019s protest.<\/p>\n A Dawn<\/em> correspondent reported a partial strike was being observed in Peshawar\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n PTI leader Omar Ayub Khan said in a post on X that there was a shutter-down strike in Haripur Bazaar and a \u201ctotal public transport wheel jam\u201d.<\/p>\n He expressed his gratitude to \u201call traders associations and transport associations of Haripur for their cooperation in showing solidarity\u201d with TTAP\u2019s call.<\/p>\n \n <\/a>\n <\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n PTI district president Irfan Saleem said workers in Peshawar would gather in the Hashtnagri area around noon before marching through the city. He said a rally at Chowk Yadgar would be addressed by party leaders.<\/p>\n PTI KP Deputy Information Secretary Ikram Khatana said that the party\u2019s Peshawar chapter would arrange a demonstration at Chowk Yadgar in the afternoon. Seating arrangement and panaflex boards could be seen at the venue, with PTI banners hanging in front of closed shops.<\/p>\n He said that party workers would gather at Hashtnagri Chowk around 12pm and later march through Rampura Bazaar to reach Chowk Yadgar.<\/p>\n Besides, he said that all the district chapters across the province would arrange events.<\/p>\n In Okara, police arrested<\/a> 30 PTI workers ahead of Sunday\u2019s protests.<\/p>\n PTI\u2019s Mehr Abdul Sattar was detained for seven days under the MPO Ordinance. Police also raided the house of PTI-backed MNA Usama Hamza in Gojra, but he was not found.<\/p>\n In Punjab, the PTI said it would observe a \u201csilent agitation\u201d by urging people to stay home and keep bazaars and transport shut voluntarily as part of a shutter-down and wheel-jam strike to express their resentment against a \u201cForm-47 government that stole people\u2019s mandate\u201d.<\/p>\n The PTI\u2019s Lahore chapter claimed on X at 11:45am that police had reached Sujawal Bridge in Sadiqabad to force people to open their shops.<\/p>\n \n <\/a>\n <\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n PTI Punjab Chief Organiser Aliya Hamza Malik had urged people to suspend outdoor activity and stay home as a form of protest. She also called for torch-bearing rallies after Maghrib prayers at the union council level.<\/p>\n Party leaders in the province also criticised police raids and arrests of workers on Saturday, alleging harassment of families during search operations.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, most of the markets in the federal capital remained open on Sunday as traders did not heed the PTI\u2019s strike call.<\/p>\n These included the main markets in different sectors and sub-sectors of the city.<\/p>\n While Sunday bazaars act as a litmus test for such calls by political parties, the H-9 weekly bazaar remained open. A Dawn<\/em> correspondent reported that a large number of people were visiting the weekly bazaar.<\/p>\n Fawad Khan, a PTI supporter who was selling garments, said that he and other traders cannot afford to close their shops.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are already hand-to-mouth, and I cannot starve my family. I am a follower of Imran Khan and even voted for his candidate, but I cannot afford to close the stall,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Muhammad Faiq, a resident who had come for shopping, said that although they have sympathy for PTI, it was not possible for him to remain limited to his house on a Sunday.<\/p>\n \u201cI get only one day in a week to purchase grocery and I must do it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n However, resident Muhammad Danish said that all the political parties were the same and they never cared about the masses.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen PTI was in power, they did not care about the masses and Imran Khan has been facing charges that he sold the [state] gifts. He used to give examples of different premiers that they come to office on bicycles but he himself travelled on a helicopter to go to office,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cNo one, including the establishment, cares about Pakistan; otherwise, we would not be suffering and facing such a situation,\u201d he lamented.<\/p>\n PTI Islamabad President Amir Mughal had said the party would combine the protest with mourning activities.<\/p>\n While no protest was reported in Rawalpindi as of 11am, local administration and police were alert and patrolling the city to handle any violent agitation.<\/p>\n A local district administration official confirmed that bus service in Islamabad was suspended. However, traffic on the roads was reported to be the same as usual.<\/p>\n PTI Sindh President Haleem Adil Sheikh shared pictures, saying that Jackson Electronics Market was among the bazaars shut in Karachi\u2019s Keamari district.<\/p>\n \n <\/a>\n <\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n The PTI\u2019s Karachi chapter also claimed that markets in Safoora Town<\/a>, North Nazimabad<\/a>, Landhi<\/a>, Shah Faisal Colony<\/a>, Model Town<\/a> and Malir<\/a> were shut by traders to record their protest silently.<\/p>\n In another post, Sheikh contended, \u201cThis strike is not just a strike, it\u2019s a referendum! Today\u2019s nationwide strike has set a new precedent.<\/p>\n \u201cHistorically, strikes in this province were enforced with sticks, threats, roadblocks, burning tyres, even bullets and arson.\u201d<\/p>\n He added, \u201cThis may be the first strike in Pakistan\u2019s history where workers were not on the streets \u2014 yet the public itself shut everything down. That is not a strike; that is a referendum.\u201d<\/p>\n \n <\/a>\n <\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n In a post, the TTAP said its workers had \u201cblocked all roads\u201d in Balochistan\u2019s Loralai<\/a> and Harnai<\/a>. Tyres were also burned to block the road near Duki\u2019s Eidgah Chowk, it said<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/a>KP<\/h2>\n
<\/a>Punjab<\/h2>\n
<\/a>Islamabad, Rawalpindi<\/h2>\n
![\"People](\"https:\/\/i.dawn.com\/primary\/2026\/02\/08124008262918d.webp\")
<\/div><\/a>Sindh<\/h2>\n
<\/a>Balochistan<\/h2>\n