KARACHI, 19 October — The population in the southern port city of Karachi went about with their normal routine, ignoring the strike call which was given by the Sindhi nationalist party, the Jiey Sindh Qaumi Mahaz, and backed by its political ally, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement.

This was a strange development, because no other strike call from the MQM had ever before gone unheeded, but the reason for it, was not difficult to understand. The MQM had supported the strike call "in principle", which means that its decision to stand by the side of the its ally was more of a political kind rather than of any substantial nature.

Altaf Hussain had issued a strongly worded condemnation on the arrest of the JSQM leaders Bashir Qureshi, and Naz Kaliani, but had left it to the people to make their own decision whether to shut their business or not. But the strike was partial in Hyderabad, but fairly effective in some of the districts in the interior, which showed that JSQM had its pockets of influence in Badin, Thatta, Dadu, etc.

The strike was called to protest the arrest of its two main leaders, but the home department said they had cases against them.

The house of a judge in Karachi’s eastern district of Gulshane Iqbal was ransacked on Wednesday night. Aley Haider, posted in the western district of Badin, remained hurt as he was away from Karachi to his native area. The security guard at his house, Dildar Hussain, was killed. Police, however, linked the attack to the ongoing sectarian violence in the city, which has seen some 27 people killed in the last 45 days.

Meanwhile, miscreants ransacked a fire station in New Karachi in the district central. Eyewitnesses said some men intruded into the fire station, beat up the staff and set a fire tender ablaze. Police said the investigations are under way. Angry protesters also set fire to at least four vehicles in different areas of the city.

Business remained open in Karachi, transport plied normally, and all commercial and shopping centers functioned normally. Many interpreted this as a rebuff to the MQM, the party which has commanded an overwhelming support in the country’s commercial capital, but their judgment was based on incorrect assessment. The MQM never really had pressed the point.