KARACHI: Sit-in protests at various locations across Pakistan’s southern port city of Karachi continued for a third consecutive day today, Sunday, with demonstrators showing solidarity with the people in Kurram district, where violence and a lack of medical access have claimed over 130 lives in recent weeks.
Kurram, a northwestern district of around 600,000 people in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, has long been a hotspot for tribal and sectarian violence, with authorities struggling to maintain control.
The area’s situation has necessitated travel in convoys escorted by security personnel, yet it failed to prevent an attack on Nov. 21, when gunmen ambushed a convoy, killing 52 people. The attack sparked further violence and road closures, restricting access to medicine, food and fuel in the region.
A grand jirga, or council of political and tribal elders, has attempted to mediate between rival factions, as protests in Parachinar, the main city in Kurram, spread to Karachi on Friday where demonstrators held sit-in protests at 10 different locations in the city.
“Protest demonstrations due to the Parachinar incident in Karachi city are ongoing,” Karachi Traffic Police said in an advisory, urging citizens to avoid traveling unnecessarily in certain locations across the metropolis.
The protests have been called by the Majlis-e-Wahdatul Muslimeen (MWM), a Shia organization, with demonstrators blocking main thoroughfares, including Shahrah-e-Faisal, which connects the airport to the city’s Red Zone, home to sensitive government installations, and major hotels.
Another area that has been choked is Numaish, a vital junction linking the city’s central district to its commercial hubs.
“Passengers are requested to exercise patience and refrain from going to locations where the demonstrations are taking place,” the traffic police said.
MWM’s Karachi spokesperson, Syed Ahmad Naqvi, told Arab News on Saturday that the protests would continue as long as the Parachinar protests persist.
“Large-scale protests in Karachi highlight the situation in Kurram, where many precious lives have been lost in recent weeks but have received no attention,” he said.
Meanwhile, Karachi Mayor Murtaza Wahab criticized demonstrators for disrupting daily life in the city.
“If the aim of a protest is to inconvenience people, disrupt a city’s system, prevent ambulances and fire brigades from operating, or hinder police and administrative vehicles, then I believe this is inappropriate,” Wahab told Arab News on Saturday.
Sit-in protests in solidarity with violence-hit Kurram district enter third day in Karachi
https://arab.news/m2vxc
Sit-in protests in solidarity with violence-hit Kurram district enter third day in Karachi
- Demonstrators call protests in Karachi vital to draw attention to ‘overlooked’ crisis in Kurram
- Traffic police urges citizens to avoid traveling unnecessarily in protest areas, exercise patience
Pakistan plans $3,500 locally made electric car to lure motorcycle users
- Government-backed program aims to speed shift to electric transport
- Lithium battery plants and possible tax cuts seen lowering EV costs
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is set to launch a locally manufactured low-cost electric vehicle (EV) priced at Rs1 million ($3,556), aimed at helping motorcycle users transition more easily to cars, an official from the Engineering Development Board (EDB) told Arab News on Monday.
The country has seen a gradual rise in the adoption of EVs in a market traditionally dominated by Japanese automakers. The development comes as major cities across Pakistan face some of the world’s highest levels of air pollution, leading to dense smog in winter, with road transport being a major contributor.
In June last year, Pakistan introduced its Electric Vehicle Policy 2025–30, announcing more than Rs100 billion ($353 million) in subsidies over five years to support electric bikes and rickshaws and accelerate the shift toward cleaner transport.
“The car will be fully made in Pakistan and a local company is working on it,” Zeeshan Ashraf, a spokesman for the Engineering Development Board, a government body, told Arab News. “Its full price will be Rs1 million while the government is planning to give extra subsidy on this.”
Chinese and Korean electric vehicle brands have increasingly entered Pakistan’s market in recent years, making EVs a more common sight in cities such as Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi.
Ashraf said the vehicle will be launched under the Pakistan Accelerated Vehicle Electrification (PAVE) Program, a public-sector initiative designed to promote an eco-friendly and economical transportation system in the country.
The locally manufactured low-cost EV is expected to become available across the country within the next few months, he added.
Earlier, Engineering Development Board Chief Executive Hammad Mansoor was quoted by local media as saying that Pakistan could see its first fully electric, locally manufactured car enter the market by June 2026, with an estimated price of around Rs1 million.
Speaking to journalists during an iftar dinner in Karachi this month, Mansoor also signaled that the government may lower vehicle taxes in the upcoming federal budget to make hybrid, electric and conventional fuel vehicles more affordable.
He said Pakistan’s first lithium battery manufacturing facility is expected to begin production by May, while a second plant could start operations in September.
According to him, about 74 percent of battery components will be produced locally, which could significantly reduce the cost of EVs by relying on domestically manufactured parts.
