Claim: The Karachi Commissioner has announced a public holiday on 26 April 2025 owing to protests and a nationwide strike called by the JIP in solidarity with Palestine.
Fact: The notification is fake, as confirmed by the Karachi Commissioner’s Office.
On 25 April 2025, Facebook page ‘NewsPulse’ wrote in a post (archive) that the Karachi Commissioner had announced a “public holiday” on 26 April, on account of the nationwide shutter-down strike announced by the Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan (JIP).
A notification, dated 25 April 2025 and attributed to Karachi Commissioner Syed Hassan Naqvi, is included in the post. It reads as follows:
“No. CK/GNS/Holiday/2025/348: In view of the nationwide strike on April 26 to protest the ongoing Israeli aggression in Gaza, and to avoid inconvenience to the general public, Saturday, 26th April, 2025, is hereby declared a Public Holiday in Karachi Division. All the private offices, educational institutions (public/private), shall remain closed except the essential services and officials involved in emergency duties.”
The notification in question seems to have been signed by Assistant Commissioner (General) Sajjad Ahmed Abro.
Part of the caption by ‘NewsPulse’ reads as follows:
“The Commissioner Karachi has declared a public holiday in the city on Saturday, April 26, 2025. This decision has been taken given the strike announced by various organizations to protect the citizens from possible problems. The main reasons for the strike in Karachi on April 26 include protection of Sindh’s water resources, solidarity with the Palestinian people, and protest for the rights of the Baloch people.”
Pro-Palestine protests in Pakistan
The JIP has announced a countrywide strike on 26 April to protest against Israeli military operations in Gaza and express solidarity with Palestine. It also urged people to bolster a boycott of products linked to the Middle Eastern nation’s interests.
The strike was called by JIP chief Hafiz Naeemur Rehman as he addressed another event on 20 April — Gaza Solidarity March or Palestine Solidarity March — in Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad, where tens of thousands of people turned up to join, The Express Tribune reported. He “demanded that a Hamas office be opened in Pakistan” and slammed Muslim leaders around the world “for their silence over the genocide in Gaza”.
The protest was “originally planned near the US Embassy” in Islamabad but later “moved to Zero Point following negotiations between organisers and the Interior Ministry”, Anadolu Agency reported. It added that he said, “The US is not our friend but it’s the biggest supporter and protector of the Zionist regime that has killed tens of thousands of unarmed civilians, mostly women and children in Gaza.”
According to Dawn, Rehman also said, “We will go from shop to shop and tell them to keep business activities suspended on April 26. We will wage a jihad [holy war] through boycotts, strikes, and social media [campaigns].”
Over the past few weeks, the JIP, as well as various political parties and traders’ groups, have staged major demonstrations in multiple cities across Pakistan after Israel broke a fragile ceasefire and resumed attacks a few weeks ago.
Israel’s war in Gaza started after Hamas attacked the country’s border on 7 October 2023. Since then, over 51,200 Palestinians have been killed and more than 116,900 injured, as per an 22 April 2025 update by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), which added that at least 1,200 Israelis have been killed and upwards of 5,400 injured. Approximately 59 Israeli hostages remain in captivity.
Pakistan has also witnessed major protests against international chains and brands that are perceived to be sympathetic to or are linked to Israel. In many cities, Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) outlets — and at least one of Domino’s Pizza — have been attacked, vandalised, and set on fire in some instances, with authorities arresting over 170 people. In one instance, an employee was killed at the fast food chain’s Sheikhupura branch.
On 11 April, some 15,000 people joined a major rally organised by the JIP in support of Palestine.
Fact or Fiction?
Soch Fact Check first tried to see if any reputable media outlets had reported on the development but did not find any such articles; however, we did come across multiple others that had rehashed the claim.
We reached out to the media department of the Karachi Commissioner’s Office where an official, Hasan Ali, told us that the notification is fake and was not issued by Naqvi. He pointed out that government offices operate Monday to Friday; the notification in question calls for a public holiday on Saturday and, therefore, could not be authentic.
Soch Fact Check also sought a response from the Karachi Commissioner’s Office through their official complaint service on WhatsApp. We received “fake” as a response.
Virality
Soch Fact Check found the claim circulating here, here, here, here, and here on Facebook, as well as here and here on Instagram.
Media outlets, such as GTV News, Hamariweb.com, and MM News, also published news reports regurgitating the same claim.
Shortly afterwards, however, MM News published another report — without removing its false one in Urdu — stating that the public holiday notification attributed to the Karachi Commissioner was fake.
It also surfaced on X (formerly Twitter) here.
Conclusion: Karachi Commissioner’s Office has confirmed the notification announcing a public holiday on 26 April 2025 is fake.
Background image in cover photo: Technocrat694/Wikimedia Commons
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