May 12 carnage: MQM asks why Wasim Akhtar the only one being questioned

Party ends hunger strike, calls upon residents to join rally tomorrow

KARACHI: Muttahida Qaumi Movement senior leader Amir Khan questioned why the party's mayor-elect, Wasim Akhtar, is the only one being questioned regarding the May 12, 2007, carnage.

He was speaking at the party's hunger strike outside Karachi Press Club against what it termed are injustices against the party. Hundreds of workers and senior party leaders sat throughout the day amid slogans and blaring party songs.

Talking about why Akhtar was being solely held responsible for the May 12 carnage, Khan questioned why the then heads of Military Intelligence, Inter-Services Intelligence and Intelligence Bureau and the then IG and Sindh CM were not being questioned if an inquiry into the May 12 incident is being conducted.

He remarked that the Rangers were operating against the MQM even during the time when they did not have the legal powers. Khan lamented that the people of Karachi were not being treated as sons of the soil, which is leading to a heightened sense of deprivation.

According to Khan, many cadres in the army agree that the Muhajirs are being treated unfairly but the persecution continues due to the ego of certain officials.

Calling for a review of actions and policies, Khan said that corrective measures should be taken before this spark turns into a flame that engulfs the entire nation. "The Bengalis had been treated in similar fashion and the results are before the nation today," he said.

Khan went on to question the 'double standards' of the state when it comes to the MQM. "When the sons of SHC Chief Justice and the former PM are kidnapped, they are recovered, while the whereabouts of hundreds of missing MQM workers remain unknown," he lamented.

Khan ended the two-day hunger strike and called upon the public to participate in the rally on Sunday, which, he said, will be a massive show of strength and is crucial to the sustenance of the Muhajir community. The rally will start from Aisha Manzil and culminate at the Quaid's mausoleum.

Addressing the participants, MQM deputy convener Shahid Pasha said that such a picture was painted that depicts that Karachi is the only city where crime prevails while the rest of the country had no crime or violence.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 6^th, 2016.