Eyewitness: Karachi, May 12, 2007

khamy1 #9 {``knowing the reputation of MQM , anybody with the least bit of common sense would attend any political rally armed to the teeth if it`s against the interest of MQM ``}

Qumquat,
So these guys were prepared and went looking for a gunfight and they got one? They killed a few and few of them were killed. Sounds tragic, violent, but quite premeditated.

May 12, 2007 is a day which - from the accounts read here and elsewhere - shall forever live in infamy in the history of Pakistan!

It proves once and for all - if such proof be needed at all - that power without accountability leads to the worst form of degradation of the soul!

The culprits - and I mean the REAL culprits, not the mere stooges in the streets - must be held accountable!

But how does one make accountable the chore bhaya koatwaal - in the umpteenth repetition of an apparently permanent ritual - in that khoon ki holi forever ongoing in that country?!

Beena Sarwar is gonna get it from Aisha Sarwari (any relation?) because of the following statement... ``its rivals are hardly Gandhian in their outlook, which is what it would require to remain unarmed and peaceful in the face of the threat that day. ``

The MQM is certainly not the only party that wields arms in Karachi - its rivals are hardly Gandhian in their outlook, which is what it would require to remain unarmed and peaceful in the face of the threat that day.

But MQM is the most dominant party in Karachi - and it forms Government. Therefore it has a responsibility to maintain peace. It was the Government that disarmed most of the city`s police force that day and ordered the law enforcing agencies to allow the rampage until 4 pm. As a friend wrote, ``It could not have been the Chief Justice or the opposition. It has to be the Government and the Government means Musharraf.`` In Karachi, Government also means MQM.

One more quote from a lawyer in Karachi: ``First, the media does do the same for political thuggery by other parties. The media and civil society have never hesitated in condemning the terrorism and savagery of militant sectarian groups. The only difference is that other parties do not issue lists of `chauvanistic journalists`. Other parties do not present bullets in an envelope, as has been reported to have been done with Azhar Abbas (see today`s Pakistani newspapers), who is on the MQM`s list of `chauvanistic journalists.` The truth is that until recently we did not have the courage of confronting the MQM with our written words. But the truth has confronted the MQM courtesy of live television.

``Second. Nobody wants to eradicate the MQM or its supreme leader Mr. Altaf Hussain. We only want it to lift the aura of fear and violence.``

Arjun bhai,

(funny how pakis never mention bangladesh and the hundreds of thousands killed there.. )

They were just improving the race there.

Regards

#8
here is the gameplan...since it`s worse in other areas..therefore, why talk only about karachi...or MQM...;)

[If the CJ`s supporters (ANP, PPI, PPP, ML(N) ) were all that ``peaceful,`` why were they armed?]

...knowing the reputation of MQM , anybody with the least bit of common sense would attend any political rally armed to the teeth if it`s against the interest of MQM ...prolly, you have not been to karachi for the last twenty years...

Dear writer,

Hardly anything original, much of the articel is a rehash of other journalistic reports. Having said that, truly tragic, reprehensible act that could have been avoided.

What I would like our human right activists, paragons of democracy to try and report on the affairs of Wazirastan, Bannu, Swat, Fata.

Ms Beena, try riding a motorbike in Fata land or better try walking as a journalist in the land of pure and IF u ever come back in one piece then your self-righteous proclamation may have some weight.

Regards

#431 by Salim_Chauhan (carried over from Tariq Ali Board)

Beena`s account is rather one-sided and very opinionated.

I don`t see Beena stating her own opinion anywhere above. Do you? She`s just stating eyewitness testimonies and newspaper accounts alongwith sources. How many eyewitness accounts do you want to challenge?

law enforcement agencies have stood by and even participated in worse massacres elsewhere, like Northern Ireland and Gujarat, India.


funny how pakis never mention bangladesh and the hundreds of thousands killed there..

look pakis..face it..the violence was by your army..and it`s B team...the same army you cheered on in 1999..the one led by the general whose commando fatigues you told us we should be in awe of...and how he was going to prevail over the dhoti wearing vajpayee and make kashmir banega pakiland and pakiland banega silicon valley...

Author,

The most graphic account I have read so far anywhere. Thanks.

May 12 was one of the two darkest days in the history of this country (the other being the hanging of ZAB) which will have far-reaching and durable consequences.

Regards.

Beena,
I am very disappointed in this terribly-biased, politically-tainted, and totally one-dimensional article. Please have the common sense and decency to present BOTH sides of the carnage and BOTH sides of who did what. If the CJ`s supporters (ANP, PPI, PPP, ML(N) ) were all that ``peaceful,`` why were they armed?

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The terror unleashed by NaPak fouj and their fascist allies MQM on the oppressed people of Pakistan, makes the sad day of 5/12 as a milestone in the people`s struggle for democracy and rule of law in this country. The history of 5/12 that Beena has so courageously documented will forever define the future of this country.

Thank you Beena

Beena,
What a one-sided and obviously biased account of this unfortunte and terrible tragedy? Shame on you for being so blatantly opinionated.

Here is something from Dawn that presents a totally different picture:

May 20, 2007 Sunday Jamadi-ul-Awwal 03, 1428

KARACHI: Muttahida screens footage of violence
By Our Staff Reporter

KARACHI, May 19: Holding opposition parties responsible for the May 12 bloodshed, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement on Saturday screened video footage showing opposition workers using lethal weapons, damaging and setting fire to vehicles.

The footage, titled “A Bitter Truth”, was screened at a press conference held here at the party’s headquarters, Nine Zero.

MQM leaders Faisal Subzwari and Haider Rizvi said the purpose of screening the video footage was to show the other side of the story through the media.

Mr Subzwari pinpointed PPP leaders Sherry Rehman and Naveed Qamar, who were seated in a jeep bearing registration number BD-1820. The jeep was surrounded by armed PPP workers who resorted to indiscriminate firing near the COD Bridge on Drigh Road and later torched vehicles belonging to the MQM workers.

According to him, the jeep was registered in the name of Nadeem Hussain, Ms Rehman’s husband.

Mr Subzwari also pinpointed armed workers of the Pakistan People’s Party, Awami National Party and Jamaat-i-Islami in the footage targeting MQM rallies, beating up party workers at the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre and damaging vehicles. Armed activists of Islami Jamiat Talba were also shown in the footage threatening policemen at JMPC to leave the hospital.

On Sharea Faisal, armed workers of the ANP were seen firing indiscriminately near Aisha Bawani College. At the COD Bridge, ANP workers were shown damaging a vehicle (AC-1660) and throwing a PPP flag on the vehicle, giving an impression as if the vehicle owned by PPP workers was being damaged by MQM activists.

The 10-minute footage also contained shots of a peaceful MQM rally which came under heavy fire near Patel Para.

Mr Rizvi and Mr Subzwari demanded an independent inquiry into the violent incidents.

MQM coordination committee joint in charge Abdul Haseeb and other members were also present.