May 12 carnage commemorated with protest over lack of justice

Lawyers observed black day on Tuesday to mark the 13th anniversary of the May 12 carnage in which around 50 people were killed and over 100 were injured.

The legal fraternity boycotted courts in protest over the lack of justice to the victims of the violence and wore black arms bands.

The Karachi Bar Association commemorated their slain colleagues in a ceremony held in the Ameer Haider Shah Shed at the city courts.

A large number of lawyers attended the event in order to express solidarity with their fraternity.

Presiding over the event, KBA joint secretary Nadeem Mangi said that on this day every year they renewed their pledge to fight against the injustice, lawlessness and terrorism regardless of the odds they may face. Mangi said this carnage would be remembered forever so that no one else could dare do a similar thing again.

At the culmination of the event, the lawyers unanimously demanded justice to the victims of the May 12 carnage and demanded strict action against the then president General Pervez Musharraf and his allies.

They said the responsible of this mayhem were roaming scot-free and many of them were still sitting with the government which was a blow to the justice system of the country.

On May 12, 2007, almost all mainstream political parties, including the Muttahida Qaumi Movement, the Pakistan Peoples Party, the Jamaat-e-Islami, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and the Awami National Party, took to streets to welcome or to oppose the arrival of the then deposed chief justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry in the city to address a lawyers' gathering.

As soon as the plane carrying Justice Chaudhry landed on the Karachi airport, a spree of violence began into the city. The ex-chief justice remained inside the airport for at least nine hours and then was forced to leave the city without addressing the gathering which was held under the lawyers’ movement for the restoration of judiciary.

Several cases are under trial at anti-terrorism courts pertaining to this carnage. Karachi mayor Waseem Akhtar, who was the de-facto home minister in the province then, has been charged with these crimes along with several other members of his party. Several people from other parties also face the charges.