May 12 carnage: The imperative of exposing those behind it By Syed Ashfaq Ali

What happened in Karachi on May 12 is very likely to have far-reaching repercussions. Only a high-level judicial inquiry can ascertain the truth. Unless there is an investigation, people will see the mayhem as something that the government rather not investigate

It does not take a genius to see that the gruesome scenes witnessed on the streets of Karachi on May 12 were actually the result of a calculated move to push the megapolis back into the violence and target killings reminiscent of the late eighties and early nineties. Over 40 people have been killed and more than 100 injured since the riots erupted in the city shortly after the Chief Justice arrival at the airport here on May 12. Not only have precious lives been lost, the deep rifts between different sections of Karachi's multiethnic society, which in the past engendered so much ethnic violence and deadly clashes, have been opened again.

Since the filing of the presidential reference against the chief justice the country has been in a state of turbulence. And the proceedings which were carried out after the reference created more commotion giving rise to an unpredictable air. The elements of conspiracy became quite evident when the opposition leaders, instead of demanding an impartial inquiry into the carnage by a high-level judicial or national inquiry commission, leaded to continuous violence in the country. They further added fuel to the fire by issuing provocative statements. These highly provocative and prejudiced attitudes instigated backlash and caused the tragic situation to deteriorate further.

The government has already demanded an independent inquiry into the May 12 tragedy and subsequent violence. However, they have left it to the opposition parties to decide whether they want a judicial probe or some other inquiry. Of course that would be the most democratic way of dealing with this grave issue. Even though the government has insisted, the findings of the inquiry should be accepted by all parties and those found to have any kind of involvement in the conspiracy behind it should be given exemplary punishment irrespective of their political affiliations or statures.

A lot of discussions and statements have been passed since May 12 by the dignitaries of the country. According to the Chief Minister of Sindh, Dr Ghulam Arbab Rahim, there is no point in conducting a probe in the massacre, which was the most horrifying event that happened in the history of Karachi. The reason he gave for the dismissal of inquiry was this that it would only make things worse. Another disclosure made by Sindh Home Secretary Brig (retd) Ghulam Mohammed Mohtaram at a recent press conference was, "we were anticipating clashes if the two rallies were taken out on the same day".

The mayhem seen on the roads was due to the 'uncompromising' attitude of all the parties. If only this press conference would have been held before this mishap, it would certainly have brought the two sides under tremendous pressure to rethink over their plan to avoid responsibility of deadly clashes that took place on May 12. Even though the atmosphere of uncertainty and dark clouds of tensions were already building up in Karachi since the announcement made by different political groups of taking out historic rallies on the arrival of the chief justice in the city. And all these signs showed that a clash was bound to take place as predicted by the political analysts.

No matter what were the reasons of all these happenings that took place, it was the denizens that became the victim of it. After along time all this blood shedding took place, which feared the people to a very large extent. It has always been like this that clashes that take place at political level have proved to be damaging for the citizens of the country. Apart from this such incidents also cause loss to the economy of the country. Karachi has always been the port of revenue, our country leaders should rethink before taking any such step, which could bring financial damages to the country's economy. Since the establishment of Karachi Expo Centre, a lot of financial investments started to drop into the country but incidents like May 12 can lead to vice-versa.

Most of what happened on May 12 might never have happened if all this had been kept in mind.

__________________
Time is like a river.
You cannot touch the same water twice,
because the flow that has passed will never pass again.
Enjoy every moment of life.

I have learnt silence from the talkative, toleration from the intolerant, and kindness from the unkind; yet strange, I am ungrateful to these teachers.