May 14, 2007	Monday	Rabi-us-Sani 26, 1428

ISLAMABAD, May 13: The Pakistan Muslim League-N has demanded a judicial inquiry into Saturday’s violence in Karachi that claimed the lives of a large number of innocent people.

Talking to journalists here on Sunday, PML-N information secretary Ahsan Iqbal held the Musharraf regime responsible for the massacre of people. “After losing nerves due to the massive support shown by lawyers, political workers and civil society for the rule of law and independence of judiciary, the government hatched a conspiracy to crush the peaceful movement with force and terror.”

He regretted that the Muttahida Qaumi Movement had announced a rally on the same day when the chief justice was coming to the city and had rejected all appeals to change the date of its rally.

He said that keeping in view the situation, extra security should have been ensured, but even Rangers, who usually were seen on the streets of Karachi, were not there.

Mr Iqbal regretted that the day started with the killing of two PML-N workers and later, when opposition parties’ rallies reached the Sharea Faisal, armed workers of the ruling party opened fire on them, killing dozens of political workers.

MQM rallies were provided passage to Tibet Centre, but all routes leading to the Sindh High Court and the airport were sealed with heavy containers which even obstructed the movement of security personnel and ambulances. The obstructions were not cleared despite the orders of the Chief Justice of the Sindh High Court, he said.

He said the armed gangs belonging to the same party continued to fire on the Aaj TV building for six hours and there was no security cover. And finally, he said, a new history was created by denying entry to the chief justice, senior lawyers and media people into Karachi as if it were a war zone. “This is a conspiracy hatched by the Musharraf regime through its political surrogates to create law and order situation in order to diffuse the judicial crisis.”

The PML-N leader said the nation had a right to know where were Rangers and other security agencies on May 12, why extra security arrangements were not made, who allowed the sealing of Karachi streets and roads leading to the high court and the airport, why the SHC chief justice’s orders were flouted, why Aaj TV was not provided any security for more than six hours, on whose orders armed gangs were let loose at opposition rallies heading towards the airport and why violence was unleashed only in Karachi while rallies in support of the chief justice in other cities were peaceful.

“While the streets of Karachi were littered with blood, Gen Musharraf was celebrating a rally mela costing the poor nation over Rs1 billion with less than 10,000 participants. Each participant cost the national exchequer Rs100,000 and it was the most expensive political theatre ever staged in the world,” he said.