KARACHI: Heirs of May 12 victims see no point in lodging FIRs
By S. Raza Hassan
KARACHI, May 21: A large number of people whose family members were gunned down in the May 12 killings have refrained from lodging FIRs either in the belief that justice will not be done to them or the police declined to register their cases as they wanted to nominate suspected killers in their complaints.
Fifteen murder FIRs have been registered out of a total of 26 registered alone in the Zone II Investigation, starting from Nursery to Bin Qasim Town. The Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre alone received 25 bodies.
The Malir district president of the Awami National Party, Amanullah Khan, told Dawn: “We don’t expect justice from the present government. So we have not lodged the cases.
“My own son was injured and 11 of our members from Landhi and adjoining areas died in the May 12 incidents, but we have decided not to lodge the FIRs,” Khan added.
“Moreover, under our traditions, we will follow the decisions made by our elders,” he added.
“We have received no special instructions from the top in this connection. We are registering cases as complainants are turning up. However, all the FIRs have been registered against unknown people,” said a senior police official asking not to be named.
A few other FIRs have also been registered in zone I and III, where incidents of violence took place but the major chunk of killing took place on Sharea Faisal.
Some of the people who were injured in the May 12 mayhem have said in their statements that they could recognize the suspects if brought to them while others have stated that the suspects who were firing gunshots had covered their faces. However, the victims’ families do not have high hopes as far as the investigations are concerned.
Some of the injured who have reported the matter in the hope that they might get some compensation for the losses they suffered in the arson incidents widely reported on May 12.
Some of the injured admitted to the JPMC were so disillusioned with the events of May 12 that they simply rejected the idea of registering their complaints at the police station, saying that it would be an exercise in futility.
Narrating his ordeal on that fateful day, Azam Khan lying in a hospital bed said that a bunch of armed men on motorcycles opened fire on him in the area in front of the Wireless Gate. He ran to take cover in a narrow alley where he collapsed. He was doubtful if he could recognize the people who had fired at him.
Five cases, all of murder, were registered by the Airport police station.
Seven cases have been registered by the Sharea Faisal police station, one pertaining to murder and the remaining about arson and injuries.
Of the four FIRs registered by the Al Falah police station, two pertained to murder while the other two were about injuries.
At the Model Colony police station both the cases registered pertained to murder.
The Saudabad, Shah Faisal Colony, Landhi and Ibrahim Hydri police stations each witnessed single murder in their jurisdictions.
Of the three FIRs registered by the Quaidabad police stations, one pertained to murder while the rest were about arson and violence.
