May 23, 2007	Wednesday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 06, 1428

PESHAWAR, May 22: Condemning the killings of some Pakhtuns in Karachi on May 12, the Aalmi Pashto Congress — a social and literary organisation — observed a one-day token hunger strike in front of the press club here on Tuesday.

Senior Vice-Chairman of the Pashto Congress Shahabuddin Advocate, Faridoon Khan, Riaz Khattak, Khayal Akbar Afridi and others participated in the hunger strike camp, which began at 9am and lasted till 4pm.

Leaders of various political parties, social and traders’ organisations visited the camp and expressed their solidarity with those on hunger strike.

Provincial President of the PPP (Shaheed Bhutto) Kakaji Zahoor Qureshi, Sajjad Hussain and others remained there for a while.

Shahabuddin Advocate said that the killing of political party workers, particularly Pakhtuns, was a brutal act on the part of an ethnic group, saying that the MQM should confess its mistake and seek apology from the whole nation as the MQM had organised separate rallies on the day when the lawyers and workers of various political parties were going to receive Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry.

He demanded a judicial inquiry into the Karachi carnage and the removal of Sindh Governor Ishratul Ebad, saying that the London conspiracy should be exposed.

He said the MQM and other ruling parties involved in the death of the Pakhtuns should be given exemplary punishment.