May 10, 2008	Saturday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 4, 1429

LAHORE, May 9: An inquiry by the Women’s Action Forum (WAF) has attributed the killings of 50 people on the occasion of visit of (deposed) chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry in Karachi on May 12 last year the failure of the state to fulfill its responsibility to provide protection to people.

The report published by the WAF, Karachi chapter, was released by Hina Jilani, Shahtaj Qizilbash, Khawar Mumtaz and Gulnaz at a news conference at Lahore Press Club here on Friday.

The report says the event proved people were not safe from the violence of state and non-state organisations. Government’s policies encouraged the use of violence for the settlement of religious and political disputes.

Justice Chaudhry visited Karachi to address lawyers but the rulers tried to prevent it with the help of an ethnic organisation and 50 people, including political workers and common citizens, lost their lives as a result of violence. No official inquiry was held into the tragic events as the state wanted to give an impression that it attached no importance to human life.

An inquiry was necessary into the May 12 events because there was a possibility of involvement of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement, according to the WAF report. Those involved should accept responsibility before reconciliation, the forum demanded. The May 12 incidents were the result of an attempt to rule the people by installing fear and the policy turned Karachi into a dangerous city.

Similar attempts were made in Lahore and Islamabad as well. The report said that people had lost confidence in the capability of security agencies to provide protection as a result of custodial killings and disappearances.