June 19, 2008	Thursday	Jamadi-us-Sani 14, 1429

KARACHI, June 18: The Sindh government on Wednesday set up an inquiry tribunal to probe the April 9 incident which saw some half a dozen people being burnt alive in Tahir Plaza near City Courts along with large-scale violence across the city.

The government appointed a Sindh High Court judge to come up with a report within two weeks.

The move from the Pakistan People’s Party-led provincial administration came after more than two months of the incident, which attracted serious criticism from political quarters and the legal fraternity.“Justice Nadeem Azhar Siddiqui of the Sindh High Court will head the tribunal,” said an official citing the provincial home department’s notification.

“The tribunal’s terms of reference include finding out the reasons and people behind the bloody incident.”

He said the tribunal would record statements of officials, eyewitnesses, policemen of the area and the fire department’s men to reach its conclusion.

“The tribunal will ascertain the causes of the incident and identify the persons or groups involved in the violence. It also would question whether intelligence network had collected the information of cooking up of a conspiracy of violence and passed it on to the police.”

At least 10 people lost their lives and more than 40 vehicles were set on fire after a brief scuffle between groups of pro- and anti-government lawyers at the City Courts led to deadly violence.

Political parties blamed Muttahida Qaumi Movement for the violence. However, the MQM denied such allegations and insisted that a judicial inquiry into the incident be instituted. The latest move by the provincial administration seems to have come after taking onboard the MQM, which is part of the governing coalition.

“The proceedings of the tribunal would further establish its transparency,” said Faisal Sabzwari, a provincial minister and leader of the MQM. “Our leadership even demanded an inquiry into the incident from an international organization but still we hope that the probe under a high court judge would be transparent and lead to justice.”

He said that being a coalition partner and a true democratic force, the MQM would support the provincial government in bringing to book culprits behind the April 9 violence.

The official, however, said the tribunal would not only record the statements of the people who witnessed the incident but also speak to those organizations which were supposed to perform their duties for the rescue of the victims and overall law and order.

“The terms of reference for the tribunal suggest that it would also look into the role of firefighters after Tahir Plaza came under arson attack,” he added.

He said initial reports gathered by the law enforcers suggested the fire department’s apathy in rescuing people who remained trapped for about four hours in the burning building, set ablaze by attackers and where unlike previous incidents the much-needed snorkel and other rescue vehicle were not pressed into service.

“The snorkel was parked in the central fire station which is less than a kilometre from Tahir Plaza,” said the official citing facts gathered by the investigators.However, he said, it was not known whether the snorkel was not called in by the officer who reached the spot or whether he was denied this support by the central fire station. He added that as a rule of thumb such a facility was employed when a fire broke out in a building above the sixth floor.