Treasury members in the National Assembly on Thursday condemned May 12, 2007 riots and carnage in Karachi while terming it a black day in the history of Pakistan. Opposition members, however, boycotted proceeding of the house on the fourth consecutive day in protest against absence of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in the house. Speaking on a point of order, Pukhtoonkhwa Milli Awami Party chief Mehmood Khan Achakzai said the May 12 was a black day in the history of Pakistan as people struggling for restoration of democracy and independence of judiciary were killed in the broad daylight.
"It has been nine years since the May 12 incident and neither any government nor judiciary dared to investigate it to hold the culprits accountable," he said. Achakzai also expressed dismay over consecutive governments for not compensating the victims and their families who lost their valuable property and lives in the May 12 riots.
"The killers and arsonists were caught on camera and all other evidence is available to prosecute them, but unfortunately no action has been initiated so far," he said. Another member Shah Jee Gul Afridi termed the incident as a conspiracy to target Pashtuns in Karachi and spread the chaos to other parts of the country as well. He said the government should have constituted a judicial commission to probe the May 12 riots.
Mian Tariq Mahmood of the PML-N said the Rangers had arrested a large number of criminals in Karachi during the operation, but not a single culprit of the May 12 incident was apprehended so far. Speaking on the issue, Minister for Railways Khawaja Saad Rafique said the then-government tried to block a public movement against restoration of democracy and judiciary.
He also urged the political parties not to become part of the dictatorships as the latter caused a lot of societal and structural problems in the country. "Some people keep criticising the democratic governments in a bid to discredit politicians among the public," he said, adding that even the worst democracy is better than the dictatorship.
In a veiled reference to criticism of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf on the ruling party, he said that some 'political actors' in the country wanted to derail democracy in the country, or were preparing for early elections under the garb of Panama Papers.
"Their attitude is causing problems for democracy in the country," he said, urging the opposition parties not to create chaos in the name of investigations on the Panama leaks. "We all should not cross the red lines which we have done in the past to avoid a May 12-like situation in the country," he said. Earlier, proceeding of the house remained suspended due to lack of quorum which was pointed out by a PTI lawmaker Murad Saeed.