The horrors of the 12th of May 2007 have come back alive in the minds of those who had witnessed some of the most horrid and abominable images on this day nearly a decade back. It took me some months to get over the shudders of agony and shame over those images of naked brutality.
Waseem Akhtar the man nominated for Karachi mayorship by the MQM boss, and the man who was in control of Sindh’s ministry of interior at that time has atlast spoken about that day of national shame. As per SSP Anwar, he has virtually made a confession of guilt, but as is the tradition in cases like this, he is likely to state in the court that he had been coerced into making a confessional statement. The MQM leaders are already issuing denials on Waseem Akhtar’s behalf.
But the bitter fact is that a mayhem did occur that day— some blood-curdling gory images certainly ‘adorned’ the screens of millions of TV sets that day— and someone certainly had ordered unknown assailants to shoot to kill. I personally believe that General (r ) Pervez Musharraf by condoning that mayhem, had earned a scar of shame for himself.
But it was not one man’s shame. It was a day of national shame. A similar day of national shame was to arrive in this country’s history on the 15th of June 2014, when the policeman—supposed to be the custodians of law and order— and of the lives of the citizens of the country, engaged themselves in a similar exercise of shooting to kill. They certainly acted under orders. As had the unknown assassins on the 12th of May 2007.
Seven years separate the two most horrid days of national shame.
If the case of the 12th of May 2007 can come alive after more than nine years, the case of the 15th of June 2014 too can hit the headlines again. Particularly if one takes into account the fact that the FIR regarding this act of butchery had been registered under the orders of our Army Chief.
Precisely why Dr Tahir ul Qadri has addressed General Raheel Sharif directly and asked: “WILL THE WHEELS OF JUSTICE MOVE?”
