KARACHI - The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) yesterday rejected the reports about the involvement of its nominee for the Karachi Mayor Waseem Akhtar in the May 12, 2007 carnage.
More than 45 people were killed and dozens others wounded in the violence on that day when supporters of then deposed chief justice Iftikhar Chaudhry – mostly workers of PPP and ANP – were attacked by armed men of MQM.
“(Then home minister) Waseem has confessed that he had ordered firing on the people coming to welcome Chaudhry at the Karachi airport in 2007, police told an anti terrorism court in the remand papers on Tuesday.
Addressing a press conference at the Khursheed Begum Secretariat on Wednesday, MQM leader Kanwar Naveed Jamil termed ‘continuation of media trial’ the airing of confessional statement of Waseem.
He claimed that 14 MQM men fell victim to the violence and his party was the first political group that demanded judicial probe over the matter.
“The Sindh High Court-formed probe panel found no MQM worker was involved in the carnage,” he said and accused the police official of ‘handing over the baseless report’ to the media.
The MQM leader said the airing of confessional statement put a question mark on the credibility of police and their loyalty to restoring peace in Karachi.
He alleged his party is being targeted in the name of anti-crime operation in the provincial capital though it enjoys 85 percent mandate of Karachi.
“Everyone is aware the MQM did not depose then CJ Chaudhry while it was a dispute between the country’s establishment and judiciary,” he added.
“It is regrettable that neither military leadership nor civil administration seems serious in resolving these issues. They are busy pressurizing the media group to carry out the media trial of MQM. Waseem was being victimized as he voiced against the Karachi op and during a meeting with lawyers, he wrote to the party leadership condemning the reports,” Kanwar said.
Meanwhile, the MQM media cell released the image of a letter, claimed to be sent by Waseem, in which he rejected the report as baseless.
“Neither I have given any confessional statement about May 12 incident nor have I made any new revelations. All such reports are absolute(ly) baseless. I had reiterated my previous stance that there should (be) a high-level judicial inquiry into May 12 incident,” the letter read.
He termed the report a conspiracy to damage his reputation and appealed to people not pay any heed to it.