LAWYERS are preparing to organize a strike on May 12 to commemorate the killing on that date of lawyers trying to welcome Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry who was due to address the Karachi Bar that day, during his era of deposition. In Karachi there is to be a complete shutterdown strike, and the MQM has joined the preparations for it, even though it was suspected in the original killings. On the other hand, the MQM has claimed those killed as martyrs for the party, The MQM Rabita Committee has joined the strike on the asking of the Haq Parast Aman Jirga, which pointed out that the party said it had lost 16 workers in the tragic events of that date. This was disclosed by MQM Rabita Committee member Waseem Aftab, who told this paper that while the MQM had not issued the call for a strike, it backed the current call. The MQM's support for the strike has been qualified by Mr Aftab, who said that the party had come under immense pressure "not to bow down to those who want to destroy peace in the provincial capital." He said this was a conspiracy, about which MQM chief Altaf Hussain would disclose the facts on May 12. He has also said that the strike would be peaceful, with certain types of emergency services continuing. The strike is also to be joined by the ANP. Though the ANP does not have the same level of influence in Karachi as the MQM, the real significance of this is that the MQM and the ANP are both joining the strike, despite being junior partners of the PPP in the Central government, as well as the Sindh government. This is an indication of the widespread public support for the strike, and for the cause, which it represents. Lawyers belong to all parties, and thus their causes do too. This was forgotten in the lawyers' struggle to restore the deposed judges, to the cost of those parties, which opposed the lawyers. Yet, amidst the parties' efforts to make amends, no party should be allowed to become part of a movement it does not believe in, any way.