Daily Times

Mayor Wasim Akhtar was indicted by an anti-terrorism court on Tuesday along with 18 other suspects in a case related to May 12, 2007, carnage in Karachi.

Akhtar, a leader of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan, appeared in court along with the other accused. The accused could not be indicted in other cases related to the May 12 violence owing to the absence of legal counsels. However, the court indicted them in one case and summoned witnesses to record their statements at the next hearing. The suspects pleaded not guilty. The hearing was then adjourned until June 23.

The arrested suspect, Umair Siddiqui, was also presented. All 19 suspects are on bail. A total of seven cases were registered related to the tragic incident. Four of these cases are underway in court II, and three are pending in court III.

Around 50 people were killed and hundreds injured as clashes broke out in the port city between rival political groups after a visit of the then-chief justice Iftikhar Chaudhry. Akhtar was elected mayor of Karachi in August 2016 while he was in jail on judicial remand in various cases.

Talking to media after the hearing, Akhtar, who was home adviser when the incident took place, said there should be impartial investigation into the incident. “Real facts and faces must be brought before the public,” he said, claiming that innocent people were facing the cases. “If matters continue like this, then people will distrust the system,” he said.

Calling for an end to fake cases, the mayor said they are not the one to run away and will face the courts. He recalled that after becoming mayor of Karachi, he was nominated in dozens of cases as part of a political vendetta. “20, 20 cases were filed against me in one day. Rao Anwar took me from jail and registered an FIR against me, now he’s facing cases himself. The Supreme Court must take suo motu notice of this,” he said, and called for reopening of all cases including Hyderabad Pakka Qila, Ali Garh and bomb blasts so that the public may know the facts.

Published in Daily Times, May 16^th 2018.