May 12 Karachi Carnage remembered in San Francisco Bay Area

For Pakistan, May 12, 2007 was a momentous--and a depressing--day. If violence has always been a part of the Pakistani politics then the Karachi carnage of May 12 was the ugliest manifestation of that fact. It was the day when Pakistan’s military ruler decided to break the momentum of a growing opposition by charging his political proponents to tackle the lawyers’ movement. Over forty people died on May 12 but the strategy of scaring people with violence backfired. Opposition to Pervez Musharraf grew even stronger and Musharraf was forced to make several concessions.
Friends of South Asia, a group of Bay Area watchers of South Asian politics, observed May 12 by holding a talk and a discussion on Sunday, May 11.