The 12 May Karachi riots, also known as Black Saturday riots, were a series of violent clashes between rival political activists in Karachi. The unrest began as the recently suspended chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry arrived at the Jinnah International Airport on 12 May 2007. Gunfights and clashes erupted across the provincial capital as Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Awami National Party (ANP), and Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PMAP) activists, who supported the judge, and the pro-government Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) activists took to the streets against each other. Government machinery was used to block all major roads. Police was accomplice and a silent spectator to the violence. News media was attacked at Guru Mandir (Business Recorder Road) when MQM activists began firing at AAJ TV headquarters which was shown on live television. Chaudhry's supporters had announced a public rally to welcome the judge while at the same time, the MQM also announced a demonstration of their own to protest against the politicisation of the issue of judge's suspension. The MQM made plans to deliberately converge at the mausoleum of Muhammad Ali Jinnah where the chief justice was to make an appearance to address a lawyers' convention and a bar association meeting at the 50th anniversary of the Sindh High Court Bar Association. Lawyers' Movement Before the citywide riots escalated, several roads were cordoned off and all routes to the airport were blocked to avoid clashes between groups. In the carnage that ensued, armed groups did a lot of damage. Cars were burnt and buildings smashed into while the ensuing gunfights left more than 40 people killed with several hundred injured and arrested. The violence continued for several days, culminating in events that led to the historic Lawyers' Movement. Several lawmakers and analysts have since questioned the incompetence of the city's security apparatus on the day of the riots and the complicity of MQM in giving rise to the riots. The MQM officially denied starting the chaos and blamed it on the PPP, ANP, PMAP, Punjabi Pakhtun Ittehad (PPI), and Pakistan Muslim League (N) (PML-N) activists. Background In the first few months of 2007, several conflicts had already raged between chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry and the Pakistani government, particularly with regard to the Pakistan Steel Mills corruption case where the chief justice ruled against the sale of the state-owned steel mills at a "throw-away price". Issues pertaining to the privatisation