Sir: This is with reference to your editorial ‘Murders and protests’ published on May 4. 2014. MQM is the biggest supporter of the Karachi operation started last September. What we are against is the manner in which the operation is being conducted. If it becomes a tool to target political workers the operation would become a revenge machine. We do not mind the arrests of the MQM workers; however we demand proof that our workers are involved in crime. When the law enforcement agencies are unable to provide any evidence, we cannot resist being apprehensive about their true intentions. One of the ugliest realities of Karachi had been that target killing happens as a matter of routine irrespective of any strike. Therefore linking strikes with murder is unfair. The editorial said that “there is no proof that the murders were committed by any state party acting outside the law”. In a press conference on May 1 the MQM had clearly provided the details of the circumstances in which four of its young workers had been abducted and killed. We want a judicial commission to investigate and apprehend the perpetrators. I do agree, as you have also said in the editorial, that “the case is one of murder and must be treated that way”. But we also believe that the responsibility to investigate and provide justice lies with the state. MQM has filed numerous petitions in the Sindh High Court for the recovery of its missing workers, but all in vain. The state and its machinery have clearly failed in this regard hence the MQM is compelled to give a call for protest. We do agree that strikes paralyse Karachi but we are left with no other option but to jolt the collective conscience of the state, which has failed in providing constitutional guarantees of life and liberty to its citizens. Kashif Hasan Syed Karachi