KARACHI, Sept 13: Lawyers will continue their struggle against the Legal Framework Order even if the LFO is incorporated in the Constitution by the parliament, wholly or partially, as a result of any compromise between the ruling PML (Q) and the opposition MMA, an inter-provincial committee of bar councils resolved on Saturday. The committee, which met at the Sindh Bar Council (SBC) office here, declared that it wanted nothing short of the revival of the Constitution as it existed on Oct 12, 1999, at the time of military takeover.

Presided over by SBC vice-chairman Mohammad Yasin Azad, the meeting was attended by Balochistan Bar Council executive committee chairman Zahoor Ahmed Shahwani, Raja Sajjad and Zia Sardar, vice-chairman and executive committee chairman, respectively, of the Azad Jammu and Kashmir Bar Council, and council members Pervez Inayat Malik, Mustafa Lakhani, Mohammad Sadiq Hidayatullah, Mohammad Aqil, Mohammad Ismail Memon, Zia Awan, Saleem Malik, Shahzad Zulqarnain, Aijaz Ahmed and Chaudhry Ilyas.

The meeting condemned the construction of Thal Canal and Kalabagh Dam “despite their rejection by the provincial assemblies of Sindh, Balochistan and the NWFP.”

The projects were aimed at diverting public attention from the LFO, it said, clarifying that while it understood the need for water reservoirs, they should not be built without the consent of the provinces concerned.

By another resolution, the meeting expressed concern and anguish at “the increasing role of foreign agencies in domestic affairs of Pakistan.” It particularly criticised “the FBI raids in the NWFP.”

It urged the authorities to expel all foreign agencies and their personnel from the country.

Yet another resolution took exception to President Pervez Musharraf’s remarks in respect of the efficiency and competence of the people of Sindh, particularly its public servants.

It urged the president to tender an apology to the people of Sindh. The meeting supported the AJK Bar Council proposal for movement of people across the Line of Control by obtaining permits or “rahdari” by deputy commissioners on the two sides of the divide.

It agreed, in principle, to the formation of Kashmir committees in the provincial bar councils to promote the cause of the state of Jammu and Kashmir.

The meeting also discussed rules to allow advocates enrolled by one bar council to practice in the jurisdiction of other bar councils.