|
|
|
| March 18, 2007 | Sunday | Safar 28, 1428 |
Politicians lambaste assault on lawyers
LAHORE, March 17: Various political parties have taken exception to, what they said, barbaric treatment meted out to lawyers inside the Lahore High Court building and the protesting journalists on The Mall.
The Pakistan People’s Party coordination committee, which met here on Saturday with Khalid Kharal in the chair, said the government had made an attempt to subjugate the superior judiciary by sending a reference against Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, now suspended, which itself was an unconstitutional act.
In a resolution, the PPP committee said calling the chief justice to the Army House was a derogatory act and amounted to assault on the entire judicial system of the country. It said the attempt to undermine the judiciary was made at a time when the apex court was about to take up important constitutional and political matters.
Expressing complete solidarity with the lawyers in their just struggle, the resolution condemned the police excesses committed against peaceful rallies of lawyers in Lahore, Islamabad, Karachi and elsewhere in the country, saying this was an act which no civilised government could even think of.
“The shameful act shows that the people at the helm have no respect for the law,” the resolution said and added that hundreds of lawyers and political leaders and activists were left injured in the police action.
It also condemned the Punjab police’s assault on a television network in Islamabad on Friday, saying the regime was bent upon damaging all state institutions, muzzling the freedom of press and preventing the peaceful protest which was the constitutional right of lawyers, journalists and political organisations. The PPP demanded release of hundreds of lawyers and political leaders and activists who were either detained or arrested to prevent them from agitation. It also slated the Punjab government for registering cases against them under the anti-terrorism act.
TI: The Punjab leadership of the Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaaf said the regime had created a situation of anarchy by mishandling the sensitive matters.
At a meeting, chaired by Ahsan Rashid, the party condemned the police action against lawyers, political rallies and the attack on a television channel.
TI information secretary Omar Sarfraz Cheema said the police had levelled the charges of terrorism and murder attempt against the party workers who participated in a rally at Nila Gumbad. According to him, about 15 TI workers were under custody and facing the charges.
JI: Jamaat-i-Islami leaders Azhar Iqbal Hassan, Syed Waqas Jafri, MPA Ali Asghar Gujjar, Dr Waseem Akhtar, Syed Ehsanullah Waqas and Chaudhry Muhammad Shaukat also condemned the incidents of violence with the observation that “the regime has exposed the country to a grave internal and external crisis.”
They blasted the arrest of MMA deputy secretary-general Liaquat Baloch, MNA Farid Piracha, Mian Aslam, Amirul Azeem and hundreds of other workers and demanded their release. —Correspondent
|
|
|
|
