May 15, 2007	Tuesday	Rabi-us-Sani 27, 1428

PESHAWAR, May 14: A complete strike was observed in the NWFP on the call of opposition parties in protest against the killing of their activists in Karachi on May 12. The protesters carried banners and placards. They raised slogans against the government.

Local leaders of the parties called for registration of cases against President Gen Pervez Musharraf, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, Sindh Governor Ishratul Ebad and Chief Minister Arbab Ghulam Rahim and MQM chief Altaf Hussain for the Karachi killings. Addressing a rally in Kohat, leaders of various parties termed President Musharraf a security risk and asked him to step down in the interest of the country.

They demanded reinstatement of Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry and warned the president to either withdraw the reference against him or get ready for the worst yet to come.

In Swabi, lawyers set on fire effigies of Gen Musharraf and MQM chief Altaf Hussain at a rally.

They gathered at the Swabi Bar Association office and marched to the Kernel Sher Chowk where they held a protest meeting.

The protesters pulled down from the district headquarters offices a signboard which had a portrait of Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and District Nazim Shahram Khan.

Traffic on different roads remained suspended for several hours.

The leaders said the government had hatched a conspiracy to disrupt the lawyers’ convention in Karachi.

A complete strike was observed in Abbottabad on the call of the Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy to show solidarity with lawyers, journalists and bereaved families on the killing of their loved ones.

The protesters blocked the Karakoram Highway and lit bonfire at the main roundabout.

All the shops and business centres in the city remained closed.

Lawyers also observed hunger strike outside the Abbottabad circuit bench of the Peshawar High Court and boycotted court proceedings.

ARD leaders condemned the MQM and the federal government.

They said that violence had been pre-planned to stop Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry from proceeding to the Sindh High Court.

In Lakki Marwat, lawyers boycotted court proceedings and took out a procession from the district courts under the banner of the District Bar Association.

Lakki DBA president Mohammad Yaqoob Khan led the procession. The protesters carried black flags and raised slogans against President Musharraf and the MQM.

Leaders of the Jamaat-i-Islami and Awami National Party attended the march while the All-Shopkeepers Union observed a partial shutter-down strike and took out a procession from Mela Mandi.

The leaders held President Musharraf and MQM leaders responsible for the Karachi bloodshed.

The lawyers community in Haripur organised demonstrations and condemned the government’s apathy and the MQM for terrorist acts in Karachi.

DBA president Nawaz Khan Swati led the protesters.

Workers and leaders of political parties, including the PPP, ANP, PML (N) and component parties of MMA, traders’ organisations and civil society groups, also joined the march.

Lawyers in Mansehra demonstrated against the killing of people in Karachi allegedly at the hands of MQM’s men during the scheduled visit of the Chief Justice to the city.

In Bannu, a complete strike was observed.

Lawyers held the president, prime minister, Sindh governor and chief minister and the MQM responsible for the May 12 carnage.A protest procession was taken out which started from the district courts and after passing through different roads turned into a big public meeting at the Chowk Bazaar.

Political leaders and workers, traders and people from all walks of life took part in the rally to condemn the government for allowing the port city to slide back into lawlessness.

A complete strike was observed in Nowshera with lawyers boycotting court proceedings and staging sit-ins to condemn the Karachi carnage.

The G.T. Road remained blocked for more than four hours as protesters organised a meeting at the Shobra Chowk, where they offered Ghaibana Nemaz-i-Janaza of the people killed in the violence allegedly unleashed by MQM’s activists.

The protesters also pelted vehicles with stones.

Political parties, traders’ organisations and residents attended the march. They demanded resignation of the president, the federal and the Sindh governments.

In Karak also, lawyers observed a strike and held a rally against acts of violence in Karachi.