KARACHI, May 17: The City Courts on Thursday wore a deserted look as the lawyers boycotted court proceedings in response to a call from the Pakistan Bar Council in the ongoing struggle for the reinstatement of the Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry and restoration of the supremacy of judiciary.
Judges remained present in their chambers but in the absence of lawyers, court proceedings could not be held. Vendors also did not open their business whereas under-trial prisoners were not brought to the courts.
The Karachi Bar Association (KBA) held its general body meeting at the Shuhada-i-Punjab Hall where speakers took strong exception to the remarks by MQM’s MPAs against lawyers. They said lawyers were ready to face any consequences for continuing with their campaign for the independence of judiciary.
“The MQM claims to be the largest party of Karachi but its leaders are yet learn civilised politics,” they remarked.
Those who addressed the meeting included Mohammad Yasin Azad, Mohammad Ali Abbasi, Iftikhar Javaid Qazi, Naeem Qureshi, K. K. Javaid Khan, Aamir Niaz Khan, Sardar Zameer Khan, Mohammad Sakhi Ghazali, Chaudhry Mohammad Iqbal, Zareen Khan, Mushtaq Golrah, Hakim Shaikh, Naheed Afzal and Nasir Rizwan.
They said that the entire nation, as well as local and foreign media, watched live whatever happened on May 12 in Karachi and recognised those who resorted to terrorism. “MQM leaders just followed the directives given to them by President Pervez Musharraf and this caused the damage to the party. It will be only when they would have no portfolios, protocols and official positions that they will realise how big blunder they had committed,” the speakers said.
They advised the MQM leadership to think about the game that had been played with it by certain ‘Chaudhrys of Punjab’ to alienate the party. They observed that Gen Pervez Musharraf’s days were numbered, but apprehended that his supporters would later be looking for another Musharraf to protect them. The meeting was told that Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry would be invited to Karachi again.
On the occasion, it was announced that the KBA library would be named after Pervez Akhtar Kiani Shaheed, who was shot dead by terrorists at Malir Halt during the May 12 rally.
Meanwhile, 10 KBA members observed a token hunger strike at the City Courts as part of the lawyers’ ongoing campaign against filing of presidential reference against the CJ. Members of the Malir Bar Association (MBA) held a general body meeting which was addressed by Zahoor Hussain Mehar, Mohammad Ashraf Samoo, Amanullah Yousufzai, Saleem Memon and Sharfuddin Jamali.
