ISLAMABAD, June 6: The lawyers community would observe a country-wide ‘black day’ on Thursday as a mark of protest against the promulgation of the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) amendment ordinance.

Chairman executive committee of the Pakistan Bar Council Qazi Mohammad Anwer and vice-chairman Mirza Aziz Akbar Beig announced this in a joint statement issued here on Wednesday.

They appealed to lawyers, provincial bar councils and all bar associations throughout the country to observe the day to express solidarity with the media.

Protest meetings would be held on the occasion and rallies would be taken out to protest against the promulgation of the ordinance two days prior to the National Assembly’s session.

Mr Anwer and Mr Beig termed the promulgation of the controversial ordinance as yet another blow on the freedom of the press and right to information.

They said the drastic amendments brought about through Pemra ordinance were aimed at sabotaging the lawyers movement for independence of judiciary. “Such black laws will not give further life to the government, which now is on its last legs,” they remarked.

Our reporter from Pindi adds: Various Leftist political organisations expressed solidarity with the media in the face of attacks on its freedom.

During a meeting, leaders of the People’s Rights Movement (PRM), Labours Party, Communist Party of Pakistan (CPP), Inqilabi Democratic Workers Committee and Communist Mazdoor Kissan Party vowed to transform the lawyers struggle for the independence of the judiciary into a genuine people’s movement for democracy.

The meeting was held here at the Railways Colony and it was attended by a large number of local workers of the organisations.

Speaking on the occasion, PRM leader Aasim Sajjad slammed the government’s attempts to suppress the movement against it policies, and demanded immediate release of incarcerated political workers including Farooq Tariq of the Labour Party and the suspended PTCL union leader Azad Qadri should be reinstated.

CPP leader Engineer Jamil Ahmed Malik said that the people of Pakistan have unequivocally rejected dictatorship. He said the Pemra ordinance must be repealed immediately.

Aurangzeb Khan and Zahoor Khan said that the lawyers’ movement was expanding much faster than the government could employ repression to crush it. “This is a lesson of history that repression actually incites greater resistance.”

Social activist Jehangir Akhtar said that in the midst of the current crisis, it was essential for the working class to extend their protests so that their grievances were addressed in the upcoming budget.

“The past eight years have proved that this government’s economic policies are entirely against the poor,” he said, adding that to give the poor some relief, the government should downsize the military and reduce the defence budget.