CHINIOT/SARGODHA/CHAKWAL, June 16: Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry on Saturday praised lawyers and journalists for their struggle for the independence of judiciary and the rule of law.
He was talking to office-bearers of the Chakwal District Bar and prominent journalists at a reception in his honour at the District Bar room.
The chief justice stopped over in the town on his way from Islamabad to Faisalabad, where he was scheduled to address the district bar association.
Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry’s motorcade, moving at a snail’s pace because of huge crowds, had only reached Chiniot by the time we went to press.
It covered the otherwise three-hour journey from Islamabad to Chiniot in 15 hours.
In his address in Chakwal, the chief justice said he had come to thank the journalists and lawyers of the area.
When the chief justice came to the rostrum, the lawyers gave him a standing ovation and chanted vociferous slogans in favour of the chief justice and the independence of the judiciary.
Speaking on the occasion, top counsel for the chief justice, Mr Aitzaz said that the reinstatement of the chief justice was not far away, but that was not the only goal of the lawyers’ struggle.
“Our struggle is aimed at restoration of the basic rights of the people, including the provision of justice, which have been denied to them for the past 60 years because of interference of military dictators in the affairs of the judiciary, which was never allowed to be fully independent.
Mr Aitzaz said he was confident that an era of constitutional rule would soon dawn on the country.
Speaking on the occasion, Supreme Court Bar Association President Munir A. Malik said that if Gen Pervez Musharraf was doing politics in uniform, why others could not do the same.
He further said that the present judicial crisis was a political issue because it was related to the constitution.
Mr Malik was confident that the ultimate winner in this crisis would be the people because they had been exploited from the past 60 years, and now the lawyers’ community would get them their rights.
Senior lawyers Ali Ahmed Kurd and Mirza Aziz Baig criticised military dictators and said they were a real threat to the Federation of Pakistan.
Earlier, when Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, along with members of entourage, reached the Balkassar Interchange at 11:45am, thousands of people, including lawyers and workers of opposition parties, traders and citizens, gave him a tumultuous welcome.
The chief justice covered the 15-kilometre route from Balkassar to Chakwal Judicial Complex in two hours.
Earlier, huge processions of PPP, PML-N, MMA and Tehrik-i-Insaf activists and supporters converged at the Balkassar interchange from the Chakwal city and Talagang to welcome the chief justice. After attending the reception at the district bar, the chief justice went to the Chakwal city and the five-kilometre route was covered in one hour. Thousands of people thronged both sides of the road to greet the chief justice. They also raised slogans for the victory of the chief justice in his just struggle for the independence of the judiciary.
Later, a public meeting was held at the Bhaun Chowk.
Speaking on the occasion, PML-N leaders Chaudhry Ayaz Amir, Chaudhry Liaqat Ali Khan and others paid rich tribute to the chief justice for taking a firm and bold stand against a military dictator for the independence of judiciary.
They said the legal and just stand of the chief justice had rekindled a ray of hope among the people for an independent judiciary.
SARGODHA: The caravan of the chief justice was accorded a rousing welcome by thousands of people, including hundreds of lawyers, when it reached Bhera at 7.10pm.
Hundreds of lawyers from Bhalwal, Kotmoen, Phalia, Mandi Bahauddin and Shahpur had assembled at Bhera since noon to welcome the chief justice.
Thousands of activists of PPP, PML-N, MMA and Tehrik-i-Insaaf were also present to greet the chief justice.
When the motorcade of the chief justice arrived, lawyers requested the CJ to deliver a speech, but he politely refused, saying he had a long journey to make to reach Faisalabad.
Speaking on the occasion, Chief Justice’s top counsel Aitzaz Ahsan said that Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry had refused to bow before tyranny of a dictator, and lawyers from all over the country had fully supported his stand. He appealed to the people to maintain unity in their ranks to frustrate designs of anti-democratic forces, and for the supremacy of the rule of law in the country.
The caravan of the CJ stayed in Bhera for only seven minutes, and during his stay the chief justice shook hands with Bhalwal Tehsil Bar Association President Sarwar Haral and PPP MNA Tasneem Ahmad Qureshi.
People of the area, lawyers and political activists of different political parties showered the motorcade of the chief justice with rose petals.
Supreme Court Bar Association President Munir Malik also spoke on the occasion.
He said the struggle of the lawyers would soon succeed.
This scribe travelled along the motorcade from Bhera to Sial Morr Service area, and witnessed the people standing on both sides of the road showering rose petals on the motorcade and raising slogans against anti-democratic forces.
When the caravan reached Sial Morr, hundreds of lawyers from Sargodha and Jauharabad and political workers welcomed him and chanted slogans.
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