June 25, 2007	Monday	Jamadi-us-Sani 09, 1428

SAHIWAL, June 24: The judiciary, executive and legislature should play the role assigned to them and not encroach on each other’s role, said Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry during his address to the Sahiwal bar association at 5:15am on Sunday.

“This causes problems like the Sahiwal lawyers faced on May 4. We condemn this incident, and the lawyers who suffered burn injuries will get justice,” the chief justice said.

Torch-bearing lawyers staged a protest rally in Sahiwal on May 4 in support of the chief justice when police allegedly sprayed patrol on them and they caught fire. At least 29 lawyers sustained burn injuries.

The chief justice said he and his companions had come to Sahiwal to express solidarity with the injured lawyers, vowing that the policemen involved in this act would be punished. He said Sahiwal’s lawyers had given sacrifices to uphold the cause of justice.

Addressing lawyers earlier, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Senator Latif Khosa said his party would resign from parliament if President Musharraf tried to get himself re-elected. He said Pakistan was the result of a lawyer’s efforts, but the army grabbed power soon after his death. He said the lawyers must check army’s role in politics. No Pakistani institution was working freely under the incumbent dictatorial regime. He said it was the right time for parliament and the Constitution to play their role.

PPP leader Aitzaz Ahsan stressed the need for a new social agreement between the federation and the provinces. He said the army would have to go back to barracks. He said the ongoing movement had induced a sense of respect and tolerance among lawyers and added that the same sense needed to be induced among political parties to make them work effectively. He condemned the May 4 police action against lawyers.

Former Pakistan Bar Council vice-chairman Ali Ahmad Kurd said Sahiwal lawyers’ peaceful rally was set ablaze to stop their support for the chief justice. He said the lawyers were now in “an open war with the generals”. Supreme Court Bar Association President Munir A Malik said lawyers had played the role of a vanguard in the current situation.

Lawyers from Okara, Attock, Chakwal, Smundari, Jarranwala, Kharian, Gujranwala, Deepalpur, Pakpattan, Arifwala, Daska, Bahawalnagar, Lahore and parts of Blochistan also attended the gathering.

Earlier, the chief justice’s convoy, which left Lahore at 6:30am on Saturday, reached Sahiwal at 2am on Sunday. The convoy took 10 hours to reach the meeting point in Sahiwal city from Gamber, the main entry point to the district (about 26km from Sahiwal city). Thousands of people waiting along the route welcomed him by raising anti-government slogans, releasing pigeons and showering rose petals on him.

When the convoy reached Mazdoor Pully, traders’ representative Sheikh Bilal Ahmad sacrificed a calf for the well being of the chief justice. Similarly, traders’ representatives Ehsanul Haq and Shakeel Khan sacrificed two goats, and PML-N’s Shaheed Ahmad Poswal a camel.

The chief justice also visited District Nazim Rai Hasan Nawaz’s office and stayed there for an hour.

He came on the stage at 3am, addressed the audience just for five to six minutes and left for Multan.

The PPP, the PML-N, the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal and the Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaaf had set up camps on various roads of the city to welcome the chief justice.

KHANEWAL: The chief justice’s motorcade reached Khanewal at 11am on Sunday, about 13 hours after its scheduled arrival.

Surrounded by a number of lawyers, the chief justice did not come out of his car. However, his counsels Ali Ahmad Kurd and Munir A Malik addressed the gathering.

Kurd said the lawyers’ struggle would continue till the military ruler’s ouster. Malik, who is also president of the Supreme Court Bar Association, thanked lawyers and the general public on behalf of the chief justice for their participation in the lawyers’ movement.

Earlier, the chief justice was given a rousing welcome by Mian Channu, Kabirwala, Jahannia and Khanewal bars.