KARACHI, July 2: Lawyers criticised the role of military rulers in the country and announced that any unconstitutional move for the re-election of General Pervez Musharraf as president would be resisted.
Lawyers in the Sindh High Court, the City Courts and Malir District Courts boycotted the court proceedings for one hour from 10.30am to 11.30am on Monday. They also observed a token hunger strike in their respective bars against the suspension of Chief Justice of Pakistan Ifitkhar Mohammad Chaudhry.
‘Black sheep’
Supreme Court Bar Association President Munir A. Malik while addressing a general body meeting of the Sindh High Court Bar Association condemned the lawyers who were supporting the presidential reference and said the black sheep would have to be identified for the independence of the judiciary. However, he appreciated the role of lawyers who created awareness among the masses. It was high time that lawyers should gather on a single platform abandoning their personal interests for the independence of the judiciary, he observed.
Criticising the judges who supported military governments in the past, he said that certain judges always played the role of a ‘B team’ in martial laws. He said judges should act as a ‘A team’ of the masses.
Without an independent judiciary, he said, the future of democracy was bleak and establishment of democratic institutions was impossible. He stressed the need for gearing up the struggle to achieve the target.
Army criticised
Sindh Bar Council Member Mehmood-ul-Hassan said that people started criticising the army as instead of securing borders it had indulged in politics. He said that army should return to barracks and defend the country’s geographical borders.
He said the lawyers’ movement would succeed and the rulers would not get chance anymore to enforce the law of jungle in the country.
SHCBA General-Secretary Munir-ur-Rehman and Member Mohammad Mushaffy expressed hope that Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry would be reinstated and the lawyers’ movement would finally succeed.
Relief operation
In the City Courts, a general body meeting of the Karachi Bar Association was held at the Shuhda-i-Punjab Hall.
Sindh Bar Council Member Salahuddin Khan Gandapur, KBA President Iftikhar Javaid Qazi, General-Secretary Naeem Qureshi, People’s Lawyers Forum President Shahadat Awan, PML (N) Lawyers Wing President Arshad Khan Jadoon, Islamic Lawyers Forum leader Sarwar Mohammad Khan and Mohammad Ghaffar Khan Kakar addressed the meeting.
They criticised the government over what they described as an undue delay in rescue and relief operations in the rain-hit areas.
They claimed that 20 million names were missing in the voters’ list which was aimed at delaying the election process and giving a chance to President Musharraf to get re-elected through back doors.
The lawyers proposed setting up of an interim government comprising neutral people who could supervise fair, free and impartial elections without any further delay.
