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| July 19, 2007 | Thursday | Rajab 03, 1428 |
KARACHI: Lawyers condemn Islamabad bombing
KARACHI, July 18: Condemning the recent suicide attack in Islamabad, lawyers observed a day of mourning and boycotted proceedings in the Sindh High Court (SHC), the City Courts and the Malir District Courts on Wednesday.
Court rooms, police lock-ups, canteens and shops on court premises remained closed and while judges were present in their chambers, no lawyers were in attendance.
The targeting of the reception camp set up near the Islamabad District Courts to honour Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry was severely criticised at lawyers’ gatherings across the city, including a general body meeting of the Karachi Bar Association (KBA), the Sindh High Court Bar Association (SCHBA) and the People’s Lawyers Forum. Meanwhile, lawyers of the SHC, the City Courts and the Malir District Courts observed token hunger strikes in protest against the presidential reference filed against CJ Chaudhry.
Senior lawyers and office bearers of various bar associations termed Tuesday’s attack an attempt on the chief justice’s life and renewed their resolve to struggle for judicial independence and Pakistan’s speedy return to democracy. MA Jinnah Road remained blocked for half an hour as lawyers took out a procession from the City Courts and offered ghaibana namaz-e-janaza for the people killed in the suicide bombing.
The prayers were led by advocate Iqbal Munshi, who offered fateha for the victims and prayed for the success of the legal fraternity’s movement. Subsequently, lawyers raised pro-judiciary and anti-government slogans and chanted “Go Musharraf, go.”
Earlier during the day, the Karachi Bar Association (KBA) held a general body meeting at the Shuhda-e-Punjab Hall where KBA president Iftikhar Javaid Qazi said that the country’s rulers are proving themselves unable to cope with the worsening crisis.
The KBA president repeated the need to resolve issues through a dialogue with the stakeholders, and quipped that having taken action against those clad in black burqas, the government now seemed to be turning towards those who wear black coats ie lawyers.
KBA general-secretary Naeem Qureshi also expressed deep sorrow over the lives lost in the Islamabad bombing and blamed the government for the incident. Claiming that the intended target had been CJ Chaudhry, he said that the prevailing situation in the country would soon lead to in-fighting, which was an American policy being implemented through Pakistan’s rulers. Mr Qureshi accused the government of hatching conspiracies to divide the legal fraternity and warned against any action that would force lawyers to take extreme steps. He also announced that except for lawyers’ cars and motorcycles, no private vehicles would henceforth be allowed to enter the City Courts’ premises, adding that this was a security requirement.
Other speakers who condemned the alleged attempt on CJ Chaudhry’s life included Mehmood-ul-Hassan, Aamir Niaz Khan, Mushtaq Jahangiri, Taza Gul Khattak, Ghulam Nabi Magsi and Khalid Mumtaz. They announced their intention to step up protests if the government did not control the situation and claimed that the current situation had intentionally been stirred up under US dictates in order to facilitate a clean-up operation against targeted people. Meanwhile, the People’s Lawyer Forum also condemned Tuesday’s attack on the Pakistan People’s Party camp in Islamabad. In a joint statement, office bearers Mohammad Bux Lashari, Mohammad Khan Buriro and Mubbashir Mirza said that the incident had been an attempt on the chief justice’s life and pledged to continue the struggle for the independence of the judiciary and the establishment of democracy.
At a general body meeting of the Sindh High Court Bar Association (SCHBA), the president of the association, Abrar Hasan, accused the government of trying to sabotage the lawyers’ movement and expressed the hope that the chief justice of Pakistan would soon be reinstated.
SCHBA joint-secretary Nafees Osmani pointed out the government’s duty to protect the lives and property of citizens, while a member of the Sindh Bar Council, Salahuddin Khan Gandapur, claimed that government does not want to hold elections and plans to impose martial law or declare an emergency in the country. This, he said, would be yet another unconstitutional step taken by the rulers. In a similar vein, Mohammad Ghaffar Khan Kakar said that while lawyers are shouldering their responsibilities, the judiciary is yet to play a role in liberating itself from the clutches of the executive. Another speaker, Ibrahim Azmi, said that the on-going lawyers’ movement would go down in the annals of history and was motivated by nothing other than the desire for judicial independence and the rule of law.
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