LAHORE, Sept 11: Lawyers boycotted courts across the country on Tuesday in protest against the murder of Advocate Raja Riaz in Karachi, the storming of Sindh High Court by workers of a political party and deportation of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif ‘in violation of the Supreme Court order’.
The boycott, called by the National Action Committee, Pakistan Bar Council and Supreme Court Bar Association, was complete in Sindh and Balochistan. In Punjab and the NWFP too, it was almost complete except for a few cities, including Lahore where the boycott was partial.
Addressing the general house of the Lahore High Court Bar, its president Ahsan Bhon accused the Muttahida Qaumi Movement of killing Advocate Raja Riaz because he was a staunch opponent of General Pervez Musharraf. He called for swift arrest of the killers and condemned what he called the disruption of proceedings of a seven-member SHC bench hearing case of the May 12 killings.
He said the whole nation had witnessed the worst form of state terrorism in the shape of manhandling of political workers and deportation of Pakistan Muslim League-N leader Nawaz Sharif from the Islamabad airport to Saudi Arabia on Monday.
Lawyers in Lahore were especially concerned over the storming of the SHC. They said such acts could stir a movement larger than the one sparked by suspension of Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry. The lawyers at the lower courts in Lahore boycotted proceedings of regular cases but attended urgent matters.
Balochistan High Court Bar Association president Shakeel Ahmed Hadi told newsmen that lawyers boycotted courts in Quetta, Pishin, Loralai, Zhob, Ziarat, Mastung, Kalat, Khuzdar, Hub, Panjgur, Kech, Sibi and Dera Murad Jamali.
PPI adds: In Hyderabad, lawyers boycotted court proceedings.
