KARACHI, Sept 14: The legal fraternity on Friday observed a complete strike in the City Courts, Anti-Terrorism Courts and Malir District Courts against an attack on lawyer Ateeq Ahmed Qadri, who had sustained serious injuries in an armed assault on his residence on Thursday night.
Though judges remained present in their chambers, cases could not be processed as lawyers stayed away from court proceedings, while 297 undertrial prisoners were returned without being produced in court.
In a general body meeting held at the Shuhada-i-Punjab Hall of the City Courts, the Karachi Bar Association (KBA) condemned the attack on the lawyer and termed it a cowardly act. KBA President and member of the Sindh Bar Council Iftikhar Javaid Qazi said the violence against lawyers seemed to be a pre-planned conspiracy to intimidate the legal community.
He said that suspicious persons had started roaming around on motorcycles in the jurisdiction of the City Courts as if they were rehearsing to commit a crime in the vicinity.
He said the KBA had already apprised the Sindh home secretary and the chief secretary through letters with a request to beef up security measures in the area, adding that following the letters, instead of tightening security the officials had removed the police guards from the main gates.
Mr Qazi said that only bar members and journalists would be allowed in the area of the bar room, while unconcerned persons would not be allowed to move in and around the bar room.
He condemned the killing of Raja Riaz and attack on Ateeq Ahmed Qadri and said that these incidents were part of a game being played by the rulers in order to remove the chief justice of Pakistan.
The lawyers, he said, always defended the rights of others but were now themselves on the defensive, adding that effective steps needed to be adopted to ensure protection to the lawyers.
SBC member Saathi M. Ishaque also condemned the growing incidents of violence against lawyers. He said the lawyers never resorted to violence but were now being tortured and targeted for struggling for the independence of the judiciary.KBA General-Secretary Naeem Qureshi warned that the lawyers’ silence should not be taken as their weakness, otherwise they could accept the offers of support from various political parties.
He said those involved in the violent incidents were trying to separate Sindh from the rest of the country which, he said, should be taken seriously by all patriotic people.
Referring to the killing of army commandos and the kidnapping of army personnel in parts of the NWFP and tribal agencies, he said if the army was unable to defend itself, it would not be in a position to defend the country.
Mr Qureshi said Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry was aware of the murder of lawyers and the Supreme Court would hopefully take suo motu notice of the matter.
‘MQM chief misguided’
KBA member Naheed Afzal criticised Muttahida Qaumi Movement chief Altaf Hussain’s comments about lawyers and asked him to take back his words, saying that the MQM chief was being misguided by his advisers.
He said the lawyers did not believe in harbouring enmity against anyone nor were they in favour of the “politics of corpses”, adding that they were serving the people irrespective of language, nationality, colour and creed.
He said the lawyers’ only “sin” was their commitment to the struggle for the independence of the judiciary.
Former president of the KBA Mussawir Ali Khan said the rulers had made the people’s lives miserable and had banned freedom of expression. He lashed out at the military generals and alleged that they were not serving the country’s interests but were busy changing the posh areas into cantonment boards.
He criticised the government’s policies and asked the political parties to avoid dealing with military dictators.
KBA member Mohammad Mushaffay Ahmed condemned the murder of Raja Riaz and said the incidents of violence should stop as the lawyers were not against any individual but were trying to play their role for the independence of the judiciary, strengthening of democracy and the supremacy of the constitution.
Mohammad Ashraf Mughal and Hashim Ali Siddiqui said the lawyers could not be frightened through murders and attacks.
KBA Managing Committee member K.K. Javaid told Dawn that a general body meeting of the association would be held on Saturday to decide a future line of action.
