KARACHI, Oct 4: In what many describe as the “second phase” of the lawyers’ movement for the restoration of democracy, the city’s legal fraternity appears to have succumbed to pressure created by fear-inducing tactics employed by law-enforcement agencies, the incidents when lawyers have come under attack and the financial blows they took during the earlier months’ protests. A number of lawyers blame the country’s politicians for being insincere towards the real issues and being more interested in personal power.
In stark contrast to earlier months, a number of lawyers now avoid court boycotts and the number of participants in general body meetings remains relatively low. Some of those who attend do not appear in the standard uniform of black coat and tie, a fact that has been noticed by the fraternity’s leaders who have urged their colleagues to remain in uniform and follow discipline.
Intimidation tactics
The president of the Karachi Bar Association (KBA) and a member of the Sindh Bar Council (SBC), Iftikhar Javaid Qazi, told Dawn that propaganda spread against the legal community and harassment by law-enforcing agencies led to a slow-down in the pace of the movement. He said that lawyers were enduring the financial fall-out of the movement they have spearheaded since March 9. “Karachi’s particular situation is quite different from other cities,” he added.
Similarly, former KBA president and a member of the SBC, Mehmood-ul-Hassan, said that lawyers remained active but the current situation in Karachi was “very tense.” He cited incidents such as the arrest and killing of lawyers, the ransacking of the bar room and the recent theft of closed-circuit cameras from the courts, which constitute attempts towards intimidation.
Meanwhile, a number of junior lawyers told Dawn on the condition of anonymity that they could not afford to indefinitely participate in the movement since they were financially vulnerable and could not put their professions at stake.
While lawyers came under pressure during the earlier phase – four sedition cases were registered against a number of senior lawyers at the Preedy, Artillery Maidan and Risala police stations – the police did not resort to tear-gas or baton-charges. According to Mr Qazi, the lawyers of the city courts held over a hundred general body meetings and took out 43 protest demonstrations, including marches towards the Sindh Chief Minister House, the Sindh Assembly, the Quaid-e-Azam mausoleum and the Karachi Press Club.
“The first phase was exclusively for the independence of the judiciary, a cause that lawyers took to their hearts and fought for,” said Mr Qazi. “They created awareness about the importance of the constitution, the rule of law and the repercussions of a military dictatorship. The second phase is not directly concerned with the lawyers.”
Insincere politicians
The president of the KBA held that duties that ought to be performed by the political parties were being undertaken by the lawyers, and lashed out at the country’s politicians for ignoring the “real issues and busying themselves in power-sharing deals with the government.” Urging politicians to forget their personal interests and contribute towards solving national issues, Mr Qazi said that what the lawyers did for judicial independence and were continuing to do for the strengthening of democracy was enough. “The fielding of an honest presidential candidate, Justice (Retd) Wajihuddin Ahmed, is another contribution by the legal fraternity,” he added.
Echoing similar sentiments, the KBA general secretary, Naeem Qureshi, termed the first phase a “purely lawyers’ movement while the second concerned mainly the politicians.” Lawyers had little role to play in political issues but would continue their struggle for the restoration of the constitution, he commented, pointing out that the rulers had adopted “mean tactics to pressurise the lawyers.” Mr Qureshi criticised politicians for being insincere to the country and said that “the lawyers will decide upon a future line of action if they feel it necessary to continue the movement after the presidential elections.”
Mushtaq Ahmed Awan of the National Peoples’ Lawyers Forum also raised the issue of the country’s politicians not having launched a forceful movement against what he termed the dictators. “We are extremely disappointed, particularly with the Musharraf-Benazir dealings,” he said. “Some of these people have bargained away more than five months’ worth of our sacrifices. The lawyers’ movement enabled the politicians to make their demands but they have exploited the situation and stabbed us in the back.” Mr Awan also commented that in case indemnity is offered to Ms Bhutto, relief should also be offered to Altaf Hussein, Nawaz Sharif and other prisoners facing such cases.
A member of the KBA managing committee, Mehmood Qureshi, told Dawn that lawyers were still doing their best but the politicians had disappointed the masses by adopting an irresponsible attitude towards attaining power.
The legal community became active on March 9 this year with the filing of a presidential reference against Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry and spearheaded the popular movement that ended when the Supreme Court struck down the reference on July 29. The blackest day during this period was May 12, when Justice Chaudhry was disallowed entry into Karachi and the city suffered unchecked violence. After the chief justice’s reinstatement, the legal fraternity announced its resolve to continue its struggle against the military regime.
However, lawyers say that they cannot be expected to shoulder the burden of political change indefinitely and that the politicians must play their role. In the current situation, whether the movement for the restoration of democracy will extend beyond October 6 – the day on which the presidential election is scheduled – remains a moot point.
