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| October 20, 2007 | Saturday | Shawwal 7, 1428 |
KARACHI: Courts wear a deserted look
KARACHI, Oct 19: The City Courts and District Courts Malir wore a deserted look for the second consecutive day on Friday due to the deteriorating law and order situation in the city. Though judges were present, cases could not proceed as the under-trial prisoners were not brought from the prisons.
Most lawyers did not attend the courts and the attendance of courts’ staff also remained thin. Some of the stamp vendors did open but later shut their shops due to the lack of business.
Meanwhile, the Managing Committee of the Karachi Bar Association, in an emergency meeting held at the committee room of the City Courts, announced a three-day mourning period to condemn the bomb blasts targeting the Pakistan People’s Party’s welcome procession for its chairperson Benazir Bhutto and the killing of innocent political workers and journalists and termed it a cowardly act on the part of the terrorists.
KBA President and member of the Sindh Bar Council Iftikhar Javaid Qazi and General-Secretary Naeem Qureshi asked all the members to generously donate blood for the injured and to extend full cooperation to them in this hour of need.
The KBA demanded a judicial inquiry into the tragic incident and exemplary punishment to those involved in the crime. The association has postponed its Eid Milan party, which was scheduled for Oct 20. A future strategy will be announced at a general body meeting on Saturday (today).
The Sindh Bar Council (SBC) also announced that the legal fraternity in Sindh will observe a one-day boycott of court proceedings on Saturday (today) to condemn the killing of about 150 persons and injuries to over 500 people as a result of the bomb blasts.
Council member Mehmood-ul-Hassan told Dawn that the SBC had also postponed its general council meeting, which was scheduled for Oct 20 at Mitthi.
Condemning the killing of innocent people he blamed the rulers for the incident, saying that the government was not serious about protecting the lives of the people.
“Had the government (been) serious it would have at least ensured (that) the street lights (would have been) on,” he commented. He strongly criticized President Pervez Musharraf and held him responsible for the deteriorating law and order situation in the country. He said it was time Musharraf stepped down.
Malir Bar Association President Zahoor Hussain Mehar told Dawn that lawyers stayed away from court proceedings and held a general body meeting at the bar room.
The MBA condemned the loss of precious lives and termed it a weakness of the government, which failed to provide protection to the people.
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