February 01, 2008	Friday	Muharram 22, 1429

ISLAMABAD, Jan 31: Like other parts of the country, lawyers in Rawalpindi and Islamabad as well as the adjoining areas on Thursday observed Iftikhar Day to pay tributes to the deposed chief justice of Pakistan for his struggle for independence of judiciary and rule of law.

The lawyers demanded restoration of the pre-November-3 judiciary and release of all detained judges and lawyers leaders.

In the federal capital, the lawyers made an attempt to reach the residence of Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry at the Judges Colony but were disallowed to cross the police barricades in front of the Balochistan House.

The about 30-minute gathering of lawyers remained peaceful as they avoided confrontation with the police.

Earlier, the lawyers boycotted the court proceedings at the district courts and observed full day strike. About 300 lawyers gathered on the premises of the district and sessions courts at around 11:30am and expressed support to their colleagues who observed an hour long token hunger strike which ended at 12:30pm.

They also staged a rally in and around the lower courts. The participants were holding placards inscribed with anti-government, anti-Musharraf and pro-deposed judges slogans.

Before marching towards the Judges Colony, over 200 lawyers and representatives of civil society also gathered at the residence of Supreme Court Bar Association president Aitzaz Ahsan at around 4pm.

RAWALPINDI: Lawyers in Rawalpindi held a protest rally and demanded reinstatement of Justice Chaudhry as the chief justice of Pakistan.

The lawyers took out the rally from the bar premises and marched on the Jhelum road to Marrir Chowk.

They were holding placards inscribed with pro-Iftikhar Chaudhry and anti-Musharraf slogans. The lawyers blocked the busiest Marrir Chowk on Murree Road and chanted slogans against dictatorship and demanded reinstatement of judges and release of detained lawyers. Later, they returned to the courts building peacefully.

Earlier, addressing the Rawalpindi Bar Association, the wife of detained leader of lawyers Justice (retired) Tariq Mehmood criticised President Pervez Musharraf for levelling allegations against Justice Chaudhry during his visit to European countries.

Ms Tariq said her husband was very sick and the doctors had advised his hospitalisation but the authorities were not allowing him to go to hospital.

She said the post-March 9 struggle of lawyers had weakened the despotic rule of Musharraf. The days of the dictatorship are numbered and the movement of the lawyers is bound to succeed, she maintained.

Supreme Court lawyer Athar Minallah said on the one hand the president had been trading allegations against the deposed CJ in foreign countries and on the other world renowned universities and human rights organisations were showering praises and awarding honorary degrees on Justice Chaudhry for his struggle for the rule of law.

High Court Bar Association president Sardar Asmatullah said it was due to the support extended to the lawyers by their families that they were ready for every sacrifice to achieve their goal.

TAXILA: Marking the day, lawyers in Taxila and Wah Cantt reiterated their resolve to continue struggle for the reinstatement of the chief justice and other judges. The lawyers boycotted courts, held meetings, wore black arm-bands and delivered speeches in favour of the deposed judges and against the rulers.

A protest rally was also taken out at the tehsil courts complex against detention of Justice Chaudhry for the last about three months.

Addressing the protest rally, Taxila Bar Association president Afzal Janjua said the objective of observing the day was to draw world attention towards the state of the judiciary in Pakistan, continued detention of the deposed CJ and other justices of the Supreme Court.

He said the lawyers would continue their movement till the government restored all the deposed judges and removed the judges who had taken oath under the PCO. He also demanded the PBC give a call for complete boycott of the PCO judges.

ATTOCK: Lawyers in Attock also observed the day and paid tributes to the deposed chief justice and expressed solidarity with him.

The lawyers in the district completely boycotted court proceedings besides holding a hunger strike camp at the district bar to protest detention of the deposed CJP and senior lawyers including Aitzaz Ahsan and Ali Ahmed Kurd.

They chanted slogans for reinstatement of Justice Chaudhry and other deposed judges of the superior courts and restoration of the 1973 Constitution.

District Bar Association (DBA) president Rana Afsar Ali Khan told Dawn that the DBA at a meeting paid tributes to the deposed CJP and said he was punished for protecting basic human rights and providing justice to the common man.