August 19, 2008	Tuesday	Sha’aban 16, 1429

KARACHI, Aug 18: Jubilant lawyers demanded an immediate reinstatement of all the deposed judges in accordance with the commitments made by the ruling coalition leaders in their Murree and Islamabad declarations.

The removal of the independent-minded judges was the only aim of the proclamation of emergency on Nov 3, 2007, and now that the army chief who took the unconstitutional measure had also resigned as the head of the state, there was no justification for further delaying the reinstatement of judges and restoration of an independent judiciary, Sindh High Court Bar Association President Rasheed A. Razvi, Pakistan Bar Council member Yasin Khan Azad, SHCBA Secretary Munirur Rehman, Sindh Bar Council executive committee chairman Haleem Siddiqui, Nihal Hashmi of the PML(N) Lawyers Wing and former additional advocate-general Habib Ahmed said on Monday afternoon.

The lawyers present in the SHCBA bar room went round the corridors along the courtrooms raising slogans for the independence of the judiciary after hearing president Pervez Musharraf’s decision to resign.

The lawyers said it was their prolonged campaign that had forced the president to resign. Had the lawyers not launched a struggle on March 12 against the illegal removal of Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, there would have been no free and fair elections. The struggle facilitated the return of the top political leaders from exile and helped them conduct an election campaign in a free atmosphere.

They said all the state organs and institutions would now be free to perform their constitutional and legal functions and the judiciary, being the guardian of the people’s rights, should immediately be restored.

Mr Razvi said he was in touch with other leaders of the lawyers’ movement and the future course of action would be announced immediately after the expiry of the three-day period. However, he expressed the hope that the judiciary would be restored within the shortest possible time.

The ‘Go Musharraf, go’ slogan

Speaking at the general body meeting of the Karachi Bar Association (KBA) held at Shudha-i-Punjab Hall of the City Courts shortly after President Musharraf’s resignation announcement, speakers attributed the development to the lawyers’ ongoing movement and said it was the lawyers who had introduced the slogan “Go Musharraf, go”.

The lawyers alleged that Pervez Musharraf was guilty of launching the military operations in Balochistan and the Tribal Areas that had killed countless innocent people. They said he was also guilty of removing the judiciary on Nov 3, 2007 in order to stay in power, abrogating the Constitution twice, dissolving the elected government of Nawaz Sharif, disappearance of many people, and many other unconstitutional measures.

The president of the Karachi Bar Association, Mahmoodul Hasan, stated that Pervez Musharraf must be charged under Article 6 of the Constitution and punished accordingly in order to discourage future military interventions in political affairs, adding that the government must restore the judiciary to its Nov-2 position within three days.

He said the legal fraternity would observe a Yaum-i-Nijat (day of deliverance) on Tuesday across the country.

KBA general secretary Naeem Qureshi welcomed the resignation of president Musharraf and vowed to continue the struggle till the reinstatement of all deposed judges.

He said former president of the Supreme Court Bar Association Munir A. Malik would address the general body meeting of the Karachi Bar Association on Tuesday and the lawyers would take out a procession from the KBA office to the Karachi Press Club after the meeting.

A member of the Sindh Bar Council, Salahuddin Gandapur, said the legal fraternity wanted a strong and independent judiciary in the country and it could only be possible when all the deposed judges, including Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, were reinstated. “Musharraf is responsible for killing numerous innocent people in Balochistan and Fata and had taken countless illegal and unconstitutional steps during his dictatorial regime. A tribunal be formed under the military law in order to prosecute Pervez Musharraf”, he added.

He urged the government to honour its pledge about the reinstatement of the deposed judges.

Vice-president of the KBA Mushatq Jahangiri, senior lawyers Naheed Afzal and Mushatq Awan also hailed the resignation of President Musharraf and urged the government not to provide him a safe exit as, they claimed, he was guilty of the nation and must be tried under Article 6 of the Constitution. The lawyers also took out a procession from the KBA office and marched on M. A. Jinnah Road to celebrate the resignation of Mr Musharraf as president. The lawyers’ leaders also spoke to the participants of the rally.