August 26, 2008	Tuesday	Sha'aban 23, 1429

ISLAMABAD, Aug 25: Lawyers on Monday threatened to intensify protests if the government delayed reinstatement of the deposed judges.

President of the Supreme Court Bar Association and chairman of the newly-formed National Coordination Council Aitzaz Ahsan said that sit-ins planned by lawyers on Aug 28 would be for more than two hours if the government continued to drag its foot on the issue.

“For two hours on Thursday, the entire country will be come to a standstill between noon and 2pm but the event will be peaceful,” Barrister Ahsan said at his residence here while announcing fresh plans for protests.

Barrister Ahsan said that although the legal fraternity respected parliament, the lawyers’ associations should not be ignored because these also were representative bodies.

On the council’s call, bar associations all over the country held general body meetings to condemn the PBC decision to remove Rasheed A. Razvi from chairmanship and Hamid Khan and Ali Ahmed Kurd from the membership of the executive committee.

Barrister Ahsan said that only the Qasur district bar had not adopted a resolution against the PBC decision because of a local holiday. It would adopt the resolution on Tuesday, he added.

Accompanied by the council’s secretary-general and president of the Rawalpindi High Court Bar Association Sardar Asmatullah, chief of the Islamabad Bar Assciation Haroon Rashid and president of the Rawalpindi Bar Sardar Tariq, Barrister Ahsan urged the authorities to declare Thursday as school holiday to save children from inconvenience. However, he assured parents that arrangements would be made to allow school vans, ambulances, and doctors’ vehicles to pass without any hindrance.

Reiterating that he was not leaving the PPP, Barrister Ahsan said: “I hope my leader would fulfil declarations which bear his signature. Signatures are revered,” he said, adding that wrong advice given by a few people was affecting the party’s credibility and public image.

He urged the government to clearly tell the people which forces were impeding the judges’ reinstatement and said lawyers would launch a fresh movement against these forces. He added that lawyers had challenged the former president when no political leader of stature was in the country.