KARACHI, July 4: In reaction to the operation against the administration of Islamabad’s Lal Masjid, the legal fraternity on Wednesday condemned the government and said that instead of killing their own people, the rulers should take action against the Nato forces that repeatedly targeted people in Pakistan.
These views were expressed at a general body meeting of the Karachi Bar Association held at the Shuhada-i-Punjab Hall during a one-hour boycott from court proceedings between 10.30am to 11.30am.
Pakistan Bar Council member Mohammad Yasin Azad, KBA President Iftikhar Javaid Qazi, General-Secretary Naeem Qureshi, World Reforms Commission Chairman Maqbool-ur-Rehman, KBA Managing Committee members Abdul Hafeez Baloch, K.K. Javaid Khan, Saeed Qureshi, and National People’s Lawyers Forum President Mushtaq Ahmed Awan spoke on the occasion.
‘Operation illegal’
The speakers condemned the government for what they said was its illegal operation against the students of Lal Masjid and said the government had aggravated the issue.
Referring to the government’s statement about maintaining its writ, the speakers said the powers that be should not maintain their writ by killing their own people, but should instead move against the Nato forces which, in violation of international rules, were targeting people on Pakistani soil.
About the operations in Balochistan, South Waziristan, Wana and other tribal agencies, they alleged President Pervez Musharraf was serving the interests of Zionist forces in order to get their support for prolonging his ‘unconstitutional tenure.’
They warned that if the government did not stop the military operations, the people would come to the streets against the army. This, they said, would be the most unfortunate day in the history of the country.
They accused the government of hatching conspiracies against the lawyers’ movement for the independence of the judiciary, saying that the Lal Masjid operation was an attempt to divert the people’s attention away from the lawyers’ movement.
Affidavits condemned
The lawyers condemned those who had used derogatory language in the affidavits submitted to the Supreme Court in the presidential reference.
They said the government was intentionally trying to tarnish the judiciary’s image in the public’s eyes.
The speakers stressed that the government should fulfil its responsibilities by saving the lives of the suffering people in the rain-affected areas and avoid creating further unrest among the masses.
They hoped that Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry would be reinstated very soon.
‘President not sincere’
Members of the Sindh High Court Bar Association also held a meeting at the bar room which was addressed by Joint-Secretary Ahmed Nafees Osmani and SHCBA member Mohammad Mushaffy.
The speakers said there was a difference in the actions and words of President Musharraf and he was changing his statements every month, adding that he was not sincere about shedding his uniform and holding free and fair elections.
They said lawyers were fully determined to continue their struggle for the judiciary’s independence and would not fall prey to any conspiracy in this regard.
Following the instructions of the Pakistan Bar Council, lawyers of the Sindh High Court, the City Courts and Malir District Courts observed a token hunger strike on the premises of their respective bars.
