ISLAMABAD: Lawyers observed strike in various parts of the country and boycotted court proceedings to protest the killing of two lawyers in Daska.

The two lawyers, including president of Daska bar, was killed in the police firing while they were protesting outside the Tehsil Municipal Administration (TMA)office.

The lawyers’ bodies of Islamabad – District Bar Association, Islamabad High Court (IHC) Bar Association and Islamabad Bar Council (IBC) – in a joint meeting condemned the killing and demanded action against the police officials who opened fire on the protesting lawyers.

In a joint resolution, the lawyers’ bodies demanded resignation of Punjab home minister and inspector general of police. They also demanded compensation for the families of the victims.

The lawyers’ representatives insisted that the challan against the police officials be produced before the anti-terrorism court (ATC) within a fortnight and trial in this case be conducted on day-to-day basis.

Raja Aleem Abbasi, president IHC Bar Association, told Dawn that the strike would continue and no lawyer would appear before the courts on Wednesday.

Boycott in Taxila, Wah

The legal fraternity of Taxila, Wah and Hassanabdal also boycotted court proceedings and held demonstrations on Tuesday.

Rallies were brought out in Taxila and Hassanabdal on the appeal of Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) in which demonstrators chanted slogans against the government and police.

Protesters started their rally from Taxila court complex and after passing through Faisal Shaheed Road assembled at the main Taxila chowk.

The lawyers leading the protesters delivered speeches and in the end offered prayers for the departed souls. Black flags were raised outside the bar rooms while resolutions condemning police brutality were also passed by the bar councils’ association.

Protest in AJK

While condemning the Daska incident, the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Bar Council on Tuesday called for judicial inquiry into the incident.

“Legal fraternity across Azad Jammu and Kashmir strongly condemns and expresses serious concern over the killings in Daska. Murder of lawyers is the murder of a segment of society believing in and struggling for the rule of law,” said a resolution adopted by the lawyers’ body at a meeting here.

The bar council demanded that exemplary punishment be awarded without any leniency not only to the visible characters but also to the masterminds of the heinous act.

“A slightest flaw or weakness on the part of the government will not be accepted,” it warned.

The meeting, chaired by vice chairman Khawaja Manzoor Qadir, was attended by Mir Sharafat Hussain, Raja Sajjad Ahmed, Syed Shafqat Hussain Gardezi, Syed Shahid Bahar, Amjad Ali Khan, Maqbool ur Rehman Abbasi and others.

Published in Dawn, May 27th, 2015

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