SAHIWAL: Both lawyers and traders have succeeded in launching cases against each other in Arifwala.

It all began when on Wednesday morning, lawyer Riaz Hussain parked his motorcycle in front of the shop of brothers Muhammad Asif and Muhammad Sajid at Thana Bazaar, Arifwala. As the lawyer was in the bank, after 30 minutes shopkeepers asked him to remove his motorcycle as they needed space for a truck there. This led to an exchange of words.

The lawyer called his colleagues who broke windowpane of the shop.

Shop owners allege lawyers stole Rs161,500 and auto parts from the shop. Later, lawyers and traders both blocked Bahwalanagar Road and pelted each other with stones.

Eyewitnesses say first lawyers beat shopkeepers and later traders severely thrashed them.

The Arifwala DSP called Elite Force and reserved force from Pakpattan to control the situation.The police used teargas shelling to disperse the crowd while the traffic remained suspended for three hours. Traders closed their shops while lawyers remained away from courts.

Later in the day, Markazi Anjuman Tajran sent their leader Muhammad Hussain Husani to lawyers for negotiation but he was manhandled by young lawyers on the court premises. This aggravated the situation.

In the evening, lawyers got an FIR registered against 150 people, of them 70 nominated, under 7-ATA and other section with the the city police.

On Thursday, traders also got cross-version case registered against 150 lawyers, 70 nominated, under the terror and other clauses. On Friday, lawyers held a convention.

Traders told Dawn local political leadership and senior officials from the district administration should play their role to diffuse the situation.

Pakpattan Deputy Commissioner Ahmed Kamal Maan told Dawn efforts were underway to pacify both sides. Also, on Friday, bars of Pakpattan and Sahiwal boycotted judicial processdings to show solidarity with their Arifwala colleagues.

The Arifwala Tehsil Bar Association hosted an All Punjab Lawyers’ Convention and twice blocked Bahawalnager Road. They chanted slogans against the DPO, the SSP investigation and the Arifwala police for registering counter version FIR against lawyers and demanded their transfer.

They said they would not let any policeman into court premises in Pakpattan and Sahiwal until FIR was not withdrawn.

So far, no senior official from the district administration, police and judiciary tried to calm the situation.

Published in Dawn, June 22nd, 2019