PESHAWAR: The lawyers community observed province-wide strike on Thursday against police ‘violence’ on lawyers in Lahore a day earlier.

They stayed away from courts including the Peshawar High Court throughout the day.

The strike was observed on the call of Pakistan Bar Council, which was also endorsed by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Bar Council. The KPBC’s vice chairman Sadiq Ali Mohmand and its executive committee’s chairman Syed Taimoor Ali Shah said that the strike was successful throughout the province.

They condemned the Wednesday’s incident in Lahore stating that Punjab police had acted in a brutal manner against peaceful lawyers. They said the lawyers in Lahore were protesting against shifting of civil courts from its present premises and were holding a peaceful procession when they were attacked by the police.

They said the police baton charged peaceful protesters, used tear gas and also arrested several of them.

They demanded of the Punjab government to order release of the arrested lawyers and also take action against the responsible police officers.

Published in Dawn, May 10th, 2024