KARACHI: The legal fraternity, during a convention on Wednesday, denounced the 27th Constitutional Amend­ment and vowed “to fight till the last drop of blood” for the independence of the judiciary.

The “Lawyers Convention” was organised by the Karachi Bar Association at the City Courts, where the legal community expressed solidarity with the victims of the Nov 11 suicide blast outside the district & sessions court in Islamabad and denounced the 27th Amendment.

Speaking to the participants, veteran of the 2007 lawyers’ movement Ali Ahmed Kurd strongly criticised parliamentarians and judges, saying the convention was “a sign of what was bound to happen and what had to happen but from now on, things will happen the way we want them to.”

He further said that one of the major reasons for the country’s downfall was the repeated imposition of martial law in Pakistan.

Strike observed at City Courts, SHC proceedings also affected

Former attorney general Anwar Mansoor Khan said that during the time of the 26th Amendment, people did not protest “out of fear that their families might be picked up or harmed.”

Pointing towards the charged young lawyers, he added, “If this energy and spirit continue, the government will be compelled to roll back the 27th Amendment.”

He added that the only way to roll back the recent amendment is to resist it and struggle for constitutional rights, as “the people of Pakistan are not slaves.”

Barrister Salahuddin Ahmed condemned the suicide attack in Islamabad and remarked that the core problem lies in the absence of institutional policy in the country as every individual who comes to power “enforces their own agenda instead.”

Speaking about the 27th Amendment, Barrister Ahmed said: “It is now being said that another amendment to the Constitution is also on the way, one that will relate to the provinces, and they claim that no one will be able to stop it”.

He further stated that “the Field Marshal is no longer part of the government and can only be removed from office through impeachment by a two-thirds majority.”

Barrister Ahmed added that what former ruler Pervez Musharraf and others could not achieve, the current government has now done “by granting the Field Marshal lifetime immunity.”

In his address, KBA President Aamir Nawaz Warraich announced a full-day strike on Nov 15, saying the legal fraternity would hold a convention in Sukkur to share the next phase of their resistance.

Meanwhile, Syed Haider Imam Rizvi, former vice chairman of the Sindh Bar Council, also slammed the 27th Amendment and vowed to resist it “till the last drop of blood.”

Representatives from district bar associations across Sindh, along with senior counsel, also spoke at the event.

The legal proceedings remained partially suspended at the Sindh High Court in line with the province-wide strike call given by the Sindh Bar Council as most of the lawyers stayed away from the court and also staged a protest on the premises of the SHC.

They chanted slogans against the 27th amendment and also requested the acting Chief Justice of the SHC Zafar Ahmed Rajput to discharge the board (cases fixed for hearing on Wednesday). However, he did not entertain it.

It is pertinent to mention that the legal proceedings at the City Courts remained suspended over the strike call given by the KBA against the suicide attack in Islamabad and in defence of the judiciary.

Published in Dawn, November 13th, 2025