KARACHI, April 13: Legal proceedings remained suspended on Friday in the city courts and Malir district due to a strike called by the Pakistan Bar Council against the suspension of Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry.

Six members of Karachi Bar Association (KBA) observed token hunger strike in the city courts. They were Abdul Sattar, Sikandar Hayat, Abdul Latif Shaikh, Ajmal Haider, Abdur Rauf and Mubarak Ali.

The lawyers held a general body meeting in front of the city courts. It was addressed by members Sindh Bar Council (SBC) Salahuddin Gandapur, KBA President Iftikahr Javaid Qazi, and Mohammad Ali Abbasi. They condemned the suspension of CJP and pledged to continue the campaign till the judiciary’s independence.

They said the lawyers were ready to face problems to strengthen democratic institutions in the country. They stressed the need that unity be maintained in the fraternity and all activities of the KBA be given preference over all other personal activities.

The lawyers came out from the city courts in a procession on M.A.Jinnah Road and marched on the road to the Quaid-e-Azam’s mausoleum. They observed a sit-in on the road at some places. They were joined by members of Sindh High Court Bar Association and Malir Bar Associaiton at Saeed Manzil.

The combined procession led by the associations’ office bearers and other senior lawyers gathered on the road close to the Quaid-e-Azam mausoleum and formed a human chain. Mohammad Ali Abbasi, Iftikhar Javaid Qazi, MBA President Zahoor Hussain Mehar and KBA General Secretary Naeem Qureshi on telephone from Islamabad, and Shahadat Awan spoke to the gathering.

They vowed to follow the decisions of Pakistan Bar Council and Supreme Court Bar Association regarding the campaign and asked the lawyers to be prepared for a prolonged campaign.

The lawyers shouted slogans against President Pervez Musharraf, the army, and the president’s action against the CJP.