KARACHI, April 20: Lawyers have decided to show their strength on April 24 in order to send a message to the government regarding their unity against President Pervez Musharraf’s suspension of the Chief Justice of Pakistan, Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry.

In their speeches to a general body meeting at the City Courts here on Friday, member of the Sindh Bar Council Salahuddin Gandapur, General Secretary Karachi Bar Association Naeem Qureshi, Joint Secretary Amir Niaz Khan, members KBA Managing Committee Hafeez Baloch and Naheed Afzal said that the reinstatement of the CJP is not their target, and that the struggle would continue till the resignation of Pervez Musharraf.

They said in response to the Sindh CM’s threats to lawyers, they had the option to lodge a case against him.

The speakers said the situation left lawyers with no other option except to invite political parties and members of civil society to join their struggle for independence of the judiciary. They said leaders of the Alliance for Restoration of Democracy (ARD) were in close contact with lawyers’ associations and had assured them of full support.

It was said that members of the KBA Managing Committee were actively working to establish contacts with all representative groups in order to mobilise them to join a procession on April 24.

They said lawyers would lead the procession and workers of political parties would follow them at a distance, adding that leaders of different parties would be responsible for the behaviour of workers belonging to their respective parties.

They said a meeting with politicians and other organizations would be held at the KBA Committee Room to discuss the mode of protest, procession route and slogans to be raised on the occasion.

They said all participants would follow the lawyers’ policies to remain peaceful. They asked people to come forward and extend support for independence of the judiciary and strengthening of democracy in the country.

The speakers said the case against the CJP was so weak that the president himself would withdraw it. They said Musharraf was following the policies of his predecessors, who had divided the country.

Speakers said military dictators had always amended the constitution at free and subjugated the judiciary. Had people taken such a stand against dictators in the past, Musharraf would have never dared to suspend the head of the country’s superior institution, they added.

Lawyers stayed away from court proceedings for an hour, from 10.30am to 11.30am and raised slogans against the suspension of the CJP. Seven members of the KBA observed a token hunger strike at the City Courts. They were Mohammad Ashraf Khan Mughal, Afaq Yousuf, Raja Zardad Khan, Nasim Hassan Qazalbash, Abdul Jabbar Jokhio, Mushtaq Awan and Mehboob Aftab Khan.

Lawyers in Malir district also boycotted court proceedings for an hour, from 10.30am to 11.30am, and gathered at the hunger strike camp. Four members of the Malir Bar Association observed a token hunger strike. They were Abdul Wasi Kakar, Naveed Ahmed Baloch, Sher Khan and Ghulam Mustafa Rajper.