PESHAWAR, May 14: Lawyers in Peshawar boycotted court proceedings on Monday and held the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and the federal and Sindh governments responsible for the violence in Karachi on May 12.

They condemned the expulsion of lawyers from Karachi and steps taken to prevent Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry from addressing the Sindh High Court Bar Association.

The protesting lawyers vowed not to allow any MQM office to function in the province and said they would stop any MQM leader from visiting the province in the future.

The lawyers urged the government to deport the MQM leadership to India and said that the MQM should be declared a terrorist organisation under the Anti-Terrorism Act.

Lawyers belonging to the Peshawar High Court Bar Association (PHCBA) and the Peshawar District Bar Association boycotted courts on the call of the Pakistan Bar Council and the Supreme Court Bar Association. A token hunger strike was also observed by the lawyers.