HARIPUR, May 26: To express solidarity with Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, lawyers here on Saturday organised a protest during Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz’s visit to the city.

The legal community boycotted all court proceedings. And joined by activists of the People’s Party Parliamentarians, Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz), Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (Fazl), Jamaat-i-Islami and the Awami National Party, they took out a procession.

The procession started from the district bar association building which converted into a public gathering at the city’s main chowk.

The protesters were chanting slogans against the prime minister, President Gen Musharraf and MQM chief Altaf Hussain. They blocked the G.T. Road for about an hour.

They criticised the prime minister’s role in the ongoing judicial crisis. They also blamed Gen Musharraf, Shaukat Aziz, Altaf Hussain and Babar Ghauri for the May 12 violence in Karachi.

They said the country was passing through a critical phase because of the “wrong policies” of the government. They also blamed the authorities for suicide bombings in the country.

Those who spoke on the occasion were:Shad Mohammad Khan, president of the High Court Bar Association, Abbottabad; Nawaz Swati, president of the Haripur District Bar; and Javed Qureshi, the NWFP deputy secretary-general of the ARD.