HARIPUR, July 9: The general secretary, High Court Bar Association, Javed Qureshi has accused the federal government and the Lal Masjid administration of being hand in glove with each other to sabotage the lawyers’ movement.

In a statement issued here on Monday, Mr Qureshi said the nation was perplexed at the developments taking place in the country over the last four months, particularly after the launch of the pro-chief justice movement in the country.

He said that people were unable to understand how the Lal Masjid management had succeeded in acquiring sophisticated arms and ammunition.

In this regard, he severely criticised the role of the intelligence agencies, saying that they had miserably failed to perform their duty.

Mr Qureshi, who is also deputy general secretary of the Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy, accused the government agencies of staging ‘a drama at the cost of life of the innocent people’.

He alleged that the government was using the Lal Masjid issue to counter the lawyers movement.

He urged the Supreme Court to take action against President Gen Pervez Musharraf, PML chief Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and Religious Affairs Minister Ejazul Haq and order a judicial inquiry into the Lal Masjid standoff.

He expressed the hope that the ongoing ‘so-called tension’ would cause no harm to the lawyers’ movement that would soon end up with dislodging of Gen Musharraf and the federal government.