KARACHI, July 9: Lawyers of various bar councils continued their one-hour boycott of the courts on Monday and vociferously condemned the remarks attributed to the leader of the opposition in the National Assembly, Maulana Fazl-ur-Rahman. At the Multi-Party Conference held in London, the cleric is reported to have commented that Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry’s refusal to resign was based on personal motives and not in the interest of the country’s judiciary.

Lawyers of the Sindh High Court (SHC), the City Courts and the Malir District Courts boycotted court proceedings from 10:30am to 11:30am and observed token hunger strikes to protest against the presidential reference filed against the chief justice.

In a speech at the general body meeting of the Sindh High Court Bar Association (SCHBA), the vice chairman of the Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) Ali Ahmed Kurd said that Justice Chaudhry’s refusal to resign was in the best interests of the judiciary and not tainted by personal motives. Appreciating the stand thus taken by the judge, Mr Kurd said that as a result, Pakistan’s citizenry had become more aware of the importance of judicial independence. The PBC leader predicted that lawyers would soon triumph in the war against dictatorship, and urged them to maintain unity.

Sindh Bar Council member Salahuddin Gandapur said that the amendments to the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) Ordinance aimed to prevent the press from covering the legal fraternity’s movement and the welcome afforded to the chief justice by the citizenry in Lahore, Multan, Peshawar, Hyderabad and many other cities. Referring the cases such as those of Zafar Ali Shah, Nusrat Bhutto and Maulvi Tamizuddin, he remarked that the judiciary would not consent to becoming the military’s B team.

The Karachi Bar Association (KBA) also held a general body meeting at the Shuhda-e-Punjab Hall, during which the chairman of the Sindh Bar Council’s human rights’ committee, Aaqil Lodhi, pointed out that the government had been unable to resolve the Lal Masjid issue despite the passage of seven days. Accusing the establishment of doing nothing for the welfare of Pakistan’s citizenry, he said that General Pervez Musharraf’s government had brought the army and Islam into disrepute and allowed itself to be dictated to by the United States on every issue.

Shafi Chandio, a member of the Sindh Bar Council, termed the on-going struggle a movement for the rule of law and for strengthening the country’s foundations. Similarly, Sindh Bar Association (SBA) member Saathi M. Ishaque pointed out that had the judiciary been more independent in the past, the military would never have been able to rule the country for so long and the doctrine of necessity would not have been promulgated. He condemned the fact that 70 per cent of the national budget is spent on the army which runs the country instead of defending its borders. Another SBA member, Mehmood-ul-Hassan, accused Maulana Fazal-ur-Rahman of being in cahoots with the military government and of having supported the Legal Framework Order.

The cleric’s remarks were also condemned by KBA president Iftikhar Javaid Qazi and general secretary Naeem Qureshi. They accused self-absorbed politicians of seeking personal gain at the cost of the country’s institutions and said that supporting the on-going lawyers’ movement was in the best national interest. Criticising General Musharraf for reportedly having impeding investigations into the May 12 Karachi violence, they pointed out the need to bring the perpetrators to book. Their speeches also referred to issues such as Lal Masjid, the recent floods, large-scale corruption, and rising prices and unemployment.

Mr Qazi and Mr Qureshi announced that today (Tuesday), the lawyers of the City Courts will boycott court proceedings for the entire day and march to the Karachi Press Club to mark the passage of four months since the judicial crisis began.