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KARACHI, July 10: The legal fraternity took out a procession from the City Courts and staged a sit-in on M.A. Jinnah Road on Tuesday to register their protest against the government’s Lal Masjid operation, while court proceedings were boycotted in the City Courts and Malir District Courts from 10.30am onwards.
The emotionally-charged lawyers had earlier planned to march up to the Karachi Press Club, but later changed their programme following the operation. They blocked M.A. Jinnah Road for about 40 minutes and raised slogans against President Pervez Musharraf and the military operation.
They also held a general body meeting on the main road, which was addressed by Pakistan Bar Council member Mohammad Yasin Azad, Karachi Bar Association President Iftikhar Javaid Qazi and General-Secretary Naeem Qureshi.
Mr Azad condemned the military operation and held President Musharraf responsible for the bloodshed. He said it was not a new issue, alleging that the government had given a free hand to the people involved. He said the action against the innocent students was totally illegal, immoral and unconstitutional.
In addition to the Lal Masjid operation, he said, Gen Musharraf was answerable to the nation for many other issues including the use of military force in Waziristan, Balochistan, the judicial crisis, the government’s failure to help the flood-affected people, and the May 12 violence in Karachi.
‘US behind operation’
He said the issue was about to be resolved through negotiations, but Gen Musharraf had made it a matter of ego and ordered the operation which, he said, was launched on the behest of the United States. He feared that if the situation continued to deteriorate, the country would face a situation that obtained in the country in the 1970s.
Mr Qazi said the country came into being as a result of numerous sacrifices and on the basis of Islamic ideology, but the rulers were working against this ideology.
Political parties censured
The KBA leader also asked the leaders of different political parties to play their role in protecting the lives of innocent people, adding that the voters would not favour them in the next elections if they failed to play their part.
He said every politician was busy in the struggle for the prime minister’s seat and was not interested in the people’s problems. He said some politicians, instead of supporting the lawyers’ movement, were trying to sabotage it.
KBA General-Secretary Naeem Qureshi also condemned the operation, and said that the whole nation knew who was responsible for the killing and bringing a bad name to Islam. He alleged that President Musharraf was directly responsible for the crisis.
The members of the Sindh High Court Bar Association (SHCBA) also held a meeting at the bar room. Speaking on the occasion Joint-Secretary Ahmed Nafees Osmani condemned the Lal Masjid operation and termed it another blunder of the military rulers.
