KARACHI, July 16: During the one-hour boycott of court proceedings from 10:30am to 11:30am on Monday, members of the legal fraternity blamed the government for the country’s deteriorating law and order situation and suggested that a round-table conference be held to identify sustainable solutions.

Lawyers of the Sindh High Court, the City Courts and the Malir District Courts observed token hunger strikes in protest against the reference filed against Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry.

Meanwhile, the Karachi Bar Association (KBA) held a general body meeting at the Shuhda-i-Punjab Hall, where KBA president Iftikhar Javid Qazi held General Pervez Musharraf responsible for the country’s messy law and order situation.

He said that “stakeholders” – ie lawyers and representatives of political parties and civil society – should be brought together to debate the problems and find permanent solutions, and added that the rulers’ decisions resulted in the killing of innocent people.

Referring to the reference against CJ Chaudhry, Mr Qazi warned the legal fraternity to mentally prepare itself for all eventualities and said that lawyers would continue their struggle whichever way the final verdict went.

Terming the proposed shifting of the Central District courts to Sakhi Hussain “a conspiracy against the lawyers’ movement,” Mr Qazi announced that lawyers would not attend courts if such a move was implemented.

Demanding the establishment of a judicial complex as soon as possible, the KBA president voiced his opposition to the inclusion of politicians, nazims etc in the proposed Citizen-Court Liaison Committee (CCLC).

He expressed fears that political figures would use the CCLC to further their own interests and other members would be hampered from the performance of their duties.

The general-secretary of the KBA, Naeem Qureshi, reiterated lawyers’ intention to oppose any move to shift the Central District courts and emphasised the need to establish a judicial complex.

He blamed the increasing number of suicide bombings on flawed government policies and said that the ruling establishment was searching for a reason to postpone elections.

Mr Qureshi condemned the military operations in parts of the NWFP and Balochistan, as well as the move against Lal Masjid, and said that such issues were created by government agencies in order to divert attention from the on-going judicial crisis and the Multi-Party Conference.

KBA member Shoa-un-Nabi accused the government of weakening the country and termed the Lal Masjid operation a “black mark on the rulers’ face.”

“Pakistan is an Islamic welfare state and the policies adopted by the rulers are not to be expected of Muslim rulers since Muslims will then not be able to raise their voices against the demolition of mosques in other countries,” he commented.

Members of the Sindh High Court Bar Association (SCHBA) also held a general body meeting at the bar room.

Presided over by SCHBA president Abrar Hasan, the gathering was addressed by Ahmed Nafees Osmani, Salahuddin Khan Gandapur, Azizullah Shaikh and Naheed Afzaal.

Speakers appreciated the legal fraternity’s efforts for the independence of the judiciary, the constitution, democracy and the rule of law, and pointed out that the hopes of 160 million people hung on the country’s lawyers.