PESHAWAR, Sept 11: The legal community observed a strike on Tuesday in protest against the controversial deportation of former prime minister Mian Nawaz Sharif to Saudi Arabia.

The lawyers and jurists urged the masses to rise against Gen Pervez Musharraf as he was bent upon “destroying the country and all its institutions”.

The lawyers also condemned the role played by the Saudi Arabian government in the deportation of Nawaz Sharif, claiming that the Saudis acted at the behest of the Americans.

On the call of the Pakistan Bar Council, the lawyers boycotted court proceedings and organised a protest demonstration following a general body meeting of the Peshawar High Court Bar Association (PHCBA).

Through a unanimously-adopted resolution, the meeting — chaired by PHCBA’s president Abdul Lateef Afridi — condemned the manhandling and deportation of Nawaz Sharif in violation of the clear directives of the Supreme Court.

The meeting observed that there was no law in Pakistan that empowered the government to deport a citizen against his or her will. The participants stated that the violation of the Supreme Court order by the government and the direct interference of the Saudi government in the affairs of the country posed a threat to its independence and sovereignty.

The participants criticised the authorities for closing down the Attock Bridge and hindering the movement of people from the NWFP to Punjab. They said the measures were unconstitutional as no law allowed banning of people’s movement from one province to another.

Condemning MQM activists for laying siege to the Sindh High Court, the lawyers resolved that if they continued to resort to strong-arm tactics, the Pakhtun living in Karachi would be asked to come to the aid of judges and jurists there.

A resolution adopted at the meeting said the lawyers did not want ethnic tensions in Karachi, adding: “It is now clear to all that the MQM is a fascist militant organisation of Gen Musharraf and has been playing an active role in destroying the country’s institutions.”

The meeting was addressed, among others, by Barrister M. Zahurul Haq, Abdul Lateef Afridi, Sattar Khan, Ghulam Nabi and Pir Fida.

Following the meeting, a protest rally was taken out from the high court which marched up to the Rehman Baba Square. The lawyers blocked the square for traffic for some time.

The protesters raised slogans against Gen Musharraf, the Pakistan Army and the MQM.

An emergency meeting of the NWFP chapter of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA), chaired by Barrister M. Zahurul Haq, was also held.

During this meeting it was resolved that: “The Supreme Court Bart Association, NWFP, condemns the attempts by Attorney General of Pakistan Justice (retd) Malik Abdul Qayyum to create disharmony among the lawyer’s fraternity by taking illegal steps against the letter and spirit of the constitution of the SCBA and against the wishes of the lawyers of Pakistan.”

The association condemned the “unconstitutional act of the rulers of Pakistan to illegally force the former prime minister of Pakistan Nawaz Sharif into exile, thereby not only violating his constitutional right to come and live in his country, but also disregarding the valid orders of the Supreme Court”.