D awn Report

HYDERABAD, Oct 20: Lawyers across the province on Saturday demanded judicial inquiry into the blasts that killed more than a hundred people in Pakistan People’s Party’s welcome rally for its leader in Karachi on Thursday, and boycotted courts proceedings as a mark of protest.

They offered Ghaibana Namanz-i-Janaza in the courts’ premises for the supporters and activists of the party who lost their lives in the rally.

In Hyderabad, Abdul Rehman Sheikh advocate led Ghaibana Namaz-i-Janaza in civil courts building.

The office-bearers of the Hyderabad District Bar Association (HDBA) and the High Court Bar Association (HCBA) led a demonstration, which raised slogans in support of Benazir Bhutto and condemned bomb blasts. Black flags were also hoisted on the HDBA building.

“I roundly condemn this cowardly act of terrorists who kill innocent people and attempt to shake the very foundations of the country,” said secretary of HDBA, Noorul Haq Qureshi.

He said that no one would justify the killings regardless of his party affiliations. The perpetrators of such heinous crimes had turned the cities of the country into slaughterhouses, he remarked.

HCBA President Abdul Sattar Kazi said that no person in the world would be happy over such gruesome murders and said that lawyers condemned the killings above party politics. “The blood of unarmed people flowed on the roads of Karachi,” he said.

HCBA General Secretary Allah Bachayo Soomro condemned the blasts and said that lawyers were united for the solidarity of the country. The court’s boycott proved that the lawyers shared the grief and sorrow of bereaved families, he said.

The lawyers of Hyderabad whose majority belonged to PPP were visibly upset and depressed. They spent most of the time on Friday and Saturday discussing Thursday’s barbaric incident as most of them also happened to be in Karachi to join Benazir Bhutto’s reception. Luckily, none of them was among the dead or the injured.

Members of district bar associations of Dadu and Jamshoro districts boycotted courts and staged a rally, which started from the court complex in Dadu and terminated at the local press club.

In Naushahro Feroze, lawyers from Naushahro Feroze, Kandiaro and Bhirya town boycotted court proceedings. Lawyers in Naushahro Feroze were led by Haji Khan Panhwar advocate, in Kandiaro they were led by Ghulam Abbas Sangi and Sadaruddin Ujjan and in Bhirya they were led by Abdul Sattar.

They condemned blasts and said that the government should arrest the culprits immediately as they claimed that they had a positive clue in this respect.

A large number of lawyers in Khairpur under the aegis of DBA Khairpur and People’s Lawyers Forum boycotted courts. Led by PLF president Liaquat Shar and DBA general secretary Abdul Qayyum Shaikh they staged a rally, which started from the court premises and gathered outside the press club. They demanded judicial inquiry into the gory blasts.

In Nawabshah, DBA members boycotted courts’ proceedings and offered Ghaibana Namaz-i-Janaza for the people who lost their lives in the blasts. Led by DBA President Ali Mohammad Dahiri they condemned the blasts.

Lawyers in Tharparkar district boycotted court proceedings and demanded high level investigation into the blasts to bring to book the culprits responsible for the loss of lives.

In Mirpurkhas, DBA members boycotted court proceedings, wore black armbands and hoisted black flags on bar offices. DBA president Salahuddin Panhwar chaired a protest meeting, which condemned the blasts and demanded arrest of culprits.

Lawyers also boycotted court proceedings in Umerkot and demanded judicial inquiry into the gory crime.