RAWALPINDI, Dec 31: Four lawyers on Monday sustained injuries when police resorted to baton charge on their rally which they had taken out against the assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto and ouster of judges of supreme and higher courts.
Some 300 lawyers under the leadership of general secretary of the bar Syed Intizar Mehdi Shah, tried to reach main Kutchery Chowk.
Police had been deployed outside the district courts since November 3 when President Pervez Musharraf declared state of emergency in the country. Since then the lawyers have not been allowed to protest on the road.
Prior to the protest rally, the lawyers held a general body meeting chaired by Lahore High Court Bar Association President Sardar Asmatullah.
The meeting held the government responsible for the brutal killing of Benazir Bhutto. Serious lapses in the security of Ms Bhutto were seen and that resulted in her killing, the speakers said.
To determine the cause of death the police should have carried out complete medical examination of Benazir Bhutto, the speakers said.
The destruction of evidence is also a crime in the law and the authorities washed away the blast site with impunity, they added.
The LHCBA president said a single person had the decision-making powers.
It seems that efforts were being made to eliminate all people having opposite views to that of the President. The year 2007 is evident to the fact that the present regime can go to any extent to silent the dissenting forces, he added.
Senior lawyer Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui said the government seemed busy in dividing the nation by provoking opposite political forces.
Inamullah Khattak adds: Angry supporters of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) on Monday once again surrounded the Lal Haveli, residence of former federal minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, with the intention to set it on fire in protest against the assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto.
Shocked by the tragic death of their party leader, some 150 activists of PPP gathered in Bohar Bazaar and chanted fiery slogans against Sheikh Rashid for repeatedly using rough language against Ms Bhutto.
A contingent of police permanently deployed outside the Lal Haveli stood alert as the protesters approached the building and fired tear gas at the mob to stop its advance.
The demonstrators responded by pelting the policemen with stones triggering a violent clash that scared the traders, who closed down their shops to avoid any damage to their property.
The crowd, mostly consisting of youngsters, clashed with the riot police for a long time but eventually retreated after onlookers urged them to refrain from rampage and honour the statement of the PPP central command to remain peaceful.
However, the protesters threatened that they were determined “to blow up Lal Haveli and kick out its owners” who they claimed were promoting politics of hatred and inter-provincial prejudice.
Sources said that Sheikh Rashid had demanded extra police forces for the protection of his residence.
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