LAHORE, Jan 11: Embittered by deaths in Thursday’s suicide blast, lawyers and civil society representatives have asked the state managers to step down “for the sake of people and the federation of Pakistan”.

Lawyers and other people laid flowers near the cordoned site of the blast and later offered funeral prayers for the blast victims at the compound of the Lahore High Court Bar Association (LHCBA).

Looking pained at the loss of their peers’ lives in the suicide hit, policemen kept a strict security around the blast site and complained about their treatment and status in society. “We lay our lives for people and we are suspected of committing a crime even if we were having tea,” said a young constable on duty in front of the high court.

Most of them see conspiracy behind the bloodshed and some feel the security network has broken down irreparably because of the government’s “flawed domestic policies”.

“The government and the Ministry of Interior have failed completely to maintain law and order, which has worsened in the past seven years,” said Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) Secretary Amin Javed Bhatti while talking to Dawn. He said the suicide attack, which left 24 people dead, was aimed at lawyers, but their rally fell behind the schedule.

“President Pervez Musharraf should take responsibility (for the attack) and step aside immediately to give way to people’s representatives for the sake of unity,” he said. The representatives of all political parties must be allowed to form a government, which should cater to free and fair elections, he added.

Present outside the high court, Justice Nasira Iqbal (retired) said the attack was an attempt to browbeat lawyers and the civil society protesting against the regime. “It is an attempt to scare lawyers and the civil society away from their demand for reinstatement of deposed judges,” she said.

“We stick to our demand for the rule of law, democracy and an independent judiciary for the sake of our children and the federation’s integrity,” she said.

After attending the general house meeting of the LHCBA, Human Rights Commission of Pakistan Chairwoman Asma Jahangir said the concept of federation was secondary to the security of people. “You would have no federation if you kill citizens indiscriminately.”

For people like LHCBA President Ahsan Bhoon, the situation warrants a political process leading to the election. “It is unfortunate that with our movement for the rule of law and independence of judiciary, we gave our colleagues the slogan of boycott of the election,” he said while addressing the general house.

Bhoon said lawyers must not oppose the election because the regime was using all tactics to cast the polls aside. “Lawyers neither represented a political party nor could dictate one. I humbly request all lawyers to purify their role,” he said.

Former prime minister Benazir Bhutto was slain because the establishment wanted to wipe out the democratic forces from the political scene, he said. The talk about the election and democracy does not appeal to everyone concerned about the prevalent disarray in the state of affairs, he added.

Talking to Dawn, Faryal Gohar, who visited the blast site to express grief at the loss of lives, said: “It is more of a mantra to talk about democracy now. I have always questioned the efficacy of democracy because I can’t be blind to the prevalent injustices.”

She said questions about the denial of right to vote, shortage of power, economic policy, distortion of figures and employment should be explored in trying to find a way out of the current crisis. She said the suicide attack was feared because it further demoralised and destabilised the people already reeling under economic constraints.