RAWALPINDI, Feb 23: Lawyers’ post-election protest for reinstatement of the deposed judges seems to gain momentum as they once again marched towards the camp office of President Pervez Musharraf in a large number and protested in front of the barriers laid near the army house on Saturday.

The members of the Rawalpindi Bar Association (RBA) took out a protest march and gathered at Katchery Chowk and then moved towards Jinnah Park where they were stopped by a heavy police contingent from going towards the army house.

But the angry protesters deceived the law enforcers and after passing through the parking lot crossed the railway track and assembled on the road leading to the army house. At this, the police men rushed towards the barriers of the camp office where army soldiers already stood vigilant.

After protesting there for about 10 minutes and chanting pro-deposed judges and anti-Musharraf slogans - the most repeated being “Quit the army house” - the lawyers came to the busy Jhelum road and staged a sit-in for some time before returning to the district courts. Before coming out of the courts, the lawyers organised a token hunger strike against the removal of judges and arrest of their leaders after the November 3 emergency.

Meanwhile, addressing a meeting of the RBA general body, a journalist from a private TV channel said the results of February 18 elections vindicated the power of ballot. Praising the struggle of the lawyers, he said the movement of the legal fraternity had created awareness among the people about what was right and what was wrong.

—A Reporter