ATTOCK, April 12: The District Bar Association (DBA) has set up a fund for financial assistance of the families of lawyers who were killed during the recent Karachi violence.

The decision was taken at a DBA meeting held under the chairmanship of Rana Afsar Ali Khan on Friday. Initially, Rs30,000 donation was received, as three lawyers — Sheikh Ahsanuddin, Sheikh Waqar Azeem Saddique and Sardar Imtiaz — contributed Rs10,000 each for the fund.

The meeting also adopted resolutions condemning the incident and demanded resignation of President Musharraf to end the prevailing unrest in the country. It also asked SCBA President Aitzaz Ahsan to withdraw his decision to resign, saying it will badly affect the lawyers’ struggle for restoration of deposed judges and rule of law in the country.

The DBA also announced a three-day boycott of courts against the Karachi violence.

Speaking during the meeting, lawyers including Mr Ahsan, Shah Nawaz, Sardar Imtiaz, Azmat Bukhari, Israr Malik and Waqar Azeem said a conspiracy was being hatched by the presidency to sabotage the lawyers’ historic struggle for restoration of deposed judges.

They said beating of former federal minister Dr Sher Afgan Niazi was engineered by the presidency, and those who manhandled the minister were policemen in civvies.

At a time when democratic forces were gaining strength, the dictator was trying to show the world that democracy was not suitable for the people of Pakistan, they regretted.