LAHORE, April 17: Lawyers in the city once more united with political and civil society activists besides students in the form of a rally here on Thursday to protest the killings of their counterparts in Karachi and remind parliament of its pledge to restore the judges.

The Supreme Court Bar Association had announced Thursday as the Karachi Shuhada Day to mourn the killings of lawyers on April 9.

More than 1,000 protesters marched on The Mall with flags, banners, placards and posters inscribed with slogans in favour of the deposed judges and against Pervez Musharraf.

The lawyers under the banner of the Lahore High Court Bar Association, after attending their general-house meeting, reached the GPO along with the SCBA office-bearers and waited for their colleagues from the Lahore Bar Association.The pace of their march towards the Punjab Assembly hastened and slogans peaked when the lawyers from Aiwan-i-Adl (under the LBA banner) joined in. The representatives of the Pakistan Medical Association, the Women Action Forum, the Tehrik-i-Khaksar and some 100 students, led by the Muslim Students Federation, were among the protesters.

Some young men showered the protesters with flowers while the passersby halted to see them walk towards Charing Cross where they broke up in several groups; some of them staged a sit-in on the road while others denounced the presidency.