LAHORE: The Lahore Arts Council on Tuesday cancelled commercial plays for three days to express solidarity with the people affected by a Peshawar school attack.

Lahore Arts Council Executive Director Atta Muhammad issued an order according to which all commercial plays being staged at the Alhamra Art Center on The Mall were cancelled for three days (starting Tuesday).

He told Dawn all music programmes scheduled in three days at Alhamra also had been cancelled.

The Punjab Council of Arts has cancelled scheduled music programmes and commercial plays staged at the Open Air Theatre of Bagh-i-Jinnah.

In an announcement, the Cinema Owners Association, Punjab and the Commercial Theatres Association, Punjab suspended all entertainment activities on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Qaiser Sanaullah, the general secretary of the Cinema Owners Association, said both cinemas and commercial theatres would remain closed for two days.

Lawyers: The Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) condemned on Tuesday the terrorist attack at an army-run school in Peshawar, where children and teachers were killed, and announced a strike on Wednesday (today) in the country.

PBC Vice-Chairman Burhan Moazzam Malik requested the legal fraternity to observe Wednesday as a mourning day to protest the killing of children.

In a statement, he demanded that federal and provincial governments arrest the culprits immediately.

The Supreme Court Bar Association, the Punjab Bar Council and the Lahore High Court Bar Association also announced a complete strike on Wednesday.

Published in Dawn, December 17th, 2014