RAWALPINDI, July 27: The bar associations and bar councils of the four provinces and Azad Kashmir would observe July 30 as a ‘black day’ against the Sialkot Jail tragedy and failure of the government to control law and order situation in the country.
This was announced by representatives of the Rawalpindi Bar Association (RBA), High Court Bar Association (HCBA), Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) and Azad Jammu and Kashmir Bar Association (AJKBA) in a joint press conference held here on Sunday at the Rawalpindi Press Club.
Speaking at the press conference, the LHCBA president, Hamid Ali Khan, said, after the Friday’s Sialkot tragedy in which lives of three judges were lost, the lives and honour of no individual could be guaranteed in this country.
He said when the lives of judges and policemen were not safe inside a jail, then the government had no right to say that the law and order situation in the country was in control and satisfactory.
He asked the government to complete a judicial inquiry into the matter within 15 days, which should be made public in order to reveal the hidden hands behind the brutal crime. Without the support of the policemen deputy at the jail, arms could not be smuggled to jail barracks, he added.
About the Legal Framework Order (LFO), Mr Khan said the lawyers would never back Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) in case it reached a compromise with the government over the LFO. On August 8, the joint action committee of lawyers will hold a meeting wherein the decision about launching a countrywide protest demonstration against the LFO be discussed.
In reply to a question, he said, by buying few individuals, the government could not disunite lawyer community which wanted strong institutions and a free and fair judiciary.
Mr Khan said Musharraf had no right to implement an ordinance in the presence of an elected parliament.
LHCBA secretary-general Shah Khawar also expressed his reservations on the ‘commando operation’ in Sialkot Jail.
He said the tragedy could have been avoided, if the raid was delayed till the outcome of the sessions judge’s talks with the inmates.
PBC chairman Mohammad Kazim said, reportedly, bodies of the three judges had been buried without autopsy which was unjust.
The AJKBA vice chairman, Sajjad Ahmed, said without solving Kashmir issue according to the United Nations (UN) resolutions and the wishes of Kashmiris, the dream of a peaceful neighbourhood with India could never be materialized.