PESHAWAR: With the lawyers observing province-wide strike on the second consecutive day, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Bar Council (KPBC) on Thursday announced that the protest would be extended to Friday (today) against the alleged abduction and severe torture of its member and Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf leader Ali Zaman in Rawalpindi.

The lawyers mostly stayed away from proceedings before courts, including benches of the Peshawar High Court and subordinate judiciary.

In a news release, the KPBC announced that the legal fraternity was upset at the brutal torture of Ali Zaman, who was also former president of the Peshawar Bar Association, and it wanted the strike to be extended. It asked lawyers not to appear before any of the courts today (Friday).

Initially, the KPBC had announced strike on Feb 11, which was extended to Feb 12 as photos of the injured lawyer went viral on social media, resulting in the outrage of lawyers.

The legal fraternity demanded the immediate arrest of the culprits for exemplary punishment.

Advocate Ali Zaman, who was also a provincial assembly candidate in the Feb 2024 general elections, was abducted by unidentified people in Rawalpindi, and was set free after severe torture.

The KPBC said that kidnapping a senior lawyer and subjecting him to brutal torture was a shameful act, which was a threat not only to the legal fraternity but to the entire justice system as well.

It called upon law-enforcement agencies to initiate criminal proceedings against any of the ‘agency’ involved in the heinous offence.

Meanwhile, KP Chief Minister Sohail Afridi visited the residence of Ali Zaman on Thursday night and inquired after him. He was also accompanied by other ministers and leaders of the party.

Published in Dawn, February 13th, 2026