KARACHI, Sept 11: Lawyers boycotted court proceedings at the Sindh High Court and all five district courts on Tuesday in protest against what they said was the targeted killing of their colleague who was an active member of a campaign against the government.
The courts presented a deserted look as lawyers stayed away, stamp vendors did not open their stalls, the two canteens on the premises remained closed, boards were discharged and all cases were adjourned for future dates. Undertrial prisoners were also not brought to the courts from any prison.
Though judicial magistrates and judges did turn up at the courts, they also left after remaining in their respective chambers for some time.
A gunman on the back of a motorcycle shot lawyer Raja Mohammad Riaz on Monday morning as he sat in a taxi near the Arts Council roundabout, about a kilometre from the Sindh High Court, while he was on his way to the City Courts.
“We have given a 72-hour ultimatum to the government to arrest the killers,” said Naeem Qureshi, Secretary-General of the Karachi Bar Association (KBA).
He declined to say who he thought was responsible for killing Mr Riaz but said he believed it was a targeted attack.
Lawyers have been at the forefront of a campaign against the government of President Pervez Musharraf since March, when the president outraged many members of the judiciary by trying to dismiss the chief justice of Pakistan.
Mr Riaz, a former vice-president of the bar association, had been an active member of the campaign, Qureshi said. Bar members would boycott the courts again on Wednesday and would step up their protest campaign if authorities failed to act, he said.
The Sindh Bar Council also announced it would observe three days of mourning for Mr Riaz.
The homicide on Monday came as the Sindh High Court adjourned a hearing into the killing of about 40 people in Karachi on May 12 during clashes between pro-government and opposition activists.
The violence broke out when the then suspended Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry tried to meet lawyers in the city.
The hearing was adjourned as hundreds of Muttahida Qaumi Movement workers, some chanting slogans, milled inside and outside the premises.
Many quarters have blamed the pro-Musharraf MQM for instigating the May 12 violence.
The Sindh High Court Bar Association (SHCBA) and KBA in their general body meetings condemned the killing of Mr Riaz and termed it a conspiracy to frighten lawyers and weaken their anti-Musharraf campaign and struggle for the rule of law in the country.
SHC ‘siege’ condemned
Addressing the lawyers, bar representatives also condemned what they termed the siege of the SHC building by activists of a party, an obvious reference to the MQM, which is a coalition partner in the Sindh government. They termed it a conspiracy to sabotage the fact-finding process and interference into the judicial process.
SHCBA President Abrar Hasan said the government had failed to provide security to the masses. He said Mr Riaz was murdered in broad daylight and in the presence of police and the Rangers. He said the culprits had fled despite the presence of law-enforcing agencies who they did not challenge or arrest the assassins.
“The murder of an active bar member in the anti-government movement and siege of the SHC building are part of the same conspiracy aimed at disturbing the hearing of the May 12 case,” he added.
He said that he had met the chief justice of the SHC and discussed the law and order situation during proceedings of the May 12 case.
On behalf of the SHCBA, he suggested the CJ make special security arrangements besides issuing passes to relevant persons only for the next hearing. He proposed to adopt security methods similar to those in place at the Supreme Court and to not allow the entrance of any unconcerned person in the court premises.
Member Sindh Bar Council Salahuddin Gandapur urged lawyers to stay united and to foil all conspiracies against their struggle for the supremacy of the constitution and the independence of the judiciary.
He demanded the provision of security to lawyers and said that if the government did not provide security to them, they had the right of exercising the option of self-defence to protect themselves.
Senior advocates Akhtar Hussain, Sathi Ishaque, Asmat Mehdi, Tauqeer Hassan and others also spoke and condemned the murder of Mr Riaz and the siege of the SHC building. They also criticised the government for deporting former prime minister Nawaz Sharif despite clear orders of the Supreme Court.
At the City Courts, KBA President Iftikhar Javed Qazi gave a Rs100,000 cheque to the heirs of Mr Riaz on behalf of the association.
KBA General-Secretary Naeem Qureshi, Shahadat Awan, Mohammad Aaqil, Amjad Iqbal Siddiqui and others also spoke.—Agencies.
Meanwhile, the situation at the accountability courts and anti-narcotics court in Clifton and anti-terrorism courts at Maulvi Tameezuddin Khan Road (Queen’s Road) was not much different to that of the City Courts, adds our staff reporter.
KBA Vice-President Qadir Khan told Dawn that the legal fraternity would hold a sit-in in front of the chief secretary’s office on Saturday in case the killers of Mr Riaz were not arrested by that time.
He also said that Naeem Qureshi has announced he would bear the marriage expenses of the slain lawyer’s daughter.
The body of the slain lawyer was flown to Islamabad where it was received by senior lawyers, including President of the Supreme Court Bar Association Munir A. Malik.
Later, sources said, the body was taken to Mr Riaz’s native village, Pind Dadan Khan, where the funeral prayer was held after Zuhar.
The sources said hundreds of lawyers, including members of the Pakistan Bar Council, Punjab Bar Council, Supreme Court Bar Association and Jehlum Bar Association, attended the lawyer’s last rites.