KARACHI, Oct 5: The legal fraternity prepares to protest against the presidential election on Saturday amid serious warnings by the provincial authorities, which on Friday imposed Section 144 across Sindh for four days in a move believed to obstruct anti-government demonstrations.
The lawyers plan to stay away from legal proceedings in lower and high courts in protest against the attempt of Gen Pervez Musharraf to get re-elected as president from the present assemblies while retaining the army chief’s position. They said they were prepared for court arrest if attempts were made to foil their protests.
“We have called a general-body meeting to decide our future course of action,” said Karachi Bar Association Secretary Naeem Qureshi. “We have planned a rally against the presidential poll though it depends more on the opinion of our members. If lawyers approve, we will be peaceful in our protest and, therefore, no one should stop us,” he added.
He admitted that lawyers felt themselves insecure mainly in Karachi after two senior members of the bar were shot dead in a single week last month while their killers still remained untraced. This was actually a message to other lawyers, who spearheaded countrywide protests against the government after March 9, added Mr Qureshi.
Raja Mohammed Riaz, a senior lawyer, was assassinated by armed men riding a motorcycle near the Arts Council on September 10. Mr Riaz had been instrumental in mobilising the legal fraternity to protest against the presidential reference filed against Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudary on March 9.
Just a week later another lawyer Ateeq Ahmed Qadri was shot dead near his residence in Landhi.
Action against violators
The Sindh government, meanwhile, warned action against the violators of Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. Heavy contingents of police will be deputed around the Sindh Assembly building, where members of the provincial assembly will cast their votes to elect a president for the next five years.
“There would be tight security around the Sindh Assembly,” a home department press release, issued after a high-level meeting finalized security plans for October 6, quoted the statement of Adviser to the Chief Minister on Home Affairs Wasim Akhtar.
“There would be no public meetings, rallies, processions and political gatherings in Sindh. These rules should be followed by everyone and would be imposed by the police at any cost.”
Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure prohibits a gathering of more than four people in public without police authorization, while a magistrate can prohibit meetings of five or more persons.
JI plans strike
The Sindh chapter of the Jamaat-i-Islami has announced that a complete shutter-down strike will be observed on Saturday across the province to protest against the re-election of General Pervez Musharraf as president, adds PPI.
Sindh JI acting chief Dr Mumtaz Ali Memon said all the components of the All-Parties Democratic Movement would continue their struggle to get rid of dictatorship.
Sindh JI chief MNA Asadullah Bhutto had already left for Saudi Arabia to perform Umrah.