LAHORE, Nov 6: Policemen on Tuesday arrested around two-dozen lawyers from the Lahore High Court, Aiwan-i-Adl and Cantt courts in a move, many say, aimed at quelling the protest against the imposition of emergency in the country.
The judges, who took oath under the Provisional Constitutional Order, did arrive to attend to their work but had nothing much to do in the absence of lawyers and litigants.
Policemen in civvies and uniform — some squatting on the romps, others standing guard within the high court — had replaced the crowd ordinarily seen busy pleading and seeking justice.
Private secretary to a high court judge who refused oath under the PCO, smiled wryly when some journalists asked him why the judge had decided against the oath. “It is a distinction he is going to carry with him for the rest of his life,” he replied and went about his work.
Inside the Kyani Hall of the Lahore High Court Bar Association, teargas still hung over the broken door and battered furniture. At the back of the hall, the courtyard, where some lawyers sit and attend to the litigants, journalists and a few lawyers discuss among them the latest.
“The police had been flagrantly cocking a snook at the authority of the chief justice by entering into the high court and arresting lawyers illegally. The premises had been allowed to turn into a police station,” said advocate Syed Manzoor Ali Gillani. Outside the main gate of the high court, barricades were erected to disallow free flow of traffic to and from the premises.
Cameramen and photojournalists were restrained from accessing the premises because of the pictures, showing policemen torturing lawyers, taken on Monday and flashed in newspapers and televisions across the country.
Policemen in civvies and uniform had swarmed the high court premises on Tuesday with the break of dawn, said a high court security guard.
Advocates Mian Jamil and Syed Manzoor Ali Gillani, arrested among a dozen of lawyers for chanting slogans, were released due to their old age. The rest of them were whisked away in a police van.
SSP (Operations) Aftab Cheema, overseeing the operation, said they were only arresting the lawyers trying to create unrest. “No one is bothering the lawyers appearing before the judges to plead their cases,” he added.
Talking to Dawn, Advocate Syed Kirmani said: “We are heading towards a greater anarchy because the country is leaderless.” He said whatever had happened signalled that Gen Musharraf would become the first martial law administrator, who would be tried for high treason under Article 6 of the Constitution.
He said the failure of the political parties to mobilise masses against a dictator emanated from the fact that the leadership belonged to a capitalist class. “We have a rich man’s democracy, not the common man’s democracy, in the country,” he said.
Those who were arrested from the high court include Muhammad Asif Bhatti, Saqib Rasool Tarar, Abdul Razzaq, Adnan Lakhaisr, Sajjad Hussain Sheikh, Muhammad Idris, Nadim Qadir, Shaukat Hayat, Muhammad Zarar, Rashid Ahmad Khan, etc.
Five lawyers were arrested from the Aiwan-i-Adl including Sajjad and Shahzad Warraich. Moreover, three lawyers were arrested from the Cantt Courts including Mian Sarfraz Chaudhry.