PESHAWAR, May 12: The lawyers, political parties and civil society groups throughout the NWFP boycotted courts, held meetings and rallies on Monday to mark the killing of scores of innocent people in Karachi on May 12, last year, as black day.
The lawyers held the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) responsible for the carnage of innocent civilians and reiterated to re-launch the movement for the restoration of the pre-Nov 3 judiciary.
Various civil society groups extended support to the lawyers’ movement and condemned the government for “betraying” the entire nation by maintaining the PCO-judges and ‘ignoring’ the restoration of the ‘independent’ judges.
In Peshawar, a joint meeting of the lawyers and different groups including NGOs, doctors, teachers, politicians, students, etc. was held under the aegis of the Peshawar High Court Bar Association (PHCBA). The meeting decided to fully follow the decisions to be made by the Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) in its meeting scheduled for May 16.
The venue of the meeting constantly reverberated with anti-Musharraf and pro-Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry slogans.
Through a unanimously adopted resolution the meeting condemned the inclusion of MQM in the Sindh cabinet and stated that ‘while the MQM had yet to renounce terrorism the PPP joined hands with them which was a great injustice to the nation’.
The meeting expressed concern over the ongoing judicial crisis and non-restoration of the pre-Nov 3 judiciary and stated that by not fulfilling their commitment the PPP had ‘supported’ a dictator in his unconstitutional acts.
The participants paid tributes to Mian Nawaz Sharif and All Pakistan Democratic Movement (APDM) leaders for supporting the lawyers’ movement and ‘struggling for the independence of the judiciary’.
The meeting was addressed by PHCBA’s president Abdul Lateef Afridi, Supreme Court Bar Association’s (SCBA) vice president, Saeed Akhter, vice-chairperson of Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), Mussarat Hilali, PHCBA’s general secretary Essa Khan, Jawed Qureshi of NWFP Bar Council, provincial president of Malgaray Doctran, Dr Mian Iftikhar Hussain, president of Peshawar University Teachers Association Dr Arbab Khan, president Khyber Medical College Teachers Association, Dr Mustapha Iqbal, Shabeena Ayaz of Aurat Foundation, Jamaat-i-Islami’s district amir, Shabir Ahmad Khan, provincial chief of Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP), Mukhtiar Yousafzai, vice-president of the PML-N, Abdul Raziq Khan, and others.
The meeting was followed by a protest procession taken out from the High Court, which marched on the Sher Shah Suri road and reached the busy Rehman Baba intersection suspending traffic for quite sometime. The protesters were carrying placards inscribed with slogans like, “Go Musharraf Go”, “Judges are our heroes”, and “Musharraf go to hell”, etc.
Our correspondent adds from Abbottabad: The PHCBA’s Abbottabad Circuit Bench and district bar association took out a joint procession in the memory of the victims of Karachi killings and called upon the government to conduct an impartial probe and award exemplary punishment to the culprits.
Earlier, a meeting of the lawyers was held at the district bar room which was addressed by the president of the circuit bench, Tehmas Khan Jadoon, president of the district bar Mehdi Zaman and other senior lawyers. They strongly condemned the MQM for the killings.
Meanwhile, the Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) Abbottabad organised a protest meeting at the press club where speakers condemned the inclusion of the MQM in the Sindh government.
Our correspondent adds from Karak: The workers and local leaders of the APDM held a protest rally to show solidarity with the victims of the May 12 massacre.
The protest procession, led by district president of JI Maulana Sami-ur-Rehman, started from tehsil Chowk and terminated at Saddam Chowk.
Meanwhile, the district bar association, Karak, showed full sympathies with the victims of the incident of May 12 massacre and observed boycott of the judicial proceedings. A protest meeting of the lawyers was also held at the bar room with its president Bahader Sher in the chair and condemned the perpetrators of the incident.
Our Correspondent adds from Timergara: Lawyers of the district bar Timergara, observed a black day against the May 12 incident.
They also took out procession led by bar’s president Hazrat Rahman from the Balambat to Chudhry Iftikhar Chowk, Timergara, where they staged a rally.
Our Correspondent adds from Swabi: The lawyers community boycotted the courts while the APDM organised a protest camp against the failure of the coalition government to restore the deposed judges and punish those who killed innocent people on May 12, last year.
The lawyers, leaders of Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf, the JI and PkMAP participated in the protest camp and castigated the government for its failure to take practical steps for the restoration of the sacked judges.
President of the Swabi bar association Ahmad Ali was also present on the occasion.
Our correspondent adds from Mardan: The legal fraternity of the district bar association (DBA) Mardan, staged a massive protest against the delay in reinstatement of the deposed judges of the superior courts and pledged that they would continue their struggle till the objective was achieved.