The lawyers on Friday observed strike to protest against the suspension of Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry. The lawyers boycotted the courts, held protest meetings, rallies, hunger strike camps and also wore black strips and hoisted black flags on bar buildings as a mark of protest against unconstitutional step taken against Chief Justice.
The members of the Lahore High Court Bar Association (LHCBA) and Lahore Bar Association (LBA) held a rally in the provincial metropolis, which proceeded at the Mall Road and concluded in front of Punjab Assembly.
Earlier, the office-bearers and senior members of LHCBA received the members of LBA at the main gate of the Lahore High Court (LHC) and marched at the Mall Road after LBA members joined them. The bar members who were holding banners and placards chanted slogans against President Pervez Musharraf for suspending Chief Justice of Pakistan. Some activists of opposition parties carrying flags of their parties also joined them.
Some of the protestors also removed the banners hanged at The Mall inscribing the name and portrait of Chief Minister Punjab and burnt them to show their anger against the regime. Marching peacefully, lawyers reached Faisal Chowk and remained there for about 20 minutes while chanting slogans against the government. They also burnt two uniformed effigies of General Musharraf to manifest their dissatisfaction with "uniformed democracy".
Some leaders of political parties including district president Tehreek-e-Insaf Shabbir Sial, general secretary PPP Punjab Ghulam Abbas, Sajida Mir, MPA Faiza Malik and MMA leaders also joined the rally.
Secretary LHCBA Sarfraz Cheema, vice president LHCBA Firdous Butt, president LBA Muhammad Shah and former vice-chairman Pakistan Bar Council Hafiz Abdur Rehman Ansari addressed the participants of the rally. On their way back, some of the lawyers stayed outside the chamber of Dr Khalid Ranjha, situated in Dinga Singh building on the Mall Road and chanted slogans against him. The government gave the protestors easy access to the venue of the demonstration, however, the lawyers kept themselves at a distance from the protestors of political parties.
Heavy contingent of police were deployed at different points of The Mall. However, the police remained away from the protestors and no untoward incident took place. The local traders kept their shops closed owing to the fear of any law and order situation on the Mall Road. However, after dispersing of the rally and Juma congregation, the shopkeepers opened their shops. The lawyers also gathered at the hunger strike camps staged by the LHCBA and 'Save Judiciary Committee' and chanted slogans against President Musharraf and Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi.
Those who participated at the camps included Abdul Rasheed Qureshi, Abdul Sattar Khan Niazi, Ramzan Chaudhry, Azam Nazir Tarar, Rabiya Bajwa, Shamim-ur-Rehman Malik, Malik Bilal Zia and Ehsan Wyne.
Members of both the bar associations held separate general house meetings to condemn the presidential action against CJP and vowed to continue their struggle till the ouster of present government.
Addressing the general house meeting of the LHCBA, speakers strongly condemned the futile exercises of Chief Minister Punjab for creating rift among lawyers by holding bogus lawyers' conventions. They maintained that the usurpers would not succeed in their nefarious designs and added that the dictators had got nervous by the struggle of lawyers and were trying to create differences in the lawyers' community.
They said that lawyers were striving for the sanctity of the constitution and independence of judiciary. The military rulers had taken over the parliament seven years ago and now they were trying to conquer the judiciary by keeping the CJP hostage but the lawyers' community will never allow such massive bulldozing of the constitution.
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