Lawyers in southern Punjab on Friday observed strike, accompanied by hunger strike for an hour. He criticised President Pervez Musharraf for his statement that the 'uniform is my second skin', and urged the opposition parties to shun their differences by choosing a one-point agenda "against a military dictator who wants to be president till his Death".
The President of High Court Bar Association, Habib-ullah Shakir, said that the opposition parties should take extreme measures to remove President Musharraf after his remarks that he would not doff his uniform and that being president he had the authority to take extra-judicial measures," Akbar Baig, President of Pakistan Bar Council, said that the opposition parties should unite on a one-point agenda against Musharraf, as had the legal fraternity.
"Musharraf's war on terror is, in fact, a war for the patriotic Pakistanis' genocide. Whether it is Karachi or Waziristan, Bajuar, the Khyber Agencies or Peshawar, only Pushtoons are being killed," he added. He said, "The Supreme Court should not prolong the Chief Justice issue and should decide it as soon as possible, keeping in mind people's sentiments."
He said that the provincial and federal governments had failed in maintaining law and order. That, he said, would worsen if the Supreme Court delayed the CJP issue. "If the governments and their security agencies have failed to improve law and order despite spending huge resources, the rulers have no right to rule and should step down," he said.
He said that several judges and government officials had resigned in protest against the CJP's suspension; that lawyers were also sacrificing their profession; and it was time for opposition parliamentarians to resign in protest against occupation of dual offices by President Musharraf, "who is violating the Constitution and has made parliament his rubberstamp".