President Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) Ali Ahmad Kurd on Wednesday said second long march of the lawyers to Islamabad on March 9 would conclude with a sit-in at the Constitution Avenue. Addressing a launching ceremony of book written by former President SCBA Munir A Malik "the Pakistan Lawyers Movement" Kurd said this time the sit-in would continue till the logical end of the movement is achieved.
In order to press the demand of reinstatement of Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry and other deposed judges, the Pakistan legal fraternity had held the first long march to Islamabad from June 9 to June 13 last year, which was massively participated by political workers, civil society, students and the professionals.
The gathering at the Constitution Avenue was independently counted over one lakh. The sequel of the march in Islamabad was however marred by a difference of opinion by the lawyers' leadership on holding sit-in at the venue, which could not be held to 'avert action by certain extremist elements at the venue.
Continuing Kurd praised Munir A Malik for writing book on lawyers' movement and said, his leadership itself revealed his commitment with the rule of law and supremacy of the constitution and said he found Malik every time a great person. Former President of the Bar Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan said the book reflected true sentiments of Munir A Malik as a reader feels himself landed in the actual happening.
Munir A Malik speaking on the occasion said, he was motivated to write to tell the people about the aims and objectives of the lawyers struggle as well as to inculcate how much an independent judiciary represented by judges of independent mind was necessary for the rule of law and supremacy of the constitution.
Munir Malik said it was the lawyers' movement, which reflected the personality of Justice Chaudhry to the public as a judge who felt for the common man and always held the Constitution supreme. He said the judges who did not take oath of the PCO actually command respect in the public and added, lawyers would continue to struggle pre-November 3 judiciary is revived.
Former President SCBA Hamid Khan, President LHCBA Anwar Kamal, Chairman Pakistan Judicial Crisis Management Council, Shafqat Mahmood Chouhan, Member Pakistan Bar Council Hafiz Abdul Rahman Ansari and others also spoke on the occasion.