Police baton charge lawyers in Lahore
30 November, 2007
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| LAHORE: Pakistani policemen charge batons on the lawyers during a demonstration against President Pervez Musharraf on the eve of his oath taking cerem |
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LAHORE: Police on Thursday baton-charged and pelted stones to disperse angry lawyers of the Lahore Bar Association (LBA) when they attempted to stage a rally in protest against the oath-taking of General (retd) Pervez Musharraf as president of Pakistan, imposition of the emergency rule in the country, removal of judges and amendments to the Bar Councils Act.
The lawyers, on the call of the Pakistan Bar Council and the Punjab Bar Council, observed Thursday as a ‘Black Day’, boycotted courts proceedings, wore black armbands and hoisted black flags on the bar premises.
After holding a general meeting, the lawyers came out of the Aiwan-e-Adl to take out a rally, but police baton-charged them and also arrested some of them. The lawyers responded by pelting stones on police, compelling them to retreat. Later, the lawyers chanted full-throated slogans against Pervez Musharraf and the Lahore High Court chief justice and marched towards the PMG Chowk and staged a sit-in.
The lawyers ended their sit-in when SSP Operations Aftab Cheema assured them of the release of their arrested colleagues. During the clash with police a number of lawyers, including LBA President Syed Muhammad Shah, Secretary Khawar Bashir, Qamar Shahid, Malik Muhammad Arshad, MR Awan, Asim Cheema and press photographers were injured.
During the sit-in, the lawyers delivered speeches against the imposition of emergency rule and removal of judges under the PCO. Some young and aggressive lawyers removed banners of Moonis Elahi and burnt them.
Meanwhile, the Lahore High Court Bar Association (LHCBA) held a protest meeting at the Kiayni Hall. LHCBA President Ahsan Bhoon, Secretary Sarfraz Cheema, former LHCBA Presidents Justice (r) Malik Saeed Hassan, Hamid Khan, Ahmad Awais, Punjab Bar Council member Khurram Latif, Hina Jillani, Tayyaba Zameer and Manzoor Gillani addressed the bar.
Bhoon launched scathing attack on President Musharraf and accused him of being a usurper who had taken an oath as a civilian president to take the whole nation hostage again. He said President Musharraf had called his uniform as his skin but he had to remove it after the lawyers struggle. “They will now send him home to face the consequences of all his misdeeds, including making a mockery of the Constitution and the judiciary,” he added.
Malik Saeed Hassan charged that judges had taken oaths for loyalty to a person, not to the country. Rejecting amendments to the Constitution and the law made by Gen (r) Musharraf, he said it was the exclusive right of those who abided by the Constitution and not those who had ridiculed the supreme law of the land.
Hamid Khan said Gen (r) Musharraf was not acceptable as a president or presidential candidate. On the imposition of emergency rule, he said it was imposed as President Musharraf was sure that the majority decision on his qualification would be against him by a 7 to 4 vote. “Black sheep are in every community, we are not bothered by it, but the majority was going to disqualify President Musharraf,” he added.
He urged politicians to boycott the coming general election. Amid a thundering applause, he announced that Ali Ahmad Kurd would withdraw his nomination papers and Aitzaz Ahsan had also informed him that he would follow the decision of the legal community about the election.
Hina Jillani termed it the most disgraceful day in country’s history when a military ruler was going to take an oath of the president office. “We should reject the Army role in a democratic set-up and we will not accept it,” she added.
She said the lawyers and civil society movement was for the rule of law, restoration of the Constitution and the judiciary and there was no compromise on it. She said it was an insult to the legal community to appear before the PCO judges. She said Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif were back in the country and the lawyers had to make them realise that they had to serve the interests of the nation and should not disappoint the people. She said the people at large had great expectations from Ms Bhutto and Sharif and, hopefully, they would respond positively and try to do anything which was in larger national interests, over and above political affiliations.
She said she had met a member of the caretaker cabinet, who said that bails of many lawyers had been cancelled for their activities. She said her reply was, “Do whatever you like, our struggle is for the rule of law and the Constitution and it will continue.”
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