KARACHI, April 14: The lawyers’ fraternity on Saturday observed a complete strike in the city courts against, what the Karachi Bar Association described the government’s attempts to sabotage lawyers’ campaign for independence of judiciary. The judges and judicial magistrates remained in their chambers, and the lawyers did not appear in the courts.
Nine KBA members observed a token hunger strike in the city courts against the suspension of Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry. They were Mohammad Khalil Dogar, Naveed Raees Khan, Chaudhry Yaseen Gujar, Malik Aftab Suhail, Mohammad Amin, Fazal-ur-Rehman Awan, Arshad Iqbal, Abdur Rauf and Syed Irshad-ur-Rehman.
President KBA Iftikhar Javaid Qazi while speaking at the hunger strike camp condemned the government for creating a misunderstanding between lawyers and journalists. He said in the last 36 days lawyers and journalists collectively ran the campaign for independence of the judiciary and the incident was a matter of grave concern.
He said lawyers had time and again apologised to the journalists even on the spot and the lawyers did not have any negative designs against the media. He added lawyers could not be involved in any activity which could weaken the campaign. He said lawyers were ready to negotiate with the journalists and wished to resolve the issue amicably. A meeting of courts reporters was held here on Saturday at the press club with Ali Hamza in the chair. The participants condemned the lawyers who had threatened journalists over the telephone. They demanded that the KBA take action against the lawyers involved in beating the newsmen. They said journalists would not enter the city courts for reporting unless they were assured in writing of protection. The speakers stressed the need for lawyers and journalists to continue their campaign for the judiciary’s independence.
The Chairman of Human Rights Committee of Sindh Bar Council Aqil Lodhi in a press statement said that the government was trying to sabotage the lawyers’ peaceful struggle.
He said those played a role in disturbing the lawyers’ procession were unidentified, riding two motor cycles and joined the procession at Tibet Centre. He added that lawyers and journalists should be on guard against those creating misunderstandings between them.
