LAHORE Feb 26: In a letter written to the presidents of all the bar associations here on Tuesday, Supreme Court Bar Association President Aitzaz Ahsan said they were ready to extend the March 9 deadline for the long march to facilitate the parliament to restore the deposed judges.

‘‘...We stand by our call to launch our long march on March 9. Our purpose in giving that date is to give our political parties the required backing that they may need to resist pressure to give up on restoration of judiciary. We will, however, accommodate any genuine need to readjust to a different schedule,’’ Mr Ahsan wrote.

His willingness to extend the deadline has come amid growing concerns of confrontation between the lawyers’ community and the elected parliament.

Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaaf chief Imran Khan had said the APDM (All Parties Democratic Alliance) would also participate in the long march. On the other hand, Justice (retired) Tariq Mahmood, who was detained for his role in the March 9 movement and Asma Jehangir, chairperson of Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, said the long march would churn out confrontation.

In his letter, Mr Ahsan said the trust the lawyers' community had reposed in him was a burden he intended to carry to the end. “Lawyers have been beaten, bludgeoned, tear-gassed, fired at, burnt, bombed, killed and arrested.

It is their movement that opened up space for our national parties to obtain power. We will therefore be too happy if the Parliament exercises its sovereign authority. But a sovereign Parliament cannot be constructed on the debris of an independent judiciary.

“We intend to give Parliament time to restore the judiciary, but with General Musharraf continuing in power and opposing the restoration of judges, Parliament needed lawyers ultimatums as a backup.

"Our Chief Justice has been under detention for the last four months along with his children while we are being lectured on statesmanship.

He has not surrendered. Nor will we. It is thus that we stand by our call to launch our long march on March 9. “Aitzaz said the lawyers respected the political parties but did not trust General Musharraf (retired). With his exit, the lawyers' suspicion and impatience would disappear.

Mr Ahsan said last week the regime's agencies began to work on a plan to divide the lawyers' movement. He added they started maligning bar leadership with several unfounded allegations.

In his defense, Mr Ahsan said: "I became counsel for the Chief Justice, later of Justice Wajih and a candidate for SCBA president at the request of the heroes of the lawyers movement like Munir Malik, Ali Ahmad Kurd and Tariq Mahmood. There was no conspiracy or ulterior motive. On the first day of my term, I was arrested. So were the 60 judges."

He expressed appreciation for the lawyers for what he called their continued support to him and their colleagues in these very difficult times. "Your movement is not going to disintegrate. All rumours in this regard are false," he said. —Reporter