PESHAWAR: The lawyers on Tuesday boycotted courts across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to protest the suicide attack on the civil courts in Shabqadar, Charsadda.

They demanded strict security for the courts and themselves. The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Bar Council announced the boycott of courts by lawyers would continue for another day (Wednesday).

During separate meetings in Peshawar, the KP Bar Council and Peshawar High Court Bar Association condemned the Shabqadar attack on Monday, which left 16 people, including children, dead.

Demand strict security for courts, themselves

Both the lawyers’ bodies regretted despite prior information about the possible attacks on courts, proper security measures were not adopted, which proved the inefficiency of the provincial government and police.

Lawyers didn’t appear before courts leading to the adjournment of cases.

A meeting of the PHCBA general body took place, where participants offered Fateha for the people killed in the Shabqadar attack and prayed for the early of the injured.

High court judges including Justice Yahya Afridi, Justice Nisar Hussain, Justice Qaiser Rasheed, Justice Asadullah Chamkani and Justice Mussarat Hilali also attended the meeting to show solidarity with lawyers.

PHCBA president Fida Gul told participants that the courts were frequently targeted by terrorists but it was not clear what terrorists wanted to achieve by doing so.

He said Islam prohibited the killing of innocent people.

The PHCBA president said the people killed in the Shabqadar suicide attack were mostly poor and included women and children. He said unfortunately, some injured and bodies were shifted to hospitals in donkey carts and rickshaws in absence of proper resources.

Fida Gul said the sacrifices rendered by the policemen in the war against terrorism were unmatched.

Also in the day, KP Bar Council vice chairman Tariq Afridi and member Shah Faisal Utmankhel condemned the Shabqadar attack and demanded foolproof security for courts and lawyers in the province.

They said it was unfortunate that the government knew about the threats of banned terrorist outfits against the courts but didn’t take proper security measures for the purpose.

The council office-bearers said the lawyers had requested the police for their security, but to no avail.

In Battagram, too, the lawyers boycotted the courts on Tuesday to protest the Charsadda attack. During a meeting at the district bar room, District Bar Association Battagram president Nasir Shah and general secretary Syed Gul Badshah said the government had miserably failed to ensure the security of judges and lawyers in the province.

The asked the government to provide foolproof security to judges and lawyers at courts.

Published in Dawn, March 9th, 2016