ISLAMABAD, March 13: Opposition leaders, parliamentarians, lawyers and representatives of civil society thronged and virtually occupied the Constitution Avenue on Tuesday to express solidarity with Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry.

They had reached the place in the morning and remained outside Parliament House and the Supreme Court for over six hours.

Justice Chaudhry told the opposition leaders who were there to receive him that he would fight his case and never surrender in the face of what he described as the ‘unconstitutional reference’ made against him.

The opposition leaders, after receiving the chief justice, escorted him to the Supreme Court building.

The Leader of Opposition in the National Assembly, Maulana Fazlur Rahman, who accompanied Justice Chaudhry inside the court, told reporters that the judge was in good spirit and had expressed gratitude for the opposition, lawyers and the general public who had supported him and the cause of independence of the judiciary.

The Maulana said the chief justice had fought bravely against the violators of the constitution. The lawyer community, he added, had proved to be the real custodian of justice and supremacy of law.

The leaders in the Constitution Avenue included Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal president Qazi Hussain Ahmed, Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) chairman Raja Zafarul Haq, Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf chairman Imran Khan, PML-N parliamentary leader in the National Assembly Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, Maulana Ghafoor Haideri, People’s Party Parliamentarians MNAs Zamurrad Khan and Nayyar Bokhari and lawmakers from various parties.

Some senior leaders, including Maulana Fazl and Raja Zafar, left the place early, but Qazi Hussain and a number of Jamaat-i-Islami leaders remained there till the end of the day’s proceedings.

Talking to media representatives, the MMA chief said the chief justice had told him he was ready to face what he termed the unconstitutional Supreme Judicial Council and that he would not surrender before tyranny.

He reiterated his demand for open hearing of his case to let the people know the reality of the reference and give him a chance to defend himself.

Responding to a question, Qazi Hussain said the ground for launching a full-fledged movement against President Pervez Musharraf had been prepared and the situation would make the work of the London conference of forging a grand alliance of the opposition easier.

The charged crowd raised slogans of ‘Justice Iftikhar Zindabad, Go Musharraf go and Death to dictatorship’.

Chaudhry Nisar said: “It is pitiful that the children of a chief justice, including a six-year-old son, were crying for their right to express themselves but they were not getting any facility.”

In reply to a question, he said: “There is no going back and we have to forge the opposition alliance to struggle against this inhuman treatment with the country’s top judge.”

Imran Khan said that when the chief justice of Pakistan was deprived of justice, the claim of the government about empowering women through bills was mere rhetoric.

A group of lawyers took out a procession, chased a couple of security men and chanted slogans against security forces. They threatened to smash the vehicle carrying men in uniform and forced them to retreat.

The lawyers chanted slogans against Gen Musharraf’s rule and expressed determination to fight till the prestige of the judiciary and genuine democracy were restored in the country.

OPPOSITION COMMITTEE: The six-member steering committee of the opposition met on Tuesday to formulate recommendations for continuing the protest campaign.

The committee, Headed by Liaquat Baloch of the MMA, had been formed at a conference of the opposition parties on Monday.

It condemned the maltreatment of Justice Chaudhry at the hands of security personnel when he was going to the Supreme Court.

It prepared recommendations which would be sent to the heads of all the opposition parties for the countrywide protest day on Friday.