LAHORE, May 3: Lawyers and activists of the opposition political parties are determined to accord a warm reception to Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry in the city tomorrow (Saturday) — a resolve the Punjab government is set to weaken to make the event a fiasco.

A number of controversial issues apart, the crux of the matter is that how many judges of the Lahore High Court will participate in the reception. Various bar associations have extended invitations to all the judges.

“I have dropped the invitations at the chambers of all the judges,” said Lahore High Court Bar Association secretary Sarfraz Ahmad Cheema who believed that half of the 32 judges of the high court would certainly turn up to the reception as do several retired judges.

While the lawyer bodies and political parties are making all-out efforts to make the event a big show, the government officials have canalised their energies to dampen the spirits of the dissidents. It has already conveyed what it calls security concern about the reception, suggesting that the chief justice would not travel by road and instead fly from Islamabad to Lahore.

A Punjab government letter sent to the Supreme Court’s registrar had warned of any terrorist attack on the convoy of Justice Chaudhry in the wake of lawlessness.

Responding to the warning, Pakistan Bar Council member Hamid Khan said on behalf of the Supreme Court Bar Association that there was no such imminent threat to Justice Chaudhry, but the government would be responsible if anything like that happened. “We do not have any plans to make changes to the scheduled GT Road rally. Mr Chaudhry will enter Lahore at Ravi bridge to lead a big rally up to the Lahore High Court on The Mall.”

Sources in the Punjab government said the police had been directed to launch a ‘big swoop’ ahead of the reception to net political and rights activists besides lawyers who the government believed could cause any turbulence.

Threats, too, were being conveyed to senior lawyers and office-bearers of district bar associations, alleged Mr Cheema who, however, expressed resolve that such tactics would not make any difference and Justice Chaudhry would address the bars in Gujjar Khan, Jhelum, Sarai Alamgir, Kharian, Gujrat, Wazirabad and Gujranwala.

SCBA vice-president Sahibzada Anwar Hamid has extended invitations to all the lawyer bodies in Punjab to participate in the reception after boycotting courts. He expected that the convoy of the chief justice would have hundreds of people by the time it enter Lahore. Hundreds of more lawyers and political activists would join the caravan at the Ravi bridge to march up to The Mall.

“That is what the government is taking as the biggest threat. Seeing hundreds of people marching from the Ravi bridge to The Mall will be a nightmare for the government,” he said.

Additional IGP Malik Muhammad Iqbal, who is the Lahore police chief, said: “I cannot comment as far as policy and strategy of the government regarding the event is concerned. What I know is that all arrangements will be in place to ensure peace and no-one will be allowed to take law into hands.”

Punjab PPP secretary Chaudhry Ghulam Abbas said Benazir Bhutto had directed the party leaders and workers to take an active part in the reception. He alleged that the police had picked up hundreds of his party workers.

Punjab PML-N president Sardar Zulfikar Khosa also accused the police of picking up hundreds of his party workers, pledging that the party would welcome the chief justice’s convoy in every city en route Lahore. A spokesman of the MMA also said hundreds of his party workers would participate in the reception.

Another issue related to the reception was taken up in the LHCBA on Thursday when lawyer Nadeem Siddiqui moved a requisition demanding cancellation of the invitation to Justice Chaudhry. He alleged that the house of the high court bar had not been taken into confidence before extending the invitation.

His supporter Advocate Khurram Khan also held a press conference to endorse the requisition. He demanded that the LHCBA should cancel the reception. The reporters covering the press conference, however, boycotted it when Mr Khan and his aides began exchanging harsh words with them after being unable to respond to queries.

The bar president, Ahsan Bhoon rejected the requisition, saying it seemed to be an attempt to create law and order situation by the government-sponsored individuals.

“I, being the custodian of the bar, feel myself responsible to discourage any effort being made to divide the bar for personal motives,” he told a press conference.

There had also been reports of using heavyweights of legal fraternity to create rifts among the lawyers over the reception issue. Advocate Hamid Khan had some days ago alleged that Justice Malik Muhammad Qayyum (retired) had been using cash and kind to make the event a failure.

Justice Qayyum, however, denied the allegation, saying that he himself would be standing in the row lined up for the reception of Justice Chaudhry provided the people like Hamid Khan had no objection to it.