ISLAMABAD, July 10: Hundreds of lawyers, political workers and students staged a protest rally from Parade ground to Supreme Court for the restoration of the deposed judges and independence of judiciary.

As the lawyers and civil society representatives braved scorching heat and humidity outside the Supreme Court building to keep mounting up the pressure on the PPP-led coalition government for early restoration of senior judges sacked by President Pervez Musharraf, the absence of the PML-N workers, who earlier were part and parcel of such rallies were felt by every one.

The rally was dominated by the Awami Jamhoori Ittehad and the Students Action Committee activists who raised slogans against America, Establishment and President Pervez Musharraf. However the presence of Jamaat-i-Islami and the Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf workers were also very thin.

The rally was also attended by the lawyers from Attock, Jhang, Taxila, Multan, Sialkot, Jehlum, Gujrat, Murree, Islamabad and Rawalpindi bar associations who marched from GEO offices to the Supreme Court removing the barbed wires and barricades created by the police on the Constitution Avenue.

Earlier before reaching Islamabad, the lawyers in Rawalpindi staged a protest rally at the District Bar Association.

In Islamabad the furious lawyers foiled every bid to restrict them while leading to Supreme Court and vehemently chanted slogans against the PCO judges, President Musharraf and PPP co-chairperson and other leaders demanded the restoration of judges.

Adhering to the code of conduct agreed earlier the heavy police personnel of the capital police, Punjab police and elite force did not resist the protesters but peacefully persuaded them to come down from the boundary walls of the apex court which the lawyers tried to scale. However the lawyers were not allowed to enter the premises of the apex court. The police remained silent when they removed the barbed wires erected on various points on the road leading to the Supreme Court.

The lawyer leaders addressing the rally reiterated there demand of the restoration of the deposed judges through simple resolution of the parliament, yet the PPP led-government has deliberately complicated the situation by introducing constitutional package and has hurt the feelings of the masses by backing out of the Murree declaration.

They vowed to continue their struggle and organise more long marches for the reinstatement of the judges and the independence of judiciary.

President Rawalpindi High Court Bar Association Sardar Asmattullah Khan appreciated the lawyers for braving the scorching heat and participating in the rally in such a large number, which has dispelled the impression that the lawyers have lost their strength and momentum after the June 14 long march.

The other bar associations also addressed the protesters and reiterated that the struggle for the restoration of judges will continue.

They asked the PML-N to decide either they are with the lawyers or with Zardari, as the masses could not be fooled any more and the lawyers would come to Islamabad again in caravans.

The Rawalpindi High Court Bar had also arranged meals for the participants of the protest after the rally but the lawyers ironically littered the leftovers of half eaten food on the pavements and greenbelt outside the apex court giving a dirty look. It was the members of the Awami Jamhoori Ittehad who cleaned up the area by picking up the leftover trash. RAWALPINDI: Lawyers in Rawalpindi brought out a protest rally from district bar association (DBA) and marched towards Islamabad, reported our reporter Mudassar Iqbal.

The representatives of High Court Bar Association (LHCBA) Multan, district bars of Gujrat, Gujranwala, Sialkot and Kabirwala besides the lawyers of Rawalpindi division bars gathered at the DBA before marching towards the federal capital under the leadership former president Supreme Court Bar Association Hamid Khan.