Bar council to boycott courts across K-P today

Decision taken to protest killing of lawyer in DI Khan

PESHAWAR: The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Bar Council (KPBC) has decided to boycott court proceedings across the province on Monday (today) to protest the brutal killing of Shahid Abbas Shirazi in DI Khan.

According to a press release issued on Sunday, all courts in K-P will remain closed on Monday to protest the killing, the decision to issue an arrest warrant against Advocate Pir Fayyaz and raid at the house of Advocate Ijaz Khan.

The lawyers’ community urged the government to launch a crackdown against target killers and ensure they are taken to task.

They also pressed the provincial government to provide security to KPBC members.

Earlier, on July 6, Advocate Shahid Abbas Shirazi was gunned down by unidentified motorcyclists near Wensam College in DI Khan.

The incident triggered widespread protests and aerial firing. According to the police, the assailants had managed to victimise a well-known figure from the Shia community.

However, the incident triggered a protest as people took to the streets against the district administration and resorted to aerial firing. This triggered a wave of panic among people in markets and they closed their shops. The roads — which had been blocked in protest — were reopened after successful negotiations between protesters and Minister for Revenue Ali Amin Gandapur, DI Khan DPO Yasir Khan Afridi, officers of the armed forces and civil society members.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 11^th, 2016.