District Bar Elections: Mixed slogans mark the day

Members championing Taseer’s murderer seen at all bar offices before polls open.

SIALKOT: Final campaigning for the Sialkot District Bar Association (DBA) elections took place on Friday and a large crowd of lawyers campaigned for their choice of candidate in Sialkot, Daska and Pasrur.

Several reports of large groups of bar members sloganeering in favour of Punjab Governor Salman Taseer’s assassin Mumtaz Qadri’s release were also witnessed at all bar offices. In Sialkot and the Sambrial Bar Association, over 180 bar members kept chanting slogans in favour of Qadri, however all candidates for the polls remained completely silent on the matter. Similar sloganeering by bar members in favour of the Punjab governor’s assassin was also witnessed in the Pasrur and Daska bar association offices.

The annual elections of the Daska and Pasrur Bar associations are to take place tomorrow on January 8, 2011, while the elections of Sialkot and Sambrial DBA will be held on January 15, 2011. Traditional rival groups were seen locking horns over their support for their candidate of choice and aspiring candidates have geared up their election campaign by displaying giant banners and hoardings in the bar offices.

The first ever annual elections of the newly established Sambrial bar association will take place on January 14, 2011. Two candidates Muhammad Azam Nagra and Tariq Mehmood Bagri are in close competition over the presidential slot and candidates Naseer A Humayoun and Sabir Bhatti are in the race for the slot of general secretary. “I hope to have the opportunity to shape a great future for the Sambrial bar. This is the first time we are having an election and the winning candidate will hold the responsibility of setting the trend for how the bar operates,” said candidate Bagri.

In Daska, close competition is expected between candidates Advocate Dilawar Hussain Goraya and Advocate Muhammad Asif Bajwa for the slot of Daska bar association president. Saeed Ahmad Baryar and Shehzad Ahmed Dhiloun are also in the race for the seat of general secretary of the Daska bar. As many as 425 members of the Daska bar association are expected to cast their votes in today’s polls (Saturday).

Incumbent president of Daska Bar Association Malik Jamil Akhtar and his group have fielded Muhammad Asif Bajwa as a strong candidate for the presidential slot. “We hope that the new president can continue the trend we have set of looking after the peoples concerns and following the law to the letter,” said incumbent president Akhtar. Meanwhile, Minhaj-ul-Quraan (Lawyers Wing) Daska have also joined the polls. In Pasrur, candidates Chaudhary Liaqat Ali Sial and Chaudhary Altaf Suhail are in the race for the slot of president. Two candidates Mian Abid Hussain and Rana Sagheer Ahmed are contesting for the seat of the general secretary. As many as 204 members of Pasrur Bar Association will cast their votes in the polls and incumbent president Chaudhery Khalid Masud said that he expects Chaudhary Altaf Suhail to sweep the polls. Masud’s rival former president Pasrur bar Amjad Ali Bajwa has fielded Liaqat Sial as the leading presidential candidate. A small scuffle between supporters of both groups was reported on Friday, as Suhail’s supporters pelted shoes on Sial’s campaign group. In Sialkot, Muhammad Asif Bhalli and Khalid Ali Chaudhary are contesting for the presidential slot and a tough contest is expected in the constituency. Over 900 members will cast their votes during the annual elections of Sialkot DBA scheduled for January 15, 2011. Three candidates Irfanullah Warraich, Bilal Ghuman and RK Islam are in the race for the seat of general secretary.

Groups of sloganeers in all bar associations of the district were seen cheering in favour of Governor of Punjab Salman Taseer’s assassin during the campaign. However the SBA candidates categorically refused to comment on the situation. With additional reporting by PPI

Published in The Express Tribune, January 8^th, 2011.