District Bar VP, 21 others in trouble for rioting

He had wanted his name inscribed on a plaque next to the construction site of an underpass.

FAISALABAD: A case has been registered against Faisalabad District Bar Association vice president Malik Safeera Khan Waseer and 21 others, for rioting. The complaint was filed by DBA president Ayub Sialvi and includes Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act among various legal provisions.

The riot took place on Monday after Advocate Waseer took down a plaque next to the construction site of an underpass near the district courts. The plaque had carried Sialvi’s name and not his. Sialvi’s supporters scuffled with Waseer’s men and four lawyers – Advocate Sameeullah Khan, Advocate Syed Hasan Abbas Shah, Advocate Shoaib Mukhtar and Advocate Rafaqat Ali – landed injured in a hospital.

The district government had inaugurated the construction of the underpass on Saturday.

Sialvi told reporters on Tuesday that the district bar association had cancelled Waseer’s membership and were moving to get his practice licence cancelled.

Kotwali SHO Mansoor Sadiq said they had received a complaint from Sialvi and had registered a case against 22 suspects including the DBA vice president under various provisions of law including the ATA.

On Tuesday, lawyers observed a strike and boycotted courts. They held a demonstration at the district courts condemning the rioting. They demanded action against Waseer and his accomplices. The DBA later sealed Waseer’s chambers.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 6^th, 2016.