In mourning: Lawyers across K-P slam Quetta atrocity

Say they would boycott proceedings for two days

SWABI/ PESHAWAR/ TAKHT BHAI: Members of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Bar Council (KPBC) and Peshawar High Court Bar Association (PHCBA) announced a two-day strike on Monday to protest the target killing of the Quetta High Court Bar president and the bomb blast that followed.

The blast claimed the lives of over 90 people. The lawyers announced two days of mourning during which nobody from the legal fraternity would appear before any court and wear black armbands.

The decision was taken at a general body meeting that was presided over by PHCBA President Muzammil Khan. Also present were Peshawar High Court Chief Justice Mazhar Alam Miankhel, Justice Yahya Afridi, Justice Qaiser Rasheed and Justice Musarrat Hilali.

The participants expressed their sympathies to the bereaved families and demanded the government provide protection to lawyers facing security threats.

In grief

Besides, lawyers in different parts of the province also condemned the attack.

In Swabi, district bar association members strongly condemned the blast. They demanded the government and the army take tough measures against militants.

In Mardan district, lawyers protested in Takht Bhai and Mardan city against the inhumane attack on lawyers and media persons.

“Lawyers have always sacrificed their lives for democracy and rule of law,” Takht Bhai Bar Association President Qamar Zaman said on Monday, while addressing protesters near the press club in Mardan. The attack was also condemned by Governor Iqbal Zafar Jhagra. In a statement issued on Monday, Jhagra called the bomb attack a heinous act of terror.

Meanwhile, in a press release, Awami National Party leaders said the government’s failure in implementing National Action Plan caused the incident.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 9^th, 2016.