Bars boycott court over Karachi terror attack
Strike not as successful in the High Courts and Supreme Court.
LAHORE:
Lawyers throughout the country on the call of the Pakistan Bar Council, the Punjab Bar Council and the Lahore High Court Bar Association on Monday observed a boycott of courts proceedings against the killing of two advocates in Karachi last Saturday.
The boycott, however, was observed in contrasting styles in the lower courts and the High Courts and the Supreme Court.
Lawyers made a thin appearance in the courts mostly to obtain adjournments and the next date of hearing. In different bars, lawyers held protest meetings and expressed their reservations over the insecurity faced by lawyers throughout the country.
Lahore High Court Bar Association president Asghar Ali Gill said that the law and order situation in the country was alarming and it appeared the government had completely failed to assess the situation. He said in Karachi people were being targeted for killing in order to create chaos and unrest in the country.
He said state functionaries needed to improve their efficiency, to check killing and crime in the country as their growing rate was keeping people on the edge. Gill demanded that the authorities review their security strategy and make it foolproof.
Gill also called for the arrest of the killers of the two lawyers in Karachi and that they be awarded exemplary punishment under the law. Gill said the in this hour, the sympathy and support of the legal fraternity all over the nation was for the Karachi lawyers who were suffering from the shock of the loss of two senior advocates. He expressed complete solidarity with the Karachi lawyers on his bar’s behalf.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 24th, 2011.
Lawyers throughout the country on the call of the Pakistan Bar Council, the Punjab Bar Council and the Lahore High Court Bar Association on Monday observed a boycott of courts proceedings against the killing of two advocates in Karachi last Saturday.
The boycott, however, was observed in contrasting styles in the lower courts and the High Courts and the Supreme Court.
Lawyers made a thin appearance in the courts mostly to obtain adjournments and the next date of hearing. In different bars, lawyers held protest meetings and expressed their reservations over the insecurity faced by lawyers throughout the country.
Lahore High Court Bar Association president Asghar Ali Gill said that the law and order situation in the country was alarming and it appeared the government had completely failed to assess the situation. He said in Karachi people were being targeted for killing in order to create chaos and unrest in the country.
He said state functionaries needed to improve their efficiency, to check killing and crime in the country as their growing rate was keeping people on the edge. Gill demanded that the authorities review their security strategy and make it foolproof.
Gill also called for the arrest of the killers of the two lawyers in Karachi and that they be awarded exemplary punishment under the law. Gill said the in this hour, the sympathy and support of the legal fraternity all over the nation was for the Karachi lawyers who were suffering from the shock of the loss of two senior advocates. He expressed complete solidarity with the Karachi lawyers on his bar’s behalf.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 24th, 2011.