Legal community boycotts courts in protest and condemns violence
The Awami Tehreek (AT) president Ayaz Latif Palijo, who was leading the rally on Tuesday, said that the Mohabat-e-Sindh rally will be organised in Larkana on May 25, adding that AT will set up two-day camps in Sindh to receive condolences. He demanded that the government provide compensation of Rs5 million for the people who were killed in Karachi and Rs3 million for the injured.
The strike in Hyderabad was in part also a reaction to the killing of Muzaffar Bhutto, the Jeay Sindh Muttahida Mahaz (JSMM) general secretary, whose body was found in Hyderabad after a 15-month long disappearance.
All the educational institutions, including three universities in Jamshoro and one in rural Hyderabad, were closed. The ongoing exams being conducted by the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education in Hyderabad and Mirpurkhas were also disrupted.
Lawyers speak
The legal fraternity also boycotted court proceedings and staged demonstrations against the violence which claimed 13 lives during the rally.
A demonstration outside the press club, led by the Hyderabad District Bar Association president Nisar Durrani, called for the Muttahida Qaumi Movement to be banned. They urged the chief justice of Pakistan (CJP), Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, to take suo motu notice of the incident.
“Do not think that Sindhis are an easy target and do not mistake our patience as a weakness,” warned the Sukkur High Court Bar Association (HCBA) general secretary, Qurban Malano. “It is the Sindh government’s negligence that allows terrorists to kill innocent people and get away with it.”
He was speaking at a press conference organised by the HCBA and District Bar Association (DBA) in Sukkur.
Malano asked the government to register a case against the “terrorists” so that they are arrested and punished. While asking the CJP and the Sindh High Court chief justice to take suo motu notice of the incident, he said that an independent judicial inquiry should also be conducted.
The DBA president, Hadi Bux Bhatt, agreed with his colleague. “By targeting women, these traitors of Sindh have proved that they only want to terrorise the people,” he said.
The AT leader, Rasool Bux Palijo, asked President Asif Ali Zardari to have pity on the people while criticising the Pakistan Peoples Party’s government at the conference. “Enough is enough Mr President. Thank you for gifting the nation a person like Rehman Malik who only listens to his boss in England.”
Rasool asked Malik to arrest the “terrorists” instead of shifting the blame onto the organisers of the rally. “If you [supporters of Mohajir Sooba] don’t like Sindh, then go back to India and form a province there.”
The day after
In Karachi, a partial strike was observed with some areas on complete lockdown while activities resumed in other parts. The public transport, including buses and minibuses, remained scarce throughout the day.
The old city area of Lyari, Sachal Goth, areas of Malir and Gulshan-e-Hadeed were completely shut while the petrol pumps at Shahrah-e-Faisal and other areas remained open. Firing incidents were reported from different areas of the city, resulting in the death of one man while almost eight people were reported injured.
With additional information from PPI
Published in The Express Tribune, May 24th, 2012.
COMMENTS
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ