A Lahore Bar Association (LBA) delegation will meet with the DCO and the commissioner on Monday to seek an alternative parking after the Punjab government announced to restore Baba Ground – which is currently used as parking for the Secretariat and sessions court – into a playground.
The decision was announced during a general house meeting held on Saturday at the Aiwan-i-Adl.
Bar leaders demanded that the chief minister arrange for an alternative parking lot before the ground is restored as a playground. The lawyers warned the government of street protests if the issue was not resolved amicably.
LBA president Chaudhry Zulfiqar Ali said the Punjab government had allocated the land as a parking lot. “We did not occupy it by force,” Ali said, adding that lawyers would be “forced” to protest if the government tried to “take away” their parking space. The government should find a solution to the problem through negotiations, he said, rather than taking arbitrary decisions.
Asad Zaidi, the association’s general secretary, told The Express Tribune that the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz chief Nawaz Sharif had visited the area a few months ago and played a bit of cricket in the ground. After that he issued directions that grass be replanted and the ground be restored as a playground for the residents of the nearby areas. The Parks and Horticulture Authority, said Zaidi, has started planting grass recently and told lawyers that they can no longer park their cars in the ground.
LBA representatives said they will continue to park their vehicles in Baba Ground until they are provided alternative space. Parking is already prohibited on court premises, they said, because of security. “Where will we park our vehicles if we are barred from parking at the Baba Ground?” one remarked.
The lawyers said that the Lahore High Court was yet to decide who the land belonged to. The Punjab Printing Press, Government College University and Punjab University all lay claim to the ground.
It was also decided during the meeting that the lawyers will hoist black flags at the offices of the bar councils and associations on Monday to protest the killing of Muslims in Burma. The lawyers said they will attend court while wearing black armbands.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 29th, 2012.
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wow! so much hate for lawyers! and no one is bothered to confirm if what they say about being allocated the place as a parking space is true or not! and please will all the wise men above tell the lawyers where to park their cars? in the middle of the road?
All illegal activities today we see actually sprang out from the words and actions of these black coats. All they care about is "their" parking and "their" views or strike-we-go. May be with their "magical" reasoning they will prove the word children's "park" is actually allowing them to "park" their cars. Besides, Its election season too for all forgotten causes to come back alive for politicians. Now either lawyers wait until after elections to take back the park from local deprived children or get a place for parking nearby and have a chartered commuter service to and fro, that even modern countries avail all the times around the globe.
All they have to do is come ten minutes early to have enough time on hand for the commuter ride instead of screeching into the parking lot to grab that spot. If our officials see the distances office workers of all professions walk from parking lot to their room in modern countries they will not believe that "quarter mile" is common. Walking is good for whole community and the developed world is getting healthier day by day, also the city administrations also give them a chance whenever possible. Due to such pro-community policies average age in a developed countries is 25 years higher than that of Pakistan.Actually when lawyers walk for health, the children get a chance on better health activities too in the park, the community start to think of Health First too. If pro-health actions don't start from Lahore and Punjab__ the Pak symbol of health & fitness, where else should we start from? Please answer me someone!
**st
There are some real trouble makers in the lawyers' community and this '' threat'' by LBA against the restoration of Baba Ground is another indication that this community really does not rule of law and believes in free for all..... If the Punjab Govt has started taking steps to restore the playing grounds in the city of Lahore, the lawyers should cooperate rather than protesting. What are they upto? Just by wearing black coats they do not become something ''above the law of the land'' and force their way for anything they want. It is high time that the saint element in the lawyers community come out in a bold way to stop the trouble makers from maligning this educated class.
black coats themselves becoming land encroachers.....and threatening an elected government in the process....disgusting times we live in