No headway: Lawyers continue to boycott court proceedings

Strike over the slaying of Advocate Malik Jarar Hussain enters second day.

PESHAWAR:

Lawyers boycotted court proceedings for the second consecutive day on Saturday.

The strike is being observed over the slaying of Advocate Malik Jarar Hussain, who was a senior member of the Peshawar High Court Bar Association (PHCBA). Hussain was gunned down on Gulbahar Road by unidentified assailants Friday morning while he was on his way to drop his children at school.

The lawyers staged a sit-in in front of the Governor House demanding the immediate arrest of the culprits. “We want the killers to be immediately identified, an FIR registered against the assistant superintendent of police and the capital city police chief transferred,” said Babar Yousafzai, a PHCBA cabinet member.

Lawyers also alleged the assistant superintendent of Gulbahar police tortured one advocate Furqan on Thursday.



Yousafzai complained their demands were not being considered and a general body meeting has been called on Monday to discuss a future strategy. He maintained PHCBA would observe a complete strike tomorrow (Monday) as well.

The Supreme Court Bar Association, the Pakistan Bar Council and lawyers from across Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa will be joining the PHCBA in the protest, he added.

The press secretary of the district bar association, Muhammad Bashar Naveed told journalists they will continue their boycott until justice is served and an FIR registered against the accused police official.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 10^th, 2013.