Balochistan unrest: Prosecutor’s disappearance sparks lawyers’ protest

Legal fraternity leaders remark province is under ‘bandit rule’.

QUETTA:

Balochistan lawyers on Friday held protests and boycotted court proceedings to condemn the abduction of the province’s top prosecutor.

Balochistan Prosecutor General Wasey Tareen went missing from Zhob a couple of days ago while he was travelling by road to Islamabad.

To condemn the top prosecutor’s abduction, protesting lawyers marched through various areas of the city before entering the red zone security area near the Governor House.

Addressing the protesters, leading lawyers said that the rule of bandits was supreme in the province as there was no apparent end to such acts of kidnapping for ransom. They said that nobody was safe in the province whether they were political leaders, traders, doctors or lawyers.

Lawyers said there was no sign of Balochistan prosecutor general’s whereabouts and this only showed laxity on the part of the government institutions.

They said they were aware of the problems that the public has to face due to their strikes but the current situation compelled them to resort to such drastic measures.

A meeting of the bar associations decided that lawyers will observe token strikes for two hours in courts.  Due to a province-wide boycott, the Balochistan High Court and other district courts of the province wore a deserted look. With black flags hoisted in courtrooms, people faced difficulties as no hearings took place in courts.

Members of the legal fraternity demanded the immediate recovery of the prosecutor and threatened to take more potent steps if their demands were not met.

Balochistan Governor Nawab Zulfiqar Ali Magsi took notice of Wasay Tareen’s abduction and ordered law enforcement agencies to thoroughly investigate the matter and recover the missing law officer.

Balochistan Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa also took a suo motu notice of the disappearance on Thursday.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 2^nd, 2013.