Unstoppable: Lawyers climb over assembly walls to present their demands to lawmakers
They were protesting frequent target killings of their colleagues.
The lawyers were protesting the frequent killing of their colleagues in the city. PHOTO: PPI
KARACHI:
Scaling the walls of the Sindh Assembly building was all that the lawyers could think of when legislators paid no heed to their demands during a two-hour-long sit-in outside the assembly building in the scorching heat on Monday.
The lawyers were protesting the frequent killing of their colleagues in the city. On Saturday, the legal fraternity had boycotted legal proceedings in the city’s subordinate courts to protest the killing of their colleague, Chaudhry Idrees.
Forty-year-old Idrees, who had joined the Karachi Bar Association (KBA) in 2010, was shot dead along with his driver, 35-year-old Noman Shah, in Orangi Town. The lawyers affiliated with the Karachi Bar Association (KBA), Malir Bar Association (MBA) and Sindh High Court Bar Association (SHCBA) gathered at the Sindh High Court building on Monday, from where they marched towards the Sindh Assembly to present their demands before the lawmakers.
They sat outside the assembly building for two hours, but no lawmaker came out to hear their demands. This was enough to enrage the lawyers, who started climbing over the Sindh Assembly gate and walls to enter the premises to present their demands to the government. “They are completely heedless and we had no other option but to put our demands before them,” said the KBA president, Salahuddin Ahmed.
The move finally managed to draw out the education minister, Nisar Ahmed Khuhro, who addressed the lawyers outside the Assembly.
Representatives of the lawyers demanded that a high-level investigation team be constituted to investigate the target killings of their colleagues and the culprits be arrested immediately. They also demanded that the compensation amount be given to the legal heirs of the slain lawyers at the earliest. The provincial government had announced the compensation but has not dispersed the amount to the families of over 40 slain lawyers so far.
The lawyers asked the government to complete the security arrangements proposed for the subordinate courts. The plans to secure the courts have yet to be put into effect due to the lethargic attitude of the relevant authorities.
They also asked the government to provide them arms licences and allow them to carry their weapons during ban on the same under section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code.
In his speech, Khuhro assured the lawyers that their demands would be forwarded to the chief minister and will be met soon. He asked the bar associations to inform the government about their demands in detail through a four-member committee. Following the assurance, the lawyers dispersed peacefully. They, however, warned that they would besiege the assembly building again if their demands were not met within two weeks.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 6th, 2014.
Scaling the walls of the Sindh Assembly building was all that the lawyers could think of when legislators paid no heed to their demands during a two-hour-long sit-in outside the assembly building in the scorching heat on Monday.
The lawyers were protesting the frequent killing of their colleagues in the city. On Saturday, the legal fraternity had boycotted legal proceedings in the city’s subordinate courts to protest the killing of their colleague, Chaudhry Idrees.
Forty-year-old Idrees, who had joined the Karachi Bar Association (KBA) in 2010, was shot dead along with his driver, 35-year-old Noman Shah, in Orangi Town. The lawyers affiliated with the Karachi Bar Association (KBA), Malir Bar Association (MBA) and Sindh High Court Bar Association (SHCBA) gathered at the Sindh High Court building on Monday, from where they marched towards the Sindh Assembly to present their demands before the lawmakers.
They sat outside the assembly building for two hours, but no lawmaker came out to hear their demands. This was enough to enrage the lawyers, who started climbing over the Sindh Assembly gate and walls to enter the premises to present their demands to the government. “They are completely heedless and we had no other option but to put our demands before them,” said the KBA president, Salahuddin Ahmed.
The move finally managed to draw out the education minister, Nisar Ahmed Khuhro, who addressed the lawyers outside the Assembly.
Representatives of the lawyers demanded that a high-level investigation team be constituted to investigate the target killings of their colleagues and the culprits be arrested immediately. They also demanded that the compensation amount be given to the legal heirs of the slain lawyers at the earliest. The provincial government had announced the compensation but has not dispersed the amount to the families of over 40 slain lawyers so far.
The lawyers asked the government to complete the security arrangements proposed for the subordinate courts. The plans to secure the courts have yet to be put into effect due to the lethargic attitude of the relevant authorities.
They also asked the government to provide them arms licences and allow them to carry their weapons during ban on the same under section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code.
In his speech, Khuhro assured the lawyers that their demands would be forwarded to the chief minister and will be met soon. He asked the bar associations to inform the government about their demands in detail through a four-member committee. Following the assurance, the lawyers dispersed peacefully. They, however, warned that they would besiege the assembly building again if their demands were not met within two weeks.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 6th, 2014.