In solidarity: Lawyers boycott courts to protest police action
‘The judicial commission report must be made public’.
View of PAT secretariat after Tuesday violent clash. PHOTO: NNI
LAHORE:
The Lahore High Court Bar Association (LHCBA) on Wednesday held Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, Law Minister Rana Sanaullah and the Punjab inspector general of police responsible for the Model Town carnage and demanded their resignations.
They also demanded strict action against all policemen responsible for the incident.
The LHCBA boycotted court proceedings and did not appear in courts as a show of solidarity with the victims of police brutality.
The call for strike came from the Supreme Court Bar Association, the Punjab Bar Council, the Lahore High Court Bar Association and the Lahore Bar Association.
In its general house meeting on Wednesday, the LHCBA condemned the incident and offered the victims free legal counsel in obtaining legal redress. They passed a resolution demanding legal action against officials responsible for the incident. The bar also demanded that judicial commission’s report be made public.
LHCBA President Shafqat Mahmood Chohan said the bar was above political affiliation but members of the bar had always raised their voices for the innocent and downtrodden. He said as legal professionals, they should avoid politicising the issue and should play a positive role in the incident.
LHCBA Secretary Mian Muhammad Ahmed said the police action against PAT workers was state sponsored terrorism. He said such examples had never been witnessed even during dictatorships.
He condemned Sanaullah’s statement that there was a huge cache of weapons at the PAT secretariat. He said during Tahirul Qadri’s four-day sit-in in Islamabad last year, not a single leaf was damaged.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 19th, 2014.
The Lahore High Court Bar Association (LHCBA) on Wednesday held Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, Law Minister Rana Sanaullah and the Punjab inspector general of police responsible for the Model Town carnage and demanded their resignations.
They also demanded strict action against all policemen responsible for the incident.
The LHCBA boycotted court proceedings and did not appear in courts as a show of solidarity with the victims of police brutality.
The call for strike came from the Supreme Court Bar Association, the Punjab Bar Council, the Lahore High Court Bar Association and the Lahore Bar Association.
In its general house meeting on Wednesday, the LHCBA condemned the incident and offered the victims free legal counsel in obtaining legal redress. They passed a resolution demanding legal action against officials responsible for the incident. The bar also demanded that judicial commission’s report be made public.
LHCBA President Shafqat Mahmood Chohan said the bar was above political affiliation but members of the bar had always raised their voices for the innocent and downtrodden. He said as legal professionals, they should avoid politicising the issue and should play a positive role in the incident.
LHCBA Secretary Mian Muhammad Ahmed said the police action against PAT workers was state sponsored terrorism. He said such examples had never been witnessed even during dictatorships.
He condemned Sanaullah’s statement that there was a huge cache of weapons at the PAT secretariat. He said during Tahirul Qadri’s four-day sit-in in Islamabad last year, not a single leaf was damaged.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 19th, 2014.