Peshawar attack: Lawyers go on strike today

LAHORE: Pakistan Bar Council on Tuesday announced a countrywide strike on Wednesday (today) in protest against the killing of more than 130 children in a terrorist attack at Army Public School in Peshawar. In a statement condemning the attack, Vice Chairman Burhan Moazzam Malik said that the legal fraternity wished to express solidarity with the parents of the deceased children. He requested lawyers across the country to boycott the courts on Wednesday. Malik urged district bar associations to arrange protest meetings and candle vigils to remember the victims. He said that the council demanded that the government arrest those behind the attack. “We will come up with a new strategy if the government fails to arrest the culprits,” Malik said. He stressed the need for a consolidated policy to improve the law and order situation in the country. Lahore High Court Bar Association president Shafqat Mehmood Chauhan also condemned the incident. In a separate statement, he announced a strike on Wednesday.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 17^th, 2014.