Lawyers continue strike against Daska incident

LAHORE/MULTAN: The lawyers continued their protest across Punjab on Wednesday, the third day of the Daska incident in which their two colleagues - including the president of the local bar - were killed in police firing.
In Lahore, the lawyers held partial strike and appeared in the courts but wearing black armbands to condemn the incident. They also hoisted black flags on bar offices and staged protest demonstrations on roads, demanding the government to take the matter to its logical end.
At Lahore High Court Bar Association (LHCBA), a general house meeting was held where office bearers and senior lawyers addressed the participants and also offered prayer for the deceased. LHCBA President Pir Masood Chishti broke into tears while addressing the lawyers over the Daska incident.
The lawyers, later, staged protest at GPO Chowk while Lahore Bar Association took rally from Aiwan-e-Adl to The Mall. They were holding flags and chanting slogans against the government and police over their failure to protect the lives and property of the general public.
They termed the Daska incident as a test case and said the blood of their colleagues would never go wasted, adding that they would continue their struggle for a change in the country.In Multan, the lawyers organised rallies and condolence references and boycotted the court proceedings. They gathered at Chowk Kutchery and blocked the road.
They rejected the joint investigation team and demanded the government award exemplary punishment to the culprits. The protesting lawyers also demanded the government announce financial compensation for the deceased lawyers’ families. A PPP delegation also joined the demonstration.
Addressing the protesters, District Bar Association Multan President Khalid Ashraf Khan alleged that the state machinery was used to kill the two lawyers. The lawyers were being punished for their struggle for the cause of an independent judiciary, he added, while demanding the trial of the accused SHO in a military court.
Mumtaz Noor Tangra Advocate demanded immediate sacking of the Punjab IGP and arrest of the Sialkot DPO, while Sher Zaman Advocate criticised the government for not taking the matter seriously.
In Faisalabad, the lawyers observed a complete strike and took out a rally from the District Courts, which culminated outside the district bar office.Meanwhile, the lawyers would observe a complete strike against the killings of two lawyers in Daska today (Thursday).
Punjab Bar Council Executive Committee Chairman Ch Abdus Salam described the Daska incident as a conspiracy against the lawyers’ community. In a statement, he said state was duty bound to provide protection to the life of citizens but the law enforcement agencies instead of fulfil their constitutional obligations had opened the floodgates of chaos and anarchy in the country.
Court proceedings were boycotted and protest was also held in Gujranwala, Sargodha, Hafizabad, Pakpattan and Nankana Sahib, while lawyers blocked the Sheikhupura-Faisalabad Road in Shahkot.
Lawyers of Kasur, Chunian and Pattoki observed a complete strike. They took out a protest rally in Kasur, as police blocked all entry gates leading to the DPO office building and restricted themselves to the building. The lawyers also blocked traffic on Ferozepur Road near Kutchery Chowk.
In Bahawalpur, the district bar association held a meeting and condemned the Daska killings, while the lawyers observed a complete strike at the tehsil headquarters of the district as well as in Rahim Yar Khan.
Situation was similar in Chakwal, where a reference presided over by the district bar president, Chaudhry Iftikhar Ali Khan, called for forwarding the challan of the case to an anti-terrorism court. Later, lawyers also arranged a protest rally.
Our Rawalpindi correspondent adds: The Rawalpindi Judicial Complex including ‘Bakhshi Khana’ was without police officials as court bailiffs performed the duties at the main gates for checking to avoid any untoward incident here on Wednesday.
After bloody clash between police and lawyers at Daska, City Police Officer (CPO) Rawalpindi directed the police officials deployed at the Judicial Complex to report at the Police Lines. The lady police constables were not present at the Judicial Complex. Even ‘Naib Court’, a police officer who remains present in every court, was not present on Wednesday.
All walkthrough gates were also not operating in the Judicial Complex. On the other hand, lawyers of District Bar Association (DBA) and High Court Bar Association (HCBA) Rawalpindi Bench on the call of Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) were on complete strike and boycotted the court proceedings on the second day against Daska incident. The legal fraternity in general body meeting demanded the government to immediately punish the culprits.
The lawyers arranged ‘dua’ and ‘Quran Khwani’ at District Court, Rawalpindi for the departed souls of the slain lawyers. A group of lawyers of DBA and HCBA Rawalpindi Bench on Wednesday went to Daska for ‘dua’ to show solidarity with the families of the slain lawyers.
In the general body meeting, the legal fraternity raised anti-police slogans and demanded the Punjab government to find out corrupt officials in police department to punish them. Similarly, a large number of people faced problems as lawyers’ strike entered second day.
Around 2,000 to 2,200 prisoners and under trial prisoners could not be brought to the Judicial Complex from Adiala Jail.Talking to The News, helpless clients and relatives of prisoners and under trial prisoners in the state of tension said that one-day strike of lawyers was enough. “The whole country is sad on the bloody incident in Daska but thousands of people are seeing towards courts for justice,” they said.
Muhammad Usman, a client, said that his father had been in Adiala Jail for two years in a fake case. Hardly had he taken date from the high court, Rawalpindi Bench. But, there was strike for two days. Only the public was facing problems due to strikes of lawyers, he said.
Yasmeen Bibi, a lady client at District Court Rawalpindi, said that she did not know about lawyers’ strike on second day. “I came here to see my son who has been in Adiala Jail for three months in drugs case,” she said.
Online adds from Gujranwala: Former SHO Daska Shahzad Warraich, accused of killing two lawyers including president tehsil bar association Rana Khalid Abbas at Daska, was produced before anti-terrorist court No 1 by Daska police in exceptionally tight security. Police prayed for his physical remand to recover weapon of offence for 15 days. Judge Imtiaz Ahmed Chaudhry, presiding the court, however, remanded the accused to police for 12 days.