LAHORE – The Supreme Court Bar Association and the Lahore High Court Bar Association have demanded fair probe into Joseph Colony arson attack and take stern action against the culprits to prevent such incident in future.
The LHCBA carried on Monday a resolution against the incident and formed two committees to ensure action against the real culprits and to observe the proceedings of judicial commission, yet to be formed.
The LHCBA held its general house meeting under the chair of President Abid Saqi. The resolution was moved by Advocate Robinson and seconded by other 80 lawyers.
The bar urged to include the Quaid-e-Azam’s speech of August 11 into the objective resolution. The bar demanded the government to ensure action against the responsible persons across the board. 
The lawyers’ body also demanded the government to enhance the compensation amount to the victim families to Rs1.5 million each.
Addressing the meeting, Abid Saqi said Joseph Colony incident was the failure of the state and also the society. He said not only the state but also the society should also play its role to protect the rights of others. He said he wanted to amend the resolution and excluded the names of the responsible according to the mover. He said the bar wanted to give a responsible statement leaving it at the police to identify the accused.
Human Rights Activist Hina Jilani appreciated the bar for summoning the session to condemn the incident.
She said this was not the first incident of its kind. The religion of the majority was being used to victimise the minorities. She also suggested the bar to give free legal aid to the victims to bring the culprit to the book.
Other prominent lawyers also advanced speeches at the occasion.
On the other hand, the SCBA also condemned the incident terming it barbaric. SCBA President Mian Israrul Haq, Secretary Raja Javed Iqbal and other representatives held a joint press conference in this regard.
They demanded fair investigation into the incident by not an officer below the rank of additional inspector general of police. They said the government was also responsible for the incident.