RAWALPINDI - Garrison city’s black coats observed Black Day on Friday to condemn the military dictator and former President General (Retd) Pervez Musharraf’s March 9, 2007 action against the country’s apex judiciary.
Pakistan and Punjab Bar Councils gave the call to observe Black Day to denounce the unconstitutional steps of former military dictator who deposed Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry and imposed emergency in the country on March 9, 2007. Responding to the call, Lahore High Court Bar Association (LHCBA) Rawalpindi and District Bar Association (DBA) officers-bearers and members boycotted all the court proceedings, hoisted black flags on bars, wore black ribbons on arms and staged protest demonstration to deplore Mush’s unconstitutional actions against honorable judges of country’s apex courts. The bar associations also held meetings in which they vowed to continue their struggles for the rights of poor people of Pakistan and uphold of rule of law in the country.
A large numbers of members of DBA, led by their President Sajid Ilyas Bhatti, held a protest demo at Katcheri Chowk blocking traffic for hours.
The lawyers were holding placards and banners mentioning words in favor of judiciary also bellowed slogans against former military dictator President General (Retd) Pervez Musharraf and his aides. The most echoed slogan, chanted by enraged layers, was simple “CJP Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, you devotees are countless”.
Earlier, a meeting was also held at District Bar Room which was presided over by DBA President Sajid Ilyas Bhatti and attended by PBC member Sana Ullah Zahid, Ghulam Mustafa Kandal, LHCBA Rawalpindi President Sheikh Ahsan-ud-Dinm former president Awais Ahmed, Secretary General Rahil Khan, former presidents Sardar Asmat Ullah Khan, Zulfiqar Abbas Naqvi, Sardar Taufeeq Asif and many other lawyers.
While addressing the meeting, the speakers vehemently denounced the acts of General (Retd) Pervez Musharraf in which he fired superior judiciary judges and imposed emergency in the country.
The said that they would protect the independence of judiciary and would not allow any dictator to topple it. They said that the lawyers would continue their struggles for the freedom of judiciary and rule of law in the country.
The said that the lawyers would not allow any body to disobey the verdicts of Supreme Court and would cooperate with CJP.
Hitting very hard the erroneous policies of the government, the speakers said that price hike and inflation doubled the miseries of poor people and curtailed their purchase power.
The destitute segments of the society were committing suicides owing to sky rocketing prices of daily use items. The law and order situation of the country was also deteriorating swiftly while the government has totally failed in protecting the life and property of the masses.
In this worried situation, they said, the legal fraternity would keep continue its struggles for the right of people and for independence of apex courts.