LAHORE - On the call of SCBA, lawyers all over the country on Monday observed protest against the cancellation of licence of President Peshawar High Court Bar Association, Abdul Latif Afridi by the disciplinary committee of Pakistan Bar Council while taking action on a letter he allegedly wrote against PBC Vice Chairman, Said Rahman on Saturday. The Courts boycott and protest call was given by President SCBA Ali Ahmad Kurd with the support of other bar associations. Reports from various parts show that majority of lawyers stayed away from the courts and held meetings at the level of their respective bars. Lawyers also held token hunger strike at many bars while at some places they also organised rallies and wore black armbands In City, General House of the Lahore High Court Bar Association held a meeting which reiterated commitment to the struggle till the objective vis-a-vis reinstatement of CJ Iftikhar Ch is achieved. Secretary LHCBA Rana Asadullah Khan, besides Khalid Mahmood Awan, Nisar Safdar, Ehsan Wyne, Allah Buksh Gondal, Malik Saeed Hassan, and Ahmad Awais, speaking on the occasion, appreciated the courage shown by Justice Chaudhry to a dictator which they added, completely changed perception of politics so much so that it enabled the exiled leaders to come back and ensured election and ultimately ended dictatorship in Pakistan. They said lawyers of all ages and every class during the 18-month long struggle rendered innumerable sacrifices and endured every hardship but never faltered on their stand. The speakers said those who were not sincere with the movement exploited the situation to their benefit and alienated themselves from the movement. They termed right the decision taken by the bars to impose restriction on the visit of Attorney General for Pakistan and the Law Minister and added, the 'alfaida group' in the PBC by cancelling licence of Afridi has proved their political attachment instead of showing solidarity with the just cause of the lawyers. They termed the cancellation of Afridi and others licence as uncalled for and said, the Council takes action only on the charges of misconduct but here the same has been taken as part of political victimisation. They said it would be naive to think that such tactics can weaken the movement. President of the Bar, Anwar Kamal said lawyers are undaunted in their struggle and described the sitting judiciary as having the imprint of the PCO of November 3 last year. Rejecting Article 270-AAA of the Constitution, which protected the said PCO, he regretted that Asif Ali Zardari, elected to the office of the President through a democratic process, failed to honour his commitment to the restoration of Justice Chaudhry. According to him, if the President believes that the country is having democracy and a sovereign parliament, then only Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Ch is the CJP and none else. He asked the government to restore Justice Chaudhry to the office otherwise, he said, the nascent democracy would remain under serious threat of derailment. He said lawyers did not want the democracy getting off the track. Our Staff Reporter from Islamabad adds: Talking to TheNation on the controversy, President SCBA Ali Ahmed Kurd said lawyers' community had unanimously showed its support and solidarity for Afridi who had been wrongly targeted by PBC. By staging the boycott across the country, Kurd said, the lawyers have hit back hard on those who want to divide the historic lawyers' movement and the black coats will remain united in their struggle for rule of law, supremacy of Constitution and reinstatement of deposed CJ Iftikhar Muhammad Ch. "It is only a 'gang of seven' which has grouped together in PBC and taking discriminatory and unfair decisions against the leading lawyer leaders such as Latif Afridi," the firebrand kingpin of lawyers' movement further said. Latif Afridi is not only the President of Peshawar Bar but also a widely respected and famous leaders of lawyers' movement who is known for his determination and commitment for rule of law in the country. PBC can neither dent the lawyers' movement by such ugly steps against senior lawyers, nor it can harass the lawyers, Kurd said. The countrywide boycott of lawyers on Monday against the PBC decision to suspend the practising licence of Latif Afridi is an eye-opener for the PBC Executive Committee and it should refrain from such moves in future, Ali Ahmed Kurd advised. He also regretted that within a few months of their majority in PBC, the pro-government group of lawyers had taken several unfair and controversial steps against senior lawyers of Bahawalpur, Multan and Peshawar. Kurd, however, made it clear that no one could stop the lawyers' movement from achieving its ultimate success.