LAHORE – The city’s main roads roared with anti-Raymond Davis slogans as people turned out in large numbers to protest against his release on Thursday. Protests were held all across the city. Islami Jamiat Talba(IJT) held protests outside the US Consulate and inside the Punjab University’s new campus, while Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) protested in Thokar Niaz Baig and at Shalamar Chowk, and lawyers protested outside the Lahore High Court. LAWYERS PROTEST: The lawyers in their protest held the army chief, ISI DG, and LHC CJ responsible for Davis’s release. The Lahore High Court Bar Association (LHCBA) announced that it would observe Black Day on Friday, while the Punjab Bar Council (PBC) gave the court boycott call to the lawyers and slammed Davis’s release and four-hour detention of Asad Manzoor Butt, the counsel for the victims’ family.
LHCBA not only held a general house meeting but also staged a protest march from the bar to the GPO Chowk, where lawyers chanted slogans against the government, America and the courts. PBC Vice Chairman and Executive Committee Chairman Zafar Mahmood Moghal termed Davis’s release a conspiracy against the country’s honour and solidarity, and accused the government of ‘staging the drama’ of his release’. He alleged that security agencies were involved in Davis’s release. The general house of the LHCBA passed resolutions holding the federal government, the Punjab government, army chief, DG ISI, the interior minister and the LHC CJ responsible for Davis’s release. The house also called for resignation of the federal and the provincial governments and urged the Pakistan chief justice to take suo-motu notice. The bar also demanded immediate abolition of the appointments made on a contractual basis in every department of the country.
Asghar Ali Gill, speaking on the occasion, said that the bar strongly condemned the act of forcibly getting signatures on the diyat agreement and keeping Asad Manzoor Butt in detention for four hours at the Kot Lakphat Jail to debar him from attending proceedings of the case. RALLY AT PU: Hundreds of students participated in the rally at the PU, which started from the Institute of Education and Research (IER) and concluded at the Institute of Communication Studies (ICS). Students, holding placards and banners, demanded capital punishment for Davis. The brother of Obaid-ur-Rehman, who was killed by the car which came to escort Davis, also took part in the rally that was led by PU IJT Nazim Zubair Safdar.
Protestors claimed that the alliance between JI and PTI will prove to be extremely fruitful in the coming days and this movement will finally topple the current government. The JI and PTI have also called a nationwide strike call today (Friday) against the release, and have announced protests all over the country. A grand rally has also been planned by PTI and ISF today after the Friday prayers from Regal Chowk to the US Consulate. Protestors claimed that Davis’s release had exposed the Punjab government and the public anger will fall upon the Punjab government. They said that Davis did not only take lives of two innocents but he was also involved in the anti-state activities and the Punjab government did not prosecute the case sincerely.
RALLY AT US CONSULATE: Various student wings of political parties organized the protest outside the US Consulate.
Protestors said that the government had compromised on the national integrity. They said that now the movement against Davis would be lead by the Obaid’s brother. They said that legal obligations were not met in this case, as there was a longer procedure to declare the heirs of Faheem and Faizan, but everything was done in haste. They also argued that the rulers succumbed to the US pressure. Thousands of youngsters have also vowed on Facebook to take the matter to the streets.
