The lawyers community boycotted the lower courts’ proceedings on Tuesday as it observed a strike at all five district courts of the city to protest the killing of Zia Alam Advocate a day earlier.
According to the Karachi Bar Association (KBA), a province-wide protest campaign would be announced on June 18 by all lawyers’ bars.
Responding to a call given by the KBA, the lawyers fraternity observed a black day on Tuesday, boycotted the courts’ proceedings at the City Courts and the Malir District Court, and did not appear before the trial courts.
Condemning the chain of legal representatives’ killings, the leaders of the lawyers community demanded formulating a judicial commission to deal with the cases of targeted killings.
Zia Alam Advocate was killed on Monday by unidentified assailants. The deceased was said to be the lawyer of Ajmal Pahari who is currently under trial in court on charges of killing over a hundred people across the city.
The lawyer was targeted while he was standing with his cousin Rehan outside the latter’s house located in North Nazimabad in the Sir Syed police precincts.
Following the incident, the KBA announced boycotting the courts’ proceedings and observing a black day on Tuesday.
The lawyers’ bars urged the government to arrest the culprits involved in the targeted killings of lawyers and other citizens across the city.
The KBA held a general body meeting at the Shuhada-e-Punjab Hall in the premises of the City Courts.
The meeting was presided over by KBA President Muhammad Aqil, and attended by KBA General Secretary Hyder Imam Rizvi, Sindh Bar Council members Mehmoodul Hasan, Naeem Qureshi, Hanif Kashmiri, and other prominent leaders of the lawyers community.
The lawyers community strongly condemned the killings of their colleagues and other innocent citizens in incidents of targeted killings, terming these incidents as a failure on the part of the government and the law enforces.
They repeated their demand to form a judicial commission for probing into and dealing with the incidents of targeted killings. They also demanded compensating the survivors and victims’ families.
They said that since May 12, 2007, several innocent lawyers have been targeted, but so far none of the culprits responsible for these killings have been arrested.
They added that such lawlessness and negligence on the part of the government and the law enforcers have proved that the only law that exists in the country is the rule of the jungle.
They also said that a joint meeting of the lawyers’ representative bodies would be called on June 18 and a strategy to launch a province-wide protest campaign be announced.
