Lawyers on Thursday boycotted courts in Karachi in protest against the May 12 mayhem that occurred nine years back when several lawyers were lynched to death in their chambers.
On the call of Pakistan Bar Council, the Sindh Bar Council, and Karachi and Malir bars boycotted the courts in the city.
The court’s proceedings remained suspended while lawyers paid rich tribute to those who lost their lives in May 12 tragedy. They criticised the government for not arresting the killers and their sponsors. The lawyers said neither the murderers had been arrested nor their sponsors had been exposed under political compulsions.
The lawyers said that the May 12 was the darkest day of judiciary as several lawyers and citizens were killed brutally. The second democratic government was going to complete its tenure since the incident happened but justice had not been done with those who had rendered sacrifices for independence of judiciary and democracy, they said.
They demanded of the government to bring to justice those involved in May 12 incident and their sponsors irrespective of their political affiliations.
The May 12 incident was series of violent clashes between rival political activists in Karachi. The unrest began as the then chief justice, Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, arrived at the Jinnah International Airport on May 12, 2007. Gunfights and clashes erupted across the provincial capital as supporters and opponents of the judge, belonging to different political parties, took to the streets against each other.