Lawyers hurt as police brandish batons
MULTAN, Nov 6: Police continued to wield baton and rough up lawyers and political activists in parts of Punjab with a pitched battle taking place on the Multan court premises leading to injuries and arrests of some lawyers. Another nine advocates suffered hurts in the rough and tumble in Sialkot.
The total number of those arrested on Tuesday ran into hundreds and the police shifted many of those taken into custody during the last two days to different prisons.
The Multan police arrested several lawyers after clashes broke out between them and the police who were there to prevent protest against the emergency rule and subsequent developments.
As the lawyers tried to march out of the high court complex, the policemen deployed outside the building stormed it and baton-charged lawyers and tried to arrest high court bar association president Habibullah Shakir.
When the lawyers put up resistance, the police arrested eight of them: Rashid Rehman, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan coordinator, Haider Usman, Tariq Saeed, Usman Bhatti, Rehan Awan, Sanaullah, Altaf Bokhari and Azhar Khan.
Clashes sparked on the district courts complex when some lawyers tried to go out of it. Many lawyers suffered injuries and others, including Mian Adil Mushtaq, Chaudhry Khalid, Munshi Bilal and Sajjad Sanwal, were apprehended.
The police also arrested Abdul Samad who kept claiming that he was a member of the Pervez Musharraf Foundation.
As the clashes intensified, the two groups pelted each other with bricks and stones and the police damaged scores of vehicles parked inside the courts. The latter also unleashed wrath on some of the newsmen covering the event.
The lawyers, later, damaged the district nazim’s office. They ransacked the record and furniture, leaving the entire office in disarray.
Speaking to Dawn, high court bar president Habibullah Shakir blamed the police for marring the court’s decorum by clubbing the peaceful lawyers who, he said, did not even hold a placard or a banner. He said the lawyers would observe strike today (Wednesday) and take out a rally against the police torture.
Regional Police Officer Mirza Muhammad Ali confirmed the arrest of eight lawyers on the high court premises. He said the clash erupted when the lawyers tried to march on road.
He said the police had been removed from the Multan Press Club and he did not order fresh deployment over there. He expressed ignorance about the baton-charge of journalists, saying “it is an unpleasant incident if it has been resorted to”.
SIALKOT: Reports gleaned from Sialkot said a number of lawyers tried to take out a rally, but the police baton-charged them as a result of which nine of the lawyers suffered injuries. Immediately after the assault, the police arrested District Bar Association vice-president Advocate Muhammad Sadiq.
The lawyers demonstrated on the premises of the district courts to protest against the imposition of emergency and chanted slogans against Gen Pervez Musharraf.
The police registered a case against more than 100 lawyers and arrested another scores of protesters. Thirty-two lawyers were booked under 16-MPO.
In Daska, the city police registered a case under section 16-MPO against 76 lawyers, including 31 nominated accused. They were: Ehsanullah Goraya, Saleem Abbas Jaffrey, Amjad Metla, Rana Amjad, Imran Hyder, Shahzad Dhillon, Rana Muzammil, Saeed Sarwar Baryar, Sajid Nasrullah Cheema, Yasir Tanveer Dhillon, Rohail Cheema, Maqsood Ahmad Bhatti, Malik Muazzam Ahmad, Anwar Bhalli, Sadiq Gujjar, Shahid Kamran, Zulfiqar Ahmad Zaki, Iqbal Mughal, Ehsan Mughal, Sagheer Ahmad Kahilon, Muhammad Afzal Lone, Shahid Mahmood, Amjad Chheena, Nasir Mahmood, Tanveer Qaisar, Mazhar Nawaz, Munawar Chheena, Ehsanullah Ghuman, Muhammad Ayub, Riaz Ghuman and Abdul Majeed Chheena.
The police said these lawyers attacked the Daska law enforcers during a demonstration on Monday.
In Pasrur, the police arrested seven lawyers, including Chaudhry Amjad Bajwa, the bar association president. A case was registered against them under 16-MPO. The offices of the DBA remained sealed and the police were deployed at the bar associations of Daska, Pasrur, Shakargarh and Narowal as well.
Also arrested were DBA secretary-general Syed Najam Ali Gillani, Pasrur Bar Association president Chaudhry Amjad Bajwa, PML-N district president Idrees Ahmad Bajwa and former MPA Arshad Mahmood Baggu. PML-N central leader Khwaja Muhammad, an MNA, was detained at his house.
All the arrested lawyers and political activists have been shifted to the Jhang district jail.
FAISALABAD: Prolonging the crackdown on lawyers and political activists, the district police arrested another 15 of them after conducting raids in many parts of Faisalabad.
Police contingents were deployed in major markets, district courts and press club.
Sources said nearly 50 political workers had so far been taken into custody in the post-emergency scenario. Many of them have been detained in the Sahiwal jail and others shifted to different prisons of Punjab.
Visualising the police intentions, members of the district bar association stayed away from courts.
A police officer told Dawn on the request of anonymity that the law enforcers failed to arrest more politicians and lawyers as they had already gone into hiding.
Journalists also observed a two-hour pen-down strike against besiege of the press club and condemned raids at the offices of channels and newspapers, and manhandling of many of them.
GUJRANWALA: A local court sent 43 PML-N activists, who were arrested on charge of staging a rally on GT Road against imposition of emergency and deportation of their leader Nawaz Sharif, on judicial remand.
Staging demonstration along with the Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaaf activists, these protesters will be produced in court on Nov 19.
The district bar association continued boycott of court proceedings on the second consecutive day while the police arrested many more lawyers from bar rooms and district courts.
The police barricaded almost all the gates of the district courts and no one was allowed to enter.
SAHIWAL: As many as 53 lawyers and political activists were shifted to the central jail from other prisons.
Earlier, they were detained in Adiala Jail, Rawalpindi, district jail of Jhelum and central jails in Mianwali and Faisalabad.
Those brought to the Sahiwal jail included deputy parliamentary leader in Punjab Assembly Rana Sanaullah.
A case under 3-MPO was instituted against Tariq Afzal Khagga, acting president of Sahiwal district bar association, advocates Abdul Mateen Chaudhry (a former Punjab Bar Council member), Mehr Muhammad Abbas, Azizur Rehman Butt, Khalid Shaukat Jaidi and Mehr Abdul Razzaq, who is the Chichawatni bar president, and they were transferred to the Kot Lakhpat Jail, Lahore.
PML-N Punjab Lawyer Forum liaison secretary Chaudhry Shaheed Ahmed and information secretary Masood Khan Mehmand were kept in Sahiwal jail after registration of a case under 3-MPO.
Meanwhile, the district bar members boycotted courts and hoisted black flag atop the bar room – a symbol of resentment they had for the ‘unconstitutional’ step.
MIANWALI: A complete strike by lawyers yet another time spoke of how highly they were upset about the emergency rule and injustice meted out to some judges of the Supreme Court.
The lawyers of district bar association remained present in the bar room where they resolved to continue their struggle for the restoration of the apex court judges. They also demanded immediate release of the lawyers arrested all over the country.
No more arrest was made in this neck of the wood on Tuesday as the law enforcers remained busy in shifting the already arrested people to different jails. PML-N acting president Javed Hashmi was shifted to the Mianwali central jail from Multan.
SHEIKHUPURA: Chaudhry Qayyum Rashid, Nasar Tanvir, the district bar association secretary-general, former MNA Chaudhry Nazir Ahmad Virk and his son Khalid Mahmood advocate were prominent among those arrested so far.
The Sheikhupura DBA observed strike against the imposition of the emergency and promulgation of the Provisional Constitutional Order.
TOBA TEK SINGH: The police released the nine lawyers, who were arrested in the last two days, to prevent any agitation in the wake of the emergency rule. Lawyers at Kamalia and Gojra observed strike.
Meanwhile, PML-N central leader Hamza and seven other activists of the opposition political parties were shifted to Dera Ghazi Khan jail on Monday night. They have been detained for three months under Maintenance of Peace Ordinance.
KHANEWAL: Lawyers were more vocal than they were a day before as they continued boycott of all lower and upper courts in the district. They took out rallies on the premises of the district and tehsil bar courts.
The police, on the other hand, continued raiding houses and offices of political workers and lawyers. Two prominent lawyers, Javaid Hashmi and Pir Ahmad Shah Khagga, suddenly disappeared from the district courts when the police arrived there to arrest them.
“The Pakistan Bar Council’s National Action Committee has asked the prominent and active lawyers to avoid their arrests so as to make the movement a success”, said Javaid Hashmi, a member of the Punjab Bar Council.
BAHAWALPUR: Boycott and demonstration marked the day as lawyers condemned, what they said, irregularities being committed by the government and those judges who had taken oath under the PCO.
The district bar association members took out a protest rally while those of high court bar staged a sit-in. They expressed concern over disappearance of bar president Yahyah Khan, pledging to continue strike on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, the family of Advocate Yahyah Khan expressed resentment over his “kidnap by some plainclothes men from his residence”. They said they had no contact whatsoever after Yahyah was taken away.
OKARA: The district police, in its ongoing crackdown, arrested dozens of political activists and lawyers. Political figures were picked up even from rural areas.
Among the arrested lawyers were Chaudhry Asif Sattar, Adnan, Akhtar and Rai Arshad; they belong to the opposition political parties.
Meanwhile, lawyers took out a protest rally under the leadership of DBA president Malik Maqbool Husain Shakir and secretary-general Sagheer Hari who, too, was picked up on Monday night but set at liberty on Tuesday.
The lawyers hoisted a black flag on the DBA bar room and took round of the district courts.
At a pre-protest meeting at the Quaid-i-Azam Hall, the lawyers ripped to shreds the political parties for not taking interest in the drive against the imposition of emergency.
DERA GHAZI KHAN: The district bar members held a protest meeting, but did not take to the street probably to avert arrest. The opposition parties, too, preferred to stay indoors.
Sources said 16 workers of political parties had been taken into custody during the last two days.
SADIQABAD: On the call of the PBC, the district bar association boycotted courts and voiced concern against the arrests of lawyers and activists of political parties. Withdrawal of the PCO and revival of the Constitution were what they demanded during meetings.
RAHIM YAR KHAN: Similar happenings took place in Rahim Yar Khan where the lawyers boycotted the court proceedings and demonstrated against the imposition of emergency. They were forced to restrict their activities to the court premises.
Source: Dawn
Date:11/7/2007
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