International   

Pakistan witnesses more protests

Nirupama Subramanian

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's ousted Chief Justice appearance before a judicial panel on Wednesday was accompanied by another day of protests outside the Supreme Court and a country-wide strike by lawyers.

Undeterred by preventive arrests on Tuesday, a blistering sun and heat wave conditions, workers of different political parties gathered outside the court where the Supreme Judicial Council heard arguments by Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhary's lawyers relating to the March 9 reference against him.

A dozen persons were injured when the police lathicharged activists of Jamaat-e-Islami during the protests. Mr. Chaudhary's lawyers asked for a stay of the panel's proceedings until his petition before the Supreme Court is decided.

In the petition, which the Supreme Court is to begin hearing on May 7, the Chief Justice has raised several constitutional objections to the filing of the reference against him, some of them identical to the issues being heard by the Supreme Judicial Council.

But unlike the panel's in camera sessions, the Supreme Court hearing will be open. A public hearing has been the Chief Justice's demand from day one of his removal. The panel adjourned the hearing until Thursday,.which lawyers and political parties have pledged to observe as a second consecutive day of protest. Lawyers are also preparing to accord a massive reception to Mr. Chaudhary when he visits Lahore on May 5 to speak to the city bar association.

Solidarity

His previous speaking engagements at bar associations in Sukkur and Hyderabad in Sindh, and in Peshawar in the North-West Frontier Province, have been house full events. In each province, the entire complement of High Court judges turned out to express solidarity with him. Alarmed that the agitation, on the threshold of its third month, is showing no signs of fizzling out, and instead appears to be gathering strength, the ruling Pakistan Muslim League (Q) party has said it will hold a competing rally on May 12. Chaudhary Shujaat Hussain has vowed that it will be massive show of strength. President Pervez Musharraf is to address the rally, his first in Islamabad in all these years.

Pakistan Muslim League (N) leader Nawaz Sharif, who lives in exile in London, is reported to have flown to Dubai to meet Ms. Bhutto, who is his partner in a coalition called the Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy. He is likely to seek clarifications from Ms. Bhutto about the statements she has made to newspapers and in public speeches saying she was willing to work with Gen. Musharraf for a "transition to democracy", even if it hurt her credibility.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Erdogan calls for early elections
Royal draws crowds, but gap remains
Pakistan paragliding Minister quits party post
13 LTTE cadres killed, says army
Proposals unacceptable, say Sri Lankan parties
GlobeCast stops relay of Tamil TV network
Talks proposed
Castro calls for energy revolution
The "courteous bandit"
Pakistan witnesses more protests
Prince Harry will serve in Iraq: army chief
Roadmap sought
Indian mangoes reach U.S. market
"Zulfikar Bhutto declared himself Indian till 1958"
`Canada was told of threat to planes'

Copyright © 2007, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu