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Chaudhary's roadshow draws good response

Nirupama Subramanian

Procession in support of Mr. Chaudhary, "a show of strength"

Jhelum (Pakistan): The ousted Chief Justice of Pakistan, Ifthikhar Chaudhary, on Saturday took his battle against President Pervez Musharraf into the country's heartland, demonstrating his popularity and iconic status with a massive road show across Punjab province.

Mr. Chaudhary set out early in the morning from Islamabad by road to Lahore to speak to the lawyers of Punjab's pre-eminent city, ignoring Government advice that he should fly for security reasons.

Mr. Chaudhary was joined by hundreds of vehicles carrying lawyers and activists of opposition parties in a long motorcade that had not completed its 275 km-journey until late in the evening.

A mammoth reception awaited Mr. Chaudhary and his entourage at the Lahore High Court, but the procession could move at no more than snail's pace.

As it moved on Grand Trunk Road, clusters of people stood near wayside villages waving it along.

In the big towns, the legal community and political activists arranged highway receptions. Undeterred by thousands of preventive arrests the day before, they had rallies and speeches, burst crackers and showered flower petals on Mr. Chaudhary's car, while the people jostled with television cameras to get a glimpse of him.

"This is to show love and affection for the chief justice and hatred against Pervez Musharraf, the so-called President and army chief," said Malik Jawwad Khalid, a lawyer from Rawalpindi, who was in the procession.

"Never before we have had this kind of unity in the country, especially among lawyers," Mr. Malik said.

When Mr. Chaudhary drove to Peshawar recently to address the bar association there, he was accompanied similarly by a motorcade. But the Punjab road show carries much more political significance, as the ruling Pakistan Muslim League (Quaid) claims the province as its stronghold.

— Photos: AP

OVERWHELMING: Thousands of lawyers and activists of Opposition parties surround the rose petal-covered vehicle of Pakistan's ousted Chief Justice, Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhary, during his roadshow in Islamabad on Saturday. Above, Mr. Chaudhary is inside the vehicle.

As if to drill a hole through this claim, Mr. Chaudhary made a long stopover in Gujarat town, the stronghold of PML (Q) president Chaudhary Shujat Hussain and his cousin Pervez Elahi, the Punjab Chief Minister.

However, the PML (Q) was readying to take out a rival procession in Lahore, at the same time as during the scheduled arrival of Mr. Chaudhary's rally.

Show of strength

Imran Ul Haq Khan, a Quetta lawyer, said the procession in support of Mr. Chaudhary was "a show of strength" that would send out the message that the judiciary and the legal community, and people in general, were no longer willing to accept strong-arm tactics.

"Our aim through this procession is to strengthen the judiciary, and other institutions of democracy," he said.

A resident said the procession was a "blow" to the Musharraf Government.

"This is a big jolt to the military dictatorship," said Abrar Malik, a teacher at a local college who said he had come to "observe" the event.

"The Government has lost its moral standing."

When he learnt he was speaking to an Indian journalist, he said "please convey the message in your country that the Indian government must not talk to a military regime".

"A solution to Kashmir between a dictator and the Indian Government will have no standing. The Indian Government must talk only with a civil government," he said.

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