Lahore Bar District Association Seceretary, Latif Sirraw, protesting on Mall Road Lahore (Thursday), with the lawyers community and civil society activists, in the wake of recent clashes in Karachi, which caused the deaths of 15-17 people including the burning to death of 7 lawyers, several injuries and several other losses.

Photo Credit: Umer Sharif, Daily Pakistan

In this crucial stage of struggle for the restoration of judiciary, such irresponsible behavior can affect their efforts adversely.

What do you say?

Lawyers held demonstrations on provincial level and held the President Musharraf and Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) responsible for the ‘anarchy’ in the country and especially Karachi.
Addressing the demonstrators at the general house meeting of Lahore High Court Bar Association (LHCBA), the president LHCBA Anwar Kamal said,” We warn the government that the Karachi killings, manhandling of Dr. Sher Afgan Niazi, setting on fire buildings of District Bar Mianwali and Malir and Karachi bars were conspiracies against democracy and the movement for the restoration of judiciary.”

In another move the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) Secretary Muhammad amin javed, Vice President Ghulam nabi Bhatti and other office bearers stated at a joint press conference that ‘the office bearers of sixty district bar associations of the country, including the supreme court and all high court bars will resign if SCBA President Aitzaz Ahsan resigns.’

Some more photos.

First (Dr.) Arbab Ghulam Rahim’s shoe beating and then just yesterday (Dr.) Sher Afghan’s beating and thrashing in Lahore.

Nothing commendable. Brutality to show your emotions is never commendable.

Yesterday while watching the video of incident, many a times I thought this man’s going to die coz of a heart failure. If you talk about justice … then adopt proper ways to do justice. If he’s criminal in your eyes, bring him in to teh courts and not THRASH an aged guy with hundreds of hands.

Its high time that we use our wisdom (if any) and start thinking intelligently. Emotional intelligence may be good, pure emotionalism – No.

Cross posted on Islamabad Metblogs

The Fundamentalists display their automatic weaponary in open defiance of law in full public view while law enforcement agencies turn a blind eye, or they ignore them to avoid confrontation. This photograph is a photo of a picture published in daily Dawn

Originally uploaded by Citizen of Two Worlds

Is it because our security officers are so afraid to curb such elements??

I’m definitely pointingat the riffle!

Did that ring any bells, huh? A wild guess? On well, March 8th is celebrated across the globe as an International Women’s day. Now the question arises why there was a need to mark a whole day to revise and educate others and women themselves of their rights. Well here are a few of ’em. Now let us know a little about how it all started and all that jazz. This is where wikipedia doesn’t have a close rival (atleast in my oh-so-humble -opinion).

This year’s theme for the IWD is ‘Investing in Women and Girls’, as announced by the United Nations. The celebrations across the globe will focus on financing for gender equality, calling for a change, and to celebrate acts of courage and determination by ordinary women who have played extraordinary roles in the history of their countries and communities. Keep reading >>>

Apart from other countries in the world, in Pakistan women’s day was celebrated with zeal.  Events were planned through out Pakistan, activists joined a conference on eliminating discrimination and violence against women, a rally and even a women’s rock-climbing competition. Last year’s competition resulted in a great success and is again expected to attract many people.

In Lahore IWD was celebrated in  full spirit by the civil society. Seminars were held, there were conferences, walks, candle light vigils and symposiums throughout the day to commemorate the struggle of women all across the globe. Read more >>>

The Pakistan Peoples Party Women Wing (PPPWW) Sindh has marked International Women’s Day, March 8, in honour of the late Benazir Bhutto, as the only female leader of a political party and the first female Prime Minister of the Muslim world. It also said 2008 is “The Year of Benazir Bhutto”. Here’s more>>>

In most countries around the world women do not have proper rights in society. And here’s when Islam accepted and protected women’s rights, that they should not be treated as slaves or animals. Here is a brief visit to  Women’s Rights in Isalm >>>
In the end March 8th is the day to talk about women, their rights and their problems.

Lawyers, civil activists who had gathered at the Lahore High Court this monday to protest on Human Rights Day made the event more interesting by shouting slogans in Punjabi Tappa Style. Have a taste of it:

ballay ballay,
ho ballay ballay,
asan judgaan di bahali waikhni,
PCO dian jarran kata kay,
judgaan di bahali waikhni

(We want to see the judiciary restored; we will uproot the Provisional Constitutional Order)

ballay ballay,
ho ballay ballay,
bhae shehrian ne paye wakhtay,
policaan beh gyan thaanay jaa kay,
shehrian ne paye wakhtay

(The citizens have rose to the occasion and now the police is in trouble)

ballay ballay,
ho ballay ballay,
bhae choraan nay judge dak laye,
saday bolan tay pabandian la kay,
choraan nay judge dak laye

(The thieves have caught the judges and put a ban on freedom of expression)

ballay ballay,
ho ballay ballay,
bhae tor muzahmat di,
kalay kapray tay kalay banner,
tor muzahmat di

(Look how well the protest is being carried out by the lawyers and other civil society members)

Full Story: DT

According to a Punjab Government representative, Article 144 has been implemented in Lahore for indefinite time period. Section 144 prohibits congregation of four or more people in public places.

“Article 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure allows the government to act preventively if it perceives the danger of public disorder. A magistrate may prohibit meetings of five or more persons, forbid the carrying of firearms, and impose “preventive detention” on anybody thought likely to disturb public order. Although a detainee is entitled to be informed of the reason for his detention and to a fair review of the case, these restrictions are in practice easy to circumvent, and the constitution specifically denies such detainees procedural guarantees. The government, especially in periods of martial law, has used Section 144 frequently when feeling its position could be threatened by demonstrations and public opposition to its policies; Section 144’s provisions have also been used, however, to contain disorder that is not political.”

A peep into the history, ” I remember that during agitation against bhutto regime in 1977, the tactic used by protesters to circumvent the section 144 was that people took out protests in rows of three or two people each. So if three thousand people were protesting, there were a thousand rows of three persons each. As these rows were not connected so it was not deemed a violation of section 144.”

What the anti-IJT students of University of the Punjab demand of the University administration in specific and the Government at large:

Students of University of the Punjab continued protests against IJT’s existence this Monday. This time there were more than 1,500 participants of them who marched within the university premises upto the Vice Chancellor’s office.

Girls and boys were holding banners and playcards with their demands written on them while copies of anti-IJT movement’s objectives were distributed among the students and faculty. The document asked for removal of all political elements from the University’s campus and hostels as well as formation of a neutral students’ body with elected members good in academics as its caretakers.

–

–

Participants of the rally were later joined by some senior professors, deans and directors of different institutes and university departments. Together they staged a sit-in protest in front of the Vice Chancellor’s office and asked for their demands to be fulfilled. The VC came out to deliver a lukewarm speech promising to remove political elements from the prestigious instituion though, did not answer the students’ call to openly speak on Jamiat. This was widely seen as a proof of the VC’s close association with the IJT and JI for he is known as an avid sympathizer of Jamaat himself.

All went safe except for an incident at the University’s Institute of Communication Studies where some members of the faculty including the institute’s director were manhandled and roughed up apparently by the anti-IJT protestors. People are strongly looking at it as a conspiracy by some elements who have joined the anti-IJT movement to create such situations and give this, otherwise a neutral and peaceful movement, a bad label.

Students of the Punjab University have decided to hold protests every Monday and Thursday until the IJT and its influence on campus is totally expelled.

Visuals of Jemima Khan protesting in front of the Pakistan High Commission in London have been flashing over the world’s media for quite some days. Yesterday, she again joined a group of some 500 British-Pakistanis to ask for her ex-husband’s release and return to democratic rule in Pakistan.

And, stood in front of her, Imran’s younger tiger :)

Photo courtesy of Daily Mail

Read more on the story here and here.