Lawyers end boycott of courts, demand more security steps

Karachi

The Karachi Bar Association (KBA) announced the end of a boycott of courts in the city on Friday, four days after the killing of more than 70 people, most of them advocates, in a suicide bomb blast at Civil Hospital in Quetta.

Making the announcement, KBA President Mehmoodul Hassan said the lawyers would remain alert and keep an eye on the steps being taken by the government for their protection. He also announced a convention of lawyers would be held in Quetta.

He expressed his satisfaction with the steps taken for the treatment and the payment of compensation to the injured people. 

He said the injured people were being provided proper medical treatment and the affected families were being compensated. However, he said, more efforts were needed to be made by the government. 

The KBA chief suggested that the intelligence system should be made more effective and powerful.

He said: “We are making a plan to hold a convention of lawyers in Quetta very soon in solidarity with the victims and lawyers of Quetta, who have made great sacrifices.”

Replying to a question, Hassan said the government would have to take more measures to protect the citizens and eliminate terrorism.

He was of the view that a perfect intelligence system and banning militant outfits working under any cover were the need of the hour.

Members of the KBA, the Malir Bar Association and other bodies had been boycotting courts in Karachi to protest over the murder of Balochistan Bar Association President Bilal Anwar Kasi in Quetta and then a suicide bomb blast at Civil Hospital there, in which more than 70 people had died.

The senior lawyers lashed out at the government, saying it remained unmoved and the killers took the lives of all those who struggled for the restoration of democracy and the promotion of democratic values in the country.

Wearing black armbands, members and office-bearers of the KBA organised a rally on Tuesday on MA Jinnah Road and also held a general body meeting that condemned the terrorists involved in the target killing and the bomb blast, and demanded their immediate arrest.

The lawyers also flayed the government for its alleged failure to protect the legal fraternity, and said it was the duty of the government of the day to protect all law-abiding citizens.

KBA President Hassan lamented the loss of precious lives, saying that cruel forces had eliminated the cream of professional lawyers.

He mentioned that the deceased lawyers were among those who had struggled for democracy and the supremacy of law and the judiciary.