Zainab, Asma, Naqeeb’s killings: Lawyers boycott courts in protest

PESHAWAR: The legal fraternity of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Tuesday observed complete boycott of courts to protest the killing of two minor girls Zainab from Kasur, Asma from Mardan and murder of Naqeebullah Mahsud in Karachi.

The lawyers stayed away from courts across the province on the call of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Bar Council and held protest meetings against the inhuman acts of killing the two minor girls and what they called extra-judicial killing of tribal youth Naqeebullah Mahsud.

In a joint general body meeting of PHC Bar Association and KP Bar Council at PHC Barroom, the lawyer bodies asked the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab governments to arrest the culprits.

Through a resolution, the KP lawyers also asked the Sindh government to register forthwith FIR against SSP Rao Anwar of the murder of Naqeebullah Mahsud and arrest him.

The lawyers also sought action against DSP Shahbaz Garhi in Mardan district for illegal confinement of a lawyer Wajid Shehzad in the police lockup when he went there to register a complaint.

They also decided to file a writ petition in the PHC against the police officer and failure of the IG Police and Mardan police officers to ignore the issue of illegal confinement of a lawyer.

The lawyers bodies asked the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister to resolve the parking issue within a week time, otherwise they would close the main road outside the high court for lawyers parking.

Senior lawyers including President PHC Bar Association, Arbab Usman, secretary general Rahmanullah Khan, Ghulam Nabi, Hazrat Said, Muhammad Ayaz Khan, Zahid Jamal, Mohim Afridi, Abdul Karim Mehsud and Naveed Akhtar addressed the protest meeting.

Strongly criticizing the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab police, the lawyers demanded immediate arrest of the killers of the minor girls.

Raising question on the role of police, they said killers of both the minors girls were still roaming free and the police had failed to arrest them. They said due to police failure, the incidents were occurring frequently as recently a minor girl was sexually assaulted in the home district of KP chief minister.

“We want justice with the families of the minors’ girls without any delay,” the lawyers stated.

Meanwhile, regional head of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, Ghulam Ali on Tuesday visited the house of Asma and met with her father Behram Khan, who returned from Saudi Arabia after the incident. He assured full legal and financial support to the family to bring culprits to justice.

He told The News that he visited the victim family in Mardan on the special instruction of Director General Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, Muhammad Arshad, to provide legal and financial assistance to family.