PBC threatens protest if govt denies people’s right to protest

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Bar Council (PBC), the apex body of the legal fraternity, Tuesday threatened to launch countrywide protest if the government took any unconstitutional step for preventing the people to proceed to federal capital for participating in Azadi March of the JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman.

Syed Amjad Shah, Vice Chairman PBC, expressed grave concern over the reports wherein it was revealed that the government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is contemplating to bring about amendments in relevant laws aiming at preventing the people to proceed to Islamabad for participating in the Long March of opposition parties led by the Maulana.

“If these reports are true, these amount to an attempt to deny the people from their fundamental right of association and protest and so is highly condemnable,” he said.

He warned the government that if any unconstitutional step either to make any draconian law or forcibly deny the people their legitimate constitutional right of protest was enacted, the legal fraternity will oppose the same tooth and nail and will not hesitate even to launch a nationwide protest against such actions of the government.

The PBC vice chairman advised the government to refrain from making any amendment in laws just to create impediment in exercise of legitimate right of the people to lodge their peaceful protest by way of long march, in the interest of continuity of democratic process and to safeguard fundamental rights of the people as guaranteed by the constitution.

On the other hand, the legal fraternity sought adjournment in a set of identical constitutional petitions, challenging the presidential reference filed against Justice Qazi Faez Isa due to the likely disturbed travelling conditions during the next week in the wake of impeding march on the capital on October 31 by various political parties in the opposition.