Lawyers call for rule of law in Balochistan

IKJNews
Written by Administrator
Saturday, 16 April 2011 15:00

By Mohammad Zafar-(D.T)Ali Ahmed Kurd says there would have been no extra-judicial killings in Balochistan if court had taken notice of Akbar Bugti’s murder
QUETTA: Three leading lawyers and representatives of the legal fraternity, Mir Ali Ahmed Kurd, Hadi Shakil and Baz Muhammad Kakar, have called for the restoration of rule of law in the country.

Speaking at a reception in the honour of newsmen at the bar room of the Balochistan High Court (BHC) on Friday, they said restoration of rule of law was the only solution to

the problems confronting the country. “As a result of intense struggle by lawyers, the judiciary gained independence while the parliament attained sovereignty,” they said.

They made a clear reference to their two colleagues, including Agha Zahir Shah and Munir Ahmed Mirwani, and said they were still missing and were in the official custody. “Hundreds of missing persons were killed in custody and their bullet riddled bodies were thrown at public places by the government functionaries,” they said.

They argued that tens of millions of people participated in the democratic struggle that culminated in the restoration of an independent judiciary, a sovereign parliament and a representative government in the country.

“They are all drawing their strength from the people’s struggle, otherwise, no other element could have dared to launch such an intense struggle,” they observed.

Kurd was more specific in mentioning that he raised the issue of assassination of Nawab Akbar Bugti.

He said as Pakistan Bar Council vice president, he had appealed to the chief justice of Pakistan (CJP) to take suo motu notice of this uncalled for murder. “The CJP ignored this appeal,” he said, adding, if the notice had been taken, there would have been no extra-judicial murders of people in Balochistan and their bullet-riddled bodies were not dumped at public places.

Shakil disclosed that two lawyers kidnapped by the criminals were released by paying Rs 1.5 million money as ransom each. “It is nonsense and ridiculous to claim that the government made any efforts for their recovery,” he said.

Kakar told the gathering that the lawyers were on the streets protesting for the last 40 days. “Now the lawyers have been on a token hunger strike for the last 15 days and the government is unmoved,” he deplored.

Referring to the two missing lawyers—Mir Munir Ahmed Mirwani and Agha Zahir Shah, he said they were picked up by the government functionaries and were still in their custody.

He claimed they received no specific response from the government on the illegal detention of two lawyers.

Three lawyers, namely Iqbal Shah, Mehboob Baloch and and Riaz Tareen, observed a token hunger strike condemning the continued detention of both the lawyers. Earlier, there was a complete boycott of the court’s proceedings.

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