MANDI BAHAUDDIN/WAZIRABAD/
TOBA TEK SINGH/SARGODHA/
KHANEWAL/BAHAWALNAGAR/
DG KHAN/MUZAFFARGARH/
BAHAWALPUR/JHANG/GUJRANWALA/
HAFIZABAD/BUREWALA/MULTAN
Annoyed and enraged, black coats across the Punjab province took out rallies, staged protests, though violent at some places, to give vent to their anger against the killing of two lawyers at the hands of police officer in Daska.
The lawyers also offered funeral in absentia at various places for the departed souls of the slain lawyers.
According to details, lawyers at Mandi Bahauddin, Malkwal and Phalia staged protest rallies on Tuesday to condemn Daska killing of two lawyers. The rally at Mandi Bahauddin started from District Judicial Complex and after marching on Phalia-Mandi Road, terminated short of King Road.
Similarly, enraged lawyers rallied in Phalia and Malkwal. The lawyers demanded hanging of the Daska Police SHO publicly for his heinous crime.
Earlier lawyers offered Ghaibana Namaz-e-Janaza of deceased lawyers and prayed for grant of peace to the departed souls.
In Khanewal, like other parts of the country, protest rallies were taken by lawyers community in protest against the killing of two lawyers by a police SHO in Daska. The rallies were organised by the District Bar Association and tehsil bar associations - Kabirwala, Jahanian and Mian Channu. Mian protest rally was carried out from district courts on the call of DBA President Muhammad Aslam and General Secretary Jawad Naqvi. A large number of lawyers, holding placards and banners, marched from district bar to press club.
While addressing the gathering the DBA president and general secretary condemned the murder of two lawyers, demanding immediately arrest the killers and measures to ensure protection of lawyers. The lawyers also demanded an impartial investigation into the incident.
In Bahawalnagar, complete strike was observed in courts as lawyers took to the streets against Daska incident. The lawyers observed a complete strike and took out a protest rally to voice their anger against the brutal killing of two lawyers.
A good number of lawyers took part in the rally that started from district courts, and after marching main roads, reached Rafiq Shah Chowk. The lawyers staged a demo at the chowk and chanted slogan. It is to be noted that no cop was seen on court premises and nearby the lawyers rally.
In Muzaffargarh, lawyers of district Muzaffargarh including four tehsils - Jatoi, Muzaffargarh, Alipur and Kot Addu on Tuesday observed strike on the call of Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) and Punjab Bar Council (PbBC) against the killing of lawyers in Daska. They staged a demonstration at Chowk Kutchery. The lawyers wore black armbands and hoisted black flag atop bar rooms. The lawyers vowed to continue protest and strike against police highhandedness. The Lawyers demanded the Punjab government to immediately arrest the killers and take measures to ensure protection of lawyers.
In Jhang, the District Bar Association took out a protest rally against the Daska tragedy. The rally started from Kutchery Chowk which was attended by a large number of lawyers. Participants of the rally were raising slogans against the Punjab Police and the Sialkot District Administration. They were also raising slogan of “Go Nawaz Go.”They condemned the killing of two advocates in Daska and demanded stern punishment to those police officers and officials who were involved in this incident.
In Dera Ghazi Khan, funeral in absentia was offered for the departed souls of slain lawyers killed in Daska incident by the District Bar Association and civil society activists at Bombay Hotel Chowk on Tuesday.
DBA President Salim Raza Kakar, General secretary Salim Jan Khosa, Joint secretary Irfan Karim Khosa, former General secretary Yasir Khan Khosa and Punjab Bar Council member Sardar Arif Gurmani along with a large number of lawyers attended the funeral in absentia.
Collective Dua for the departed souls of the deceased of Daska incident was also offered.
Earlier, hundreds of lawyers joined a rally from Courts to Bombay Hotel Chowk that was led by the DBA President and Punjab Bar Council member. They were protesting against the killing of their colleagues in Daska. Observing strike on the call of Pakistan Bar Council and Punjab Bar Council, lawyers stayed away from court proceedings and wore black armbands to condemn murder of two lawyers.
In Bahawalpur, the protesting lawyers demanded the Punjab CM and the IG of Police to immediately step down and put the Police officials to justice for killing innocent lawyers. The protest rally was led by District Bar Association against the incident of Daska. The rally started from District Courts to Fareed Gate and concluded at District Courts. The lawyers, wearing black armbands and carrying banners and placards, chanted slogans against the police. Later, funeral in absentia was offered at Fareed Gate for the slain lawyers. The DBA also announced three day mourning against the incident.
While addressing the rally DBA President Masood Gillani, General Secretary Tahir Jatoi, Joint Secretary Khawaja Faisal Qayyum and Ghulam Murtaza Tabish said that police had gone out of control and steps should be taken to avoid the transformation of country into Police Estate. They protested against the police brutality in Daska and demanded the Prime Minister to immediately suspend the Punjab CM and the Punjab IG of Police and register a case of murder against them. The lawyers observed strike, brining judicial work to a halt.
Meanwhile, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (F) Punjab Ameer Dr Qari Ateequr Rehman said that he thought that the Punjab government was responsible for the Daska Incident. He added that the JUI-F workers were being harassed and arrested and against this a demonstration would be staged in Lahore after Ramazan.
He said that his party condemn the police brutality in Dask.
Pakistan Falah Party Southern Punjab President Mian Muhammad Rasheed Panohan said that they strongly condemned the Daska incident and demanded the Lahore High Court Chief Justice to take sue motto notice of the incident.
Former President High Court Bar Association Bahawalpur Khan Muhammad Azad said that lawyers were the way for the provision of justice to the public while the police had completely failed to establish peace in country. He condemned the Daska incident and demanded the government to take steps to avert recurrence of such incidents in the future.
In Wazirabad, the Tehsil Bar Association while mourning the Daska incident, boycotted courts and offered funeral in absentia for the deceased lawyers.
A number of Bar members visited Daska and attended funeral of the slain lawyers - Rana Khalid Abbas and Irfan Chauhan. Work in courts and offices of Revenue Department was partially suspended while some offices of Town Municipal Administration Wazirabad were also closed.
In Sargodha, the lawyers’ community observed strike and took out a rally from District Courts to DPO Office Chowk to condemn the highhandedness of police officer in Daska. The protesting lawyers burnt tyres and blocked District Court Road, demanding stern action against the accused SHO.
They also offered funeral in absentia for the deceased lawyers. The lawyers observed a complete strike and boycotted of courts across the district. The participants of the rally wore black armbands and shouted slogans against police. Meanwhile, the DBA announced three days mourn from May 27 to 29 and strike during the period.
In Toba Tek Singh, lawyers took out rallies in Gojra, Kamalia and Pirmahal tehsils to condemn the killing of two lawyers in Daska. They also offered funeral in absentia for the deceased colleagues. The participants of the DBA rally, led by its President Asghar Chaudhry, reached Shahbaz Chowk where lawyers chanted slogans against “what they called” police gardi. They also demanded suspension of the Punjab IG Police and resignation of Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif.
In Burewala, the Tehsil Bar Association observed a complete strike and hoisted black flag atop bar room to condemn the Daska incident. They also took out a protest rally and offered funeral in absentia on Multan Road for the departed souls of slain lawyers. Later, TBA President Chaudhry Ayaz Mehmood Ghumman led a rally that was taken out to condemn the murder of their two colleagues in Daska. They lawyers hoisted black flag atop bar room and chanted slogans against the police brutality. The lawyers also offered funeral in absentia for the departed souls and later blocked the road by burning tyres.
Later Lawyers representatives including Mian Riaz Ahmad Wattoo, Muhammad Ashraf Dhillon, Malik Shujaul Haq, Waqas Ashfaq, Abdul Manan, Muhammad Rehman Khokhar and Ayaz Mahmood Ghumman in a protest meeting condemned the brutal incident and said that they were ready for action on the call of Pakistan and Punjab Bar Councils.
In Gujranwala, the Gujranwala District Bar Association staged a rally and protested against the murder of two lawyers including the Daska Bar Association president. The lawyers also boycotted court proceedings and stayed away from courts. The angry protesters also broke main gate of DCO office and chanted slogans against the police and government. Later, the lawyers gathered at GT Road and blocked it for all sort of traffic which caused worst traffic jam.
In Hafizabad, the lawyers of DBA Hafizabad and TBA Pindi Bhattian observed a complete boycott of courts for the second consecutive day to protest against the barbarity of the police towards protesting lawyers in Daska on Monday.
The DBA held a general meeting under the chairmanship of Syed Nasir Hussain Sherazi and vehemently condemned the killing of two lawyers including a President TBA Daska. They called upon the government to take stern action against the responsible cops so as to prevent the recurrence of such unfortunate incident in future.
In Sheikhupura, the lawyers community in Sheikhupura, Ferozewala and Nankana Sahib observed a complete strike against the killing of two colleagues by police in Daska. The lawyers led by DBA President Khalid Rasheed Malik and General Secretary Asim Bhangoo rallied on Sargodha Road and blocked traffic for two hours. Later, the protesters barged into City B Division Police Station by breaking its main gate. The police personnel, however, shut the premises door from inside. The protesters chanted slogans against the police and demanded arrest of all the police officer involved in the gruesome incident. The lawyers fraternity in Ferozewala threw traffic out of gear on GT road for about two hours, causing great inconvenience to the motorists.
In Multan, the black coats observed complete strike against Daska incident and boycotted court work here on Tuesday. The District and High Court Bars of Multan held separate protest meetings to condemn the killing of two lawyers by a cop. Dozens of lawyers assembled under the leadership of District Bar President outside district courts and staged a demonstration. The protesters shouted slogans against Inspector General Police Punjab and demanded his suspension. They grabbed and tore apart banners of Punjab Government displayed at Chowk Kachehri and set them on fire.
The speakers warned on this occasion that the protest would continue until the killer was punished. They said that the killer was backed by the IGP, which cast serious doubts on the inquiry process. They demanded the Chief Minister Mian Shahbaz Sharif to change the IGP and launch strict action against the inspector responsible for the killing of two lawyers.
Meanwhile, the president of High Court Bar Association Multan Muhammad Ali Gillani and his District Bar counterpart Khalid Ashraf Khan announced to set up a fund for the welfare of the families of killed lawyers in Daska. Talking to the journaists, they announced the fund and urged upon the legal fraternity across the country to generously donate for the families of their martyred comrades.