Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) and the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) on Monday condemned the brutal act of terrorism in Quetta whereby lawyers and bar leaders were massacred, and announced a weeklong mourning and a three-day complete strike across the country.

PBC Vice Chairman Dr Farogh Naseem and PBC Executive Committee Chairman Abdul Fayyaz, in a joint statement, said that the PBC announced a one-week mourning and a complete strike for three days in all the courts of the country as a mark of respect to the martyred and injured lawyers.

They requested the chief justice of Pakistan not to hold the Supreme Court for three days, while all lawyers – especially the advocates of the Supreme Court – were asked to voluntarily boycott all court proceedings, as the incident was a direct attack on the lawyers’ community.

They called on the government and security/law enforcement agencies to take appropriate steps so as to protect the life and liberty of the citizens, especially the lawyers.

They also called upon the federal and Balochistan governments to initially give a compensation of Rs 2 million per martyred lawyer and Rs 1 million per injured lawyer to the affected families.

On the other hand, SCBA President Syed Ali Zafar requested all members of the association not to appear before courts for three days to express solidarity with the victims of the tragic incident.

To make the strike meaningful, Barrister Ali Zafar said that the lawyers’ community would protest the incident in front of the Parliament House.