Shakespeare’s Juliet had once sighed, “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” Likewise, a thug by any other name would appear just as disruptive. Not to undermine a profession once hailed for its saviour disposition but Pakistan’s legal fraternity seldom makes headlines but for its outspoken arrogance, overinflated ego and widespread defiance. What a sad descent from heroes to hooligans! In another dismal instalment of the saga that saw a mob of black coats storm the Islamabad High Court, Pakistan Bar Council has issued a country-wide strike on February 25. The council is expressing solidarity with their compatriots and, in turn, condoning their shameful rampage (throwing stones, breaking windows, laying siege to the IHC Chief’s chamber). There could not be a more blunt contradiction of PCB’s Vice Chairman words for he had claimed, “Responsible and guilty advocates should be taken to task for giving them exemplary punishment as per law.” Nevertheless, it is hard to ascertain whether this call to get ruffian lawyers off the hook is more depressing than the fact that PPP Senator Farooq H Naik interfered in the disciplinary proceedings. As a member of the august upper house, Naik should have seconded what the Islamabad CJ had lambasted: “No is above the law,” not crossed lines to favour those who make a mockery of the law. It should never have come to a point where a sitting judge had to remind a regulator body to discharge its sole responsibility to law: keep its fraternity in check. Sadly, lawyers running amok all across the country are clear that they would not give up their disregard of law anytime soon. Much has already been talked about their trampling of all norms and principles. May it be the public acknowledgement of contemplating suicide by a female lower judge or the storming of the Punjab Institute Cardiology or the infamous Khadija Siddiqui Stabbing case: the legal fraternity is well on its way to prove their pharaoh-like status. In their gangsterish suave, lawyers crack open heads of district judges, beat up reporters, slap police officers, make janitorial staff rub their noses on the ground, slap female litigants (on court premises) or simply attack ordinary citizens out of frustration. And the only reason they can carry on with their shenanigans is the immunity they’ve come to enjoy as a consequence of the Adlia Bahali Tehreek. Shall we then blame the iconic Iftikhar Chaudhry for unleashing a storm of assertive black coats upon us or the zealot young lawyers who took the newly-discovered defiance as an antidote to law? Here is what bodies like PBC are teaching the rest of Pakistan: you only need to abide by the law if you cannot twist its arm (by hook or by crook). If you have a brigade of people who can block roads and pelt stones: to hell with the Pakistan Penal Code! No matter what anyone says, black coats would not become saints in the blink of an eye. Their disruptions of court proceedings would continue with the same impunity. And if all fails, the strike card is always there to put screws on demands. So what if over two million cases are pending before courts at all levels? Let them continue with their whims while those knocking on the doors break their backs in hope of justice. To another strike! *