NewsWednesday, October 17, 2007
Will the black coats be part of the green, red and black?By Uroos Ahmed
KARACHI: The lawyers who came together in an extraordinary show of force and street power to back the cause of the chief justice appear somewhat divided over whether to join PPP supporters for the 1.5 million person rally expected Thursday.
“She has been away for a long time and I, along with other prominent lawyers and PPP supporters, feel that this is the right time for her to come back since democracy is flourishing and it will benefit the nation,” said Barrister Kamaluddin Azfar. A majority of the legal fraternity seems happy about her return, he added. Others are skeptical mainly due to the political developments that led to her imminent return. “Why does Musharraf need to strike a compromise instead of a full-fledged deal since he has already been re-elected?” asked Advocate Shams-ur-Rahman. There had been enough excitement this year and the return of an unwanted politician was another step backwards in the so-called development of Pakistan, he said. Nonetheless, there is a strong base of lawyers in Sindh who are members of the PPP since the areas where they live, such as Larkana, are governed by the party. “We have to accept that she will return to power sooner or later whether we support her or not,” said Advocate Adil Usman Khan of the Sindh High Court (SHC). The legal fraternity had literally restored and enhanced the power of the Supreme Court in a short period of six months. It would be pointless to part ways now when the issue was about the betterment of the nation just like it was in March.
Khan stated that ‘the majority was the authority’. “The majority of my fellow lawyers will support Benazir’s return and soon senior advocates of the high court and Supreme Court will go to the airport to receive her. It will be interesting to see how justice and politics work together.”
Some senior legal figures did not comment on the situation in order to show their support for the battle recently won by the Supreme Court. Abrar Hassan and Muneer Malik refrained from commenting on Benazir’s return but clarified that they would only support the constitution to enhance justice and democracy. “Land dispute cases have accumulated which will easily be settled within the interior with the help of the PPP as most of the land is owned by feudal lords. Once the PPP is back in power, many cases will hopefully come to an end with out-of-court settlements,” said Advocate Rana Nadeem.
Courtesy DailyTimes.com.pk