Lawyers from across the NWFP celebrated President Musharraf’s resignation on Monday and termed it a victory of the lawyers’ movement against the general. However, they vowed to continue their struggle until superior courts’ deposed judges were restored to their pre-November 3 position.

In the provincial capital, hundreds of lawyers celebrated Musharraf’s resignation. A rally of about 200 lawyers, led by Peshawar High Court Bar Association (PHCBA) Secretary General Mohammad Isa Khan, was taken out of the Peshawar High Court (PHC) just after the president’s resignation announcement.

The lawyers rallied from PHC building on the NWFP Assembly Road to Justice Chowk showing victory signs. Some of them expressed their joy by dancing and shouting anti-Musharraf slogans during the rally.

Similarly, lawyers from other parts of the province including Mardan, Abbottabad, Hazara, Swabi, Malakand, Dera Ismail Khan, Nowshehra, Charsadda and Kohat also celebrated Musharraf’s resignation and expressed happiness by holding rallies.

Talking to Daily Times, PHCBA Secretary General Isa Khan said that Musharraf’s resignation was the second demand of the lawyers’ movement since March 2007 when he sacked Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry. Judges’ restoration was their first demand. The PHCBA secretary general, however, said that their real issue is re-instatement of deposed judges to their pre-November 3, 2007 position.

Barrister Bacha, a senior PHCBA member, welcomed Musharraf’s resignation and hoped that the coalition government will fulfill its commitment of restoring the deposed judges within three days after Musharraf’s stepping down.

He demanded of the government to put the name of Musharraf in the exit control list (ECL) and do not give him a safe exit. He also demanded of the government to make the charge sheet, prepared by the government against him, public through media.

“It is the right of every Pakistani to know about the charges leveled by the government against Musharraf,” he said, adding that Musharraf be tried in court under Article 6 of the Constitution and other criminal laws for violation of the Constitution and “committing serious crimes” in his era.

Tags: Lawyers