|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Musharraf Is Afraid of the Lawyers' Protests |
| Secular fight jeopardizes his image as an opponent of extremism |
|
Umer Farooq (umer)  |
 Email Article
 Print Article
|
|
|
|
Published 2007-05-07 06:02 (KST) |
|
|
|
Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf has warned the lawyer community not to use the reference against Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry for political gains and to allow the Supreme Judicial Council to deal with the case in a legal and constitutional manner.
General Musharraf said that a group of lawyers was trying to politicize the issue, adding that they were trying to manipulate a "purely constitutional and judicial matter." Urging lawyers to avoid confrontation, Musharraf warned people against the "elements using the CJ's reference for personal and political gains," and said they should not follow them.
 |
TODAY'S TOP STORIES |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
FROM THE SECTION |
|
|
|
|
| Musharraf was addressing a public rally in rural Sindh at about the same time as the Chaudhry set off on a journey from Islamabad by road to address a large gathering of lawyers in Lahore -- Pakistan's second largest city.
Chaudhry's convoy covered the journey of a little less than 300 kilometers in more than 16 hours. Mass arrests, road blockades and baton charges and tear gas shelling by the police failed to stop lawyers, political activists and the general public from welcoming Chaudhry in various cities during his journey in a motorcade to Lahore.
The police stopped the motorcade of over 2,000 vehicles at various places along the way to Lahore, which led to clashes between the lawyers and police. At Gujranwala, an industrial city, the police asked them to bypass the town. After arguments lasting half an hour, lawyers started pelting the policemen with stones then forced their way into the city, where a large number of people were waiting for Chaudhry. A similar situation had earlier been witnessed at Wazirabad, where police had to retreat after lawyers and political activists resorted to stone throwing to break the blockade.
Chaudhry's motorcade was welcomed warmly by large numbers of lawyers at Gujjar Khan, Jhelum, Sarai Alamgir, Gujrat and Wazirabad.
The response was unprecedented considering that a large police force had been deployed on the roads and barricades erected at various points. There were reports of the police demolishing opposition camps and blocking convoys of lawyers and political workers in different cities.
Lahore High Court Bar Association president Ahsan Bhoon told reporters that at least 16 High Court judges were among those who waited for Chaudhry while he was heading toward Lahore.
This is not the first time serving judges have turned up at receptions for Chaudhry. In Karachi, the serving judges of Sindh High Court welcomed him at a lawyers' reception. Similarly, he was received by Peshawar High Court judges when he went to the provincial headquarters to address the lawyer community of that city.
The most frightening scenario for Musharraf is that the mood of the lawyer community remains unchanged two months after Musharraf suspended Chaudhry and filed a reference against him in the Supreme Judicial Council.
Initially, Musharraf took the protest of lawyer community lightly and directed his diatribes against opposition political leaders. However, as the lawyers' protests gained in strengthen and consistency Musharraf became extremely wary of them, coming as they do from the most well educated segment of Pakistani society. Not only is Pakistan's lawyer community well educated, it also possesses a secular outlook as most of its members are allied with secular political parties.
It is perhaps the first time in Musharraf's seven-year tenure that a secular minded group is posing a political threat to the survival of the regime. Opposition from religious minded political parties and extremist groups had only added to his strength. His campaign against religious extremism found him many adherents among the urban and professional middle class that is the backbone of Musharraf's regime.
Opposition from religious extremists also strengthened Musharraf's relations with his powerful Western allies.
The struggle of the moderates against extremist tendencies in Pakistani society appeared very useful for Musharraf. He is so convinced of the utility of this scenario that he is doing everything he can to recreate it in the forthcoming general elections. This is obvious from the election strategy the ruling party is following of bringing all the moderates on one platform.
His media managers have very carefully cultivated the image of Musharraf as a secular, moderate ruler whose prime objective is to take on the extremists. And that opposition to his rule comes primarily from extremists. But the lawyers' protests have emerged as a secular threat to his rule and have the potential to destroy this image of Musharraf.
The protests and anger generated by the suspension of Chaudhry now poses the biggest challenge to Musharraf's rule since he seized power in 1999.
|
|
©2007 OhmyNews
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Comments Note: Kindly refrain from personal attacks and profanity. |
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
How worried are you about the H1N1 influenza virus? |
|
 |
| * Vote to see the result. |
 |
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
RSS
Del.icio.us
Digg 
reddit
Y! MyWeb
.jpg)
