Ousted CJ calls for mass protests

ISLAMABAD—Deposed Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry has said that the judges who refused to take fresh oath under Provisional Constitutional Ordinance (PCO) are real judges. Addressing the rally via telephone taken out by lawyers under the aegis of Islamabad Bar Association against imposition of emergency rule, he urged lawyer fraternity throughout the country to continue their campaign for supremacy of judiciary.
Rejecting the accusation of President General Pervez Musharraf against apex court, he added, the judiciary had never been lenient towards terrorist. President took the step of emergency, as he feared that the Supreme Court will give verdict against him on his case challenging his candidature for the of Presidentship, Chief Justice maintained.
The chief justice remained that the judges who had taken fresh oath under PCO are those judges included in the bench who gave verdict against lal mosque operation. Justice Iftikhar showered praises on those brother judges both in the apex court and high courts who refused to take oath under PCO. The lawyers, he added, have great responsibility on their shoulders and they must convey real messages towards the nation. The rulers have breached the constitution vehemently, he regretted.
The citizens of the country know how the supreme court provided justice to them, he said, adding that there is a time of sacrifice. The citizen should stand for supremacy of constitution. We should not be afraid of anyone instead of Great Almighty Allah, he told the participants. Office bearers of Islamabad Bar Association addressed the rally and made it clear that imposition of emergency rule and promulgation of PCO is unacceptable. Opposing of PCO and emergency would continue.
Earlier, the participants in the rally chanted slogans against emergency and PCO, besides continuing boycott of the courts. The lawyers renewed their pledge not to appear before the judges who had taken fresh oath under PCO and also would not allow anyone to appear before these judges. They vowed to continue their campaign till lifting of emergency and restoration of constitution
Pakistan’s opposition grappled for a united response on Tuesday to President Pervez Musharraf’s imposition of emergency rule, leaving lawyers to protest alone for a second day and bear the brunt of a police crackdown. Ousted chief justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, though being held incommunicado at his residence, managed to get out a message by mobile phone to the lawyers’ movement that has been leading the public protests. “The constitution has been ripped to shreds,” Chaudhry said. “The lawyers should convey my message to the people to rise up and restore the constitution. This is a time for sacrifices. I am under arrest now, but soon I will also join you in your struggle,” said the charismatic judge, who defied Musharraf in huge public rallies earlier in the year.
While hundreds of lawyers were detained during clashes with police the previous day, Tuesday’s protests were small and tamer. Most Pakistanis express dismay and confusion over Musharraf’s decision, and are impatient to vote for a new government. “It just pains me that we’re living in such an unstable and uncivilized country,” said Samiya, a thirty-something corporate executive in Islamabad, who reckoned Musharraf should have quit rather than inflict an emergency to save his job.
“There’s the law of the jungle here.” While hundreds of opposition activists have been detained, primarily from the party of exiled former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and Islamist groups, the political parties have yet to order their supporters on to the streets.
Former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, who returned last month from eight years abroad after Musharraf gave her immunity from old graft charges, flew to Islamabad to consult other opposition leaders but said she would not meet let alone negotiate with the military president on forming a caretaker government. “If I met him face to face it might demoralize everybody else,” Bhutto told Britain’s Sky Television, adding that meetings in the past had not led to fruitful results.
“It’s certainly very difficult to know what General Musharraf is going to do next, because he said one thing, and he says all the right things to me, but what he said did not happen.” Ahsan Iqbal — a spokesman for Nawaz Sharif, the man Musharraf deposed in 1999, exiled and booted out again when he tried to return home in September — said Bhutto would have to give assurances that she had cut links with Musharraf before they could talk of reviving an opposition alliance.
Former cricket star Imran Khan, now a high-profile politician but with only a small following, eluded police on Sunday amid the official crackdown and has vowed to oppose Musharraf from hiding. In a message passed to Reuters by his ex-wife Jemima, Khan said: “Our aim is to continue the struggle and mobilize the youth of the country from underground.”
When Bhutto landed in Islamabad on Tuesday, the leader of the largest opposition party, the Pakistan Peoples Party, was swiftly whisked away, waving from the sun-roof of a white bullet-proof land cruiser as some 500 supporters chanted “Welcome, Welcome Benazir Welcome” and “Prime Minister — Benazir.” The United States had hoped Bhutto would end up sharing power with Musharraf after elections due in January.
Musharraf’s move to impose emergency rule has cast U.S. policy toward Pakistan in some disarray. President George W. Bush, who values Musharraf as an ally in his battle against al Qaeda and the Taliban, urged him on Monday to lift the emergency, hold elections and quit as army chief.
Officials have said that regardless of the emergency elections will take place in January or slightly later but the general has so far not confirmed this. U.S. Ambassador Anne W. Patterson called on the Election Commissioner in Islamabad to urge him to set a timetable quickly to dispel people’s doubts.
The security presence around Pakistani cities is not much greater than usual for a country that has had 23 suicide attacks by al Qaeda-inspired militants in the past four months — one of the reasons Musharraf cited for his authoritarian steps. But troops in Islamabad manned razor-wire checkpoints near the presidential palace, parliament and Supreme Court.—Agencies