A stark reminder of what this authoritarian government stands for. This is their democracy. This is their idea of justice. This is their 'enlightened moderation'. When, I ask, when will we finally see the light..?
The struggle shall continue..
In Complete Unity.
NEW YORK ( NYLJ) Nov. 14, 2007 - About 700 lawyers rallied yesterday afternoon in front of state Supreme Court in Manhattan to show support for lawyers and judges in Pakistan battling for the restoration of the rule of law. Addressing the throng that poured down the courthouse steps and spilled onto the sidewalk, Barry Kamins, president of the New York City Bar Association, said the rally was called "to embolden" the Pakistani lawyers and judges who have been "physically manning barricades and trying to face down an entire army." Kathryn Madigan, president of the New York State Bar Association, also called for lawyers to speak "with one voice in defense of the rule of law" in Pakistan. And Catherine Christian, president of the New York County Lawyers' Association, said Pakistani lawyers "are showing the world what it means to be a lawyer - fighting for liberty and an independent legal system."
The activism continues, adding a new element – 'teach-ins'. Activist Naeem Sadiq and Sahar Shafaat (a political science professor based in the U.S., currently in Karachi) went to Lyceum Karachi today to give a lecture on the current situation in Pakistan. They spoke to about 30 A Levels students, focusing on the disparities in Pakistan, and what can be done about them. "The lecture made a very clear suggestion that students engage in peaceful protest as a way of resisting martial law."
In response to speculation about whether LUMS students have been mobilized for protest under Mr. Imran Khan's influence, we would say that our 'mobilization' has more to do with the educational environment of our university (for our curriculum concentrates on intensive analysis of Pakistan's socio-political and legal problems and their potential solutions), than the rallying call of any political leader. We applaud Tehreek-i Insaaf's consistent and uncompromising opposition to the imposition of emergency rule and destruction of judicial autonomy.However, Mr. Imran Khan's presence at a seminar in our university, at the time of emergency rule being imposed in our country, is little more than an interesting and dramatic coincidence. The media should not interpret this as a sign that LUMS student have been mobilized through the influence of Mr. Imran Khan's directives. LUMS students have independently and spontaneously mobilized themselves due to our negative reaction to the government's treatment of national intelligentsia, the legal community and the media. and their blatant manipulation and interference in a vital pillar of state - the judiciary. Furthermore, the LUMS student movement is a non-partisan civil society intiative aiming to make a unified stand against emergency rule together with youth across Pakistan, rather then affiliating themselves with any political party per se.
(Courtesy DAWN)
Lahore, Nov 15: Pakistan cricket legend Imran Khan was moved overnight to Kot Lakhpat jail, Lahore's biggest prison early Thursday after being charged under anti-terror laws, officials said. Lahore police chief Malik Mohammad Iqbal told AFP Imran Khan was charged late Wednesday and moved overnight to Kot Lakhpat jail.
(Courtesy DAWN)
Lahore, Thursday: About 4,000 students rallied at Lahore’s Punjab University Thursday, a day after Imran Khan was seized there by Islami Jamiat Talaba (IJT) activists and turned over to police Wednesday. The flag-waving protesters chanted “We love you Imran Khan” and shouted slogans against the IJT - the student wing of the Jamaat-i-Islami party. “Our protest is against the high handedness of IJT and the police. We have gathered to express solidarity with Imran Khan, he is our national hero,” demonstrator Sarida Asghar told AFP.
KARACHI (Reuters) - Two Pakistani boys were killed on Thursday when police and gunmen exchanged fire in Karachi during protests by supporters of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, police said."Two children have been killed in firing by unidentified men in the Lyari area," said senior city police official Fayyaz Khan, referring to an impoverished city neighborhood well known as a Bhutto stronghold. The firing occurred as police chased small groups of young men protesting over President Pervez Musharraf's imposition of a state of emergency on November 3, he said.
With regard to the article "LUMS students refuse to meet BB", whichappeared in the News International's Tuesday, November 13th edition.
The LUMS Student Movement asserts that it appears that the article isbased on sources which have either ingeniously or ingenuouslymisrepresented events. All that is clear that the facts of the matterhave been completely twisted, as represented in the article. Muhtarma's Benazir Bhutto's invitation for a conference withrepresentatives of the LUMS students movement was not at all broughtto the LUMS campus by any US journalists. In fact, no US journalisthas even visited the campus in recent memory. The invitation was, in fact, brought to our students through a PPP party worker who isrelated to one of the student protestors at LUMS. Furthermore, themeeting with Muhtarma Benazir Bhutto was not in fact canceled on anypretext such as the final exam of the students, nor did "LUMS students refuse to meet BB". That is a gross misrepresentation of the realfacts. The meeting was actually called off by the PPP itself, as itcould not be fitted into the schedule for Monday night. The reasonthat LUMS students gave for not being able to accept the invitation at a future date was that not having a student leader structure, throughwhich nominated representatives of the student body can hold meetingswith individuals or groups on behalf of the rest of the student body,it was in fact not in the power of any participant to accept theMuhtarma's invitation on behalf of the student body. However, LUMSstudents certainly desire an opportunity to interact with a prominentpolitical figure of Muhtarma Benazir Bhutto's stature and would be honoured if she would accept their invitation to visit LUMS andaddress the student body as a whole as a guest of the Law and PoliticsSociety of LUMS, which has organised similar seminars in the past.
Press Release of the LUMS Student movement
As our movement gains in strength, support, momentum and therefore,media attention, the students of the protest movement at the Lahore University of Management Sciences would like to clarify our position on a number of points.
Our movement is fundamentally a non-partisan, civil society movement which was begun by students last week as a spontaneous reaction against the imposition of a state of emergency in our country. We are united in a clear and principled commitment to the reinstatement ofthe judiciary and the restoration of the Constitution and of basic civil rights, the release of illegally detained prisoners and an end to preposterous curbs on the media. Our aim is to uphold and defend the autonomy of the judiciary in Pakistan. As we increase communication with students from other educational institutions in thecountry, we are confident and hopeful that we can all unite behind a particular principle - the critical necessity of the sovereignty of the judiciary for sustainable political and social development in Pakistan.
With regard to recent invitations to meetings with prominent political figures, we would like to assert that our student movement is a civils ociety initiative which is completely non-partisan, having no affiliation with any political party and no future ambition of forming one. Nor have our actions in any way been in accordance with the directives or motivation of any political leader. The participants of our studentmovement are all private individuals, with a diverse range of personal political leanings. As we have no student leaders who are invested with the right of representing the political leanings of a particular group of students, it is not within the power of any participant of our movement to accept an invitation to meet with representatives of political parties on behalf of other students.
We would like to stress that anyone from the student movement who engages in a 'dialogue' or interaction with political parties, their agents or their student wings, does so solely in her/his personal capacity and does not, by any means, represent the student body of LUMS or the student community at large.
The purpose of our student movement is solely to rally around particular issues or principles and increase awareness of Pakistan's socio-political realities in the student body. However, as university students, we are always very eager to widen our horizons and meet with different political figures. Our Law and Politics Society (LPS) frequently invites eminent personalities of politics, academia, the social sector and the media, and arranges seminars as an opportunity for the student body to intellectually engage with these individuals and benefit from their knowledge and experience. In the recent past,we have hosted such prominent figures as Mr. Talat Hussein (of Aaj TV), Mr. Imran Khan and Justice Jawad Khwaja. In the coming months before the elections, the Law and Politics Society plans to invite leading figures from major political parties to talk to our student body about their manifestos and ideas for Pakistan's development. Some politicians, such as Mr. Imran Khan, with whom we have had the opportunity to interact, have already been invited for a seminar prior to the elections.
As far as the recent invitation by Muhtarma Benazir Bhutto is concerned, while it is not within the power of any individual or group of students to accept the invitation on behalf of the student movement, it would be a pleasure for our Law and Politics Society to host the Muhtarma as a guest speaker at a seminar with the entire student body, should our invitation be accepted.
With regard to the comment from Mr. Muhammad Islam of the Islami Jamiat-e Tuleba:-"Muhammad Islam said IJT would launch a massive awareness campaignamong students to mobilize them against the state of emergency in thecountry. He informed that the Islami Jamiat-e Tuleba was in contactwith students of other universities including LUMS and FAST-NU."(Students invoke black, week, armbands to protest. Khalid Khattak, The News International)
We would like to clarify that there have been no dealings between the student movement at our university and the Islami Jamiat-e Tuleba in an official capacity. We cannot, of course, comment on the activities of any private individual from our university, who has engaged withthe IJT in a purely personal capacity.
