Thousands rally for suspended judge in NW Pakistan
02 Jun 2007 22:30:21 GMT Source: Reuters
(Changes dateline, fresh quotes) By Zeeshan Haider ABBOTTABAD, Pakistan, June 2 (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of people turned out to greet Pakistan's suspended chief justice as he travelled to a northwestern town on Saturday to forge resistance to President Pervez Musharraf's attempt to sack him. Chants of "Go Musharraf Go", a signature of the three-month-old judicial crisis, erupted as Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry passed through towns and villages on his way to address the legal fraternity in Abbottabad. "You are waging an endless struggle for the independence of the judiciary," Chaudhry told more than 3,000 lawyers, while thousands more congregated outside the enclosure in the garrison town in Pakistan's North West Frontier Province. Lawyers and the opposition see the March 9 suspension of Chaudhry as an attack on the independence of the judiciary and their protest has turned into a broad campaign for the restoration of full democracy in the country. Analysts suspect Musharraf's motive for seeking to oust the judge stems from fears of an adverse ruling should the opposition raise constitutional challenges to his plans to seek a second five-year term in the next few months. There are strong suspicions that Musharraf aims to disregard a constitutional obligation for him to quit as chief of army staff by the end of this year. Lawyers in Abbottabad sang "Uncle, why don't you take off the uniform?". Aitzaz Ahsan, the leader of the legal team defending Chaudhry against charges of misconduct, delivered a sharp riposte to a statement of support for Musharraf from the army's top brass on Friday. "Our movement cannot be stopped through barrels of guns, or through the threat of tanks and army. We will continue our struggle," he told supporters in the town of Haripur. MEDIA COVERAGE MUFFLED The controversy has already led to the most serious political violence in Pakistan for decades. About 40 people were killed in Karachi when supporters from a party in the ruling coalition clashed with opposition activists during a visit by Chaudhry on May 12. The convoy of cars carrying Chaudhry and his supporters on Saturday took more than 12 hours to reach Abbottabad, some 60 km (38 miles) northeast of Islamabad, as they stopped to speak with supporters along the way. By the time he reached his destination, some 35,000 people had come out to cheer and shower his vehicle with rose petals. "I have never seen such a huge welcome for anybody here. I am stunned," Badar-ul-Islam, 39, told Reuters in Abbottabad. Posters of the chief justice and Nawaz Sharif, the prime minister ousted by Musharraf in a coup nearly eight years ago, festooned the roadsides. There were no live broadcasts of Chaudhry's journey, as the authorities have clamped down, partly out of nervousness over the increasingly bold criticism of the powerful military. Earlier, television channels had followed Chaudhry on his travels to address the legal community in various cities, and broadcast live pictures of the rousing receptions he received. Musharraf has accused lawyers and opposition parties of politicising a judicial matter. An inquiry into the misconduct allegations against Chaudhry has been halted, pending a decision by the Supreme Court over which legal body should have jurisdiction over the case.
