Unlikely popular heroes of Pakistan's opposition: lawyers

Thousands of lawyers have taken to the streets to protest Musharraf's controversial dismissal of the chief justice of the Supreme Court.

By Mark Sappenfield | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
and David Montero | Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor

from the June 11, 2007 edition

Page 1 of 3

LAHORE and KARACHI, PAKISTAN - – Never having so much as attended a protest before, S.M. Shah was not keen to be manhandled, pelted with rocks, and accused of terrorism for leading rallies against President Pervez Musharraf.

But he has been, many times. As he sat in his office two weeks ago, surrounded by the hefty tomes of Pakistani law, the gray-haired president of the Lahore Bar Association gave a hint of the zeal of a Mohandas Gandhi in leather loafers.

For three months, he and tens of thousands of lawyers nationwide have mounted the most serious challenge to Mr. Musharraf's regime during his eight-year tenure. They have taken to the streets to protest the president's controversial dismissal of the chief justice of the Supreme Court earlier this year.

For defying Musharraf when political parties and the disgruntled masses did not dare, Mr. Shah and his colleagues have become inadvertent revolutionaries – and the great hope of a nation longing for change. Pakistanis have showered them with flowers, given them gold rings, and offered them free merchandise in local shops.

The outpouring is a measure of how dissatisfied many Pakistanis have become with Musharraf's rule as both president and Army chief. And it is only appropriate that the challenge should rise from the ranks of bar associations across Pakistan, experts say, noting that they are one of the last vestiges of democracy in a country ruled by the military since Musharraf seized power in 1999.

"The bar is the only organization in Pakistan that has consistently held elections, and we are now reaping the benefits," says Asma Jahangir, a human rights attorney in Lahore. "It is a very functional democracy."

Page 1 | 2 | 3 | Next Page