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LUMS professors, students charged under MPO: The protest must go on
LAHORE, Dec 05, 2007: The government on Tuesday registered FIRs against four
professors and two students of the prestigious LUMS. The students and professors
were charged under MPO 16 (Maintenance of Public Order). The professors charged
are Dr Rasul Bakhsh Rais, Dr Farhat Haq, Aasim Sajjad Akhtar (Dept of Social
Sciences), and Osama Siddique (Dept of Law and Policy); the students charged are
Saad and Umer. The FIR notice was delivered to the six charged, and instructed
them to appear before the Defence police station house officer by Dec 6 at the
latest, or face "unilateral" and "stern action".
LUMS students have been
protesting against the government and have led the way in on-campus
demonstrations following the imposition of emergency rule on Nov 3 and the
dismissal of the Supreme Court led by former chief justice Iftikhar Chaudhry.
Sources at the university, speaking to us, said that the professors and
students had been charged because they exercised freedom of speech and openly
criticised the government on the issue of emergency and the independence of the
media and judiciary. The faculty has been promoting a culture of freedom and the
vision for Pakistan being cultivated at the university does not agree with the
stance of the government.
'The protest must go on'
LAHORE: Hundreds of students, lawyers and activists of non-governmental
organisations (NGOs) on Tuesday protested at Shimla Pahari against the
suspension of the constitution and fundamental rights and the imposition of
curbs on the media. Schoolchildren of Aitchison and the Convent of Jesus and
Mary, accompanied by their mothers, also participated in the rally.
The
participants shouted slogans for the restoration of all deposed judges of the
higher judiciary. They urged all political parties to boycott the coming
elections saying that elections without a free judiciary and free media would
not be transparent or fair.
The Students' Action Committee (SAC), a group
of students of various universities and colleges in the city had called the
protest. The protesters criticised the government and demanded an end to the
emergency. They wore black armbands, pasted stickers on their arms and carried
banners. They also shouted anti-emergency, anti-Pervez Musharraf, pro-judiciary
and pro-media slogans.
The protesters gathered at the Lahore Press Club
(LPC) at 3pm. They made a human chain and marched around the LPC. The
participants also sat-in outside the mosque at Shimla Pahari. Then they moved
towards the Geo Solidarity Camp, but were stopped by the police. They returned
to the LPC and continued with the sit-in.
Addressing the protestors,
lawyer Hina Jillani said, "We demand the reinstatement of all deposed judges,
including the deposed chief justice of Pakistan."
Bushra Aitzaz, wife of
Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) president Aitzaz Ahsan, said the ongoing
movement should continue till the complete restoration of the constitution. She
said the participation of students could ensure any movement's
success.
Medea Benjmin and Tighe Barry, members of the US human rights
group Global Exchange and women's peace group CODEPINK, also participated
in
the rally.
A student said the students would continue protesting until
all the deposed judges were reinstated. She said transparent, fair and free
elections could not be held without a free and unbiased judiciary. She urged all
political parties to boycott the coming elections till the restoration of the
freedom of the judiciary and the media. She also demanded the release of all
arrested lawyers.
An SAC member said the students would continue
protesting in all universities and colleges of the country. The protest ended
peacefully. Daily Times
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