Law-Abiders, Not Law-Breakers
By Col. Riaz Jafri (Retd.)
Westridge, Rawalpindi
The lawyers did wise in remaining peaceful and not taking the law in their own hand unlike the previous occasions on the appearance of General Pervez Musharraf (Retd) in the ATC on April 26 th. Some of the younger and aggressive black coats had designs to avenge themselves and teach the police and Rangers a lesson for the treatment meted out to them a day earlier. On the other hand, the law enforcing agencies too expecting a reprisal had also equipped themselves fully and were prepared mentally to face the worst. Any small provocation from the lawyers would have triggered a conflagration of the worst sorts and most probably to the detriment of the lawyers only.
The lawyers, who were being viewed as the ‘untouchables’ by the judiciary had lost much of the sympathies of the ordinary citizen for their mafia-like high-handedness on various occasions in the courts all over Pakistan. They as such did wise in not creating the situation and thus avoided the thrashing and damage to their reputation from the well-prepared and determined law enforcers. The HCBA President very prudently assured the media that the lawyers were law-abiders and not law- breakers.
It is hoped that the ‘law abiders’ would always keep the above in mind and never in future take the law in their own hands.
