Asma Jahnghir called me around 7pm last night on 8 April, “where are you, some people and advocates are doing crazy things to Dr. Sher Afghan Niazi, a former federal minister, Let us go to rescue him, the violence will not help our movement” I told her that beating of any person off course will not help our cause but I am too far from the scene at present. In the meantime, Choudry Itezaz Ahsan, president Supreme Court Bar Association, went there at Mozang Lahore to rescue.

Dr. Sher Afghan Niazi was one of the most darling of General Musharaf and was recently lost his seat in the parliament. He had not realized the anger among the masses. He went to see some advocates who were friends of him. When some other advocate heard the news that he is in Lahore, they got together and tried to beat him up. He was locked in a room for three hours. Choudry Aitezaz Ahsan went to rescue him. Many hundreds of ordinary people had gathered in the meantime raising slogans against Musharaf dictatorship.

While he was taken out in the presence of the leadership of advocates and police, he was dragged and slapped by some. The ambulance that tried to carry him, was also damaged. He was not hurt badly and only got some minor injuries.

The private televisions channels went crazy and showed the incident live for hours. Some like GEO repeated few seconds of mishandling of Dr. Niazi over hundreds of time. They all cried for how bad the advocate movement is, how they are promoting rule of violence and some even said that it was an attempt to murder Dr. Niazi.

So, started a vicious campaign against the advocate movement by all those political forces who are close associates of General Musharaf. They were mainly from MQM, PMLQ and even from ruling Pakistan peoples Party . All those who have been responsible for murders, attempt of murders, disappearances, assassinations, unlawful arrests and beatings those who spoke for democracy and rule of law, became the advocates of non violence. They shouted how this democracy will work. It is better that martial law is imposed than this sort of violence under democracy. It was the most hypocratic propaganda by the advocates of violence who ruled Pakistan for the last eight years under Musharaf dictatorship.

Aitezaz Ahsan immediately announced his resignation as president of Supreme Court Bar Association. The leaders of the advocate movement went into defensive positions. Ali Ahmad Kurd, one of the main leaders of the lawyer’s movement said from Quetta, he will never step in at Lahore High Court and Lahore district Bar building. He even said it was a shameful day in the history of Pakistan. So was the defensive reaction of many other advocate leaders. All that for a few slaps on the face of one of the most hated person by people of Pakistan.

There has been continuous violence against the ordinary people of Pakistan during Musharaf period. Apart from physically violence, there has been economic violence that has taken the lives of hundreds due to poverty and hunger. A few slaps on the face of a former minister can not avenge the real anger of the people of Pakistan. It is much more than that.

But the extra ordinary noise by the sycophants of the dictatorship has nothing to do with the moral question of opposing violence. It is only a political weapon in the hands of those who do not want to see the judges restored and those who want to share power with Musharaf dictatorship.

I went o see Aitezaz Ahsan this morning around 11am along with five more
comrades. He was leaving for Islamabad. But he wanted to hear our views so we had around half an hour discussion about yesterday incident. We demanded that he take back his decision of resignation. We asked him not to be defensive. We raised the issue of political education of the advocates and about violence and how it is used against the movement. We told him that the leadership of the movement has not promoted violence; on the contrary, they used their influence to stop the violence.

Aitezaz told us that he is been approached by hundreds of advocates who said that they will also resign if he does not take back his decision of resignation. He said that he does not want to wreck the movement by standing his decision of resignation. He was going to announce a formal decision of withdrawing his resignation in Islamabad this afternoon. He said that he does not want to leave the field open to Musharaf dictatorship.

We discussed about the direction of the movement and that it should be focused on the restoration of the judges and about resignation of General Musharaf. We invited him as a speaker in the peasant conference to be held at Okara Military Farms of 17 April.

The beating of Dr. Niazi shows that any little act of violence against ruling class is used by the main steam media against the movement, democracy and people. The real violence of the ruling class is ignored by this media. Many ordinary people of Pakistan are slapped and dragged all the times by the police, mafia, local gangsters and military dictatorship. That does get a single second on the so-called main stream media. But a slap on the face of representative of the military dictatorship brings the cry of democracy in danger and that all the rules of morality.

We are opposed to any sort of violence. Violence brings violence. Violence
is no mean of fighting back the military dictatorship. But we must not be influenced by the propaganda of the advocates of morality who are responsible of many crimes. We must reject such shouting of morality by these buggers.

The main aim of the advocate movement is to get rid of the military dictatorship and restore the top judges for the equality and justice. That aim must not be sidelined by such incidents. Our anger against the ruling class is much bigger than a slap on the face of former minister. We have to change this capitalist system of exploitation. This needs not only anger but an organization. The anger has to be brought in the movement by building the organizations to overthrow the system. It has to be a mass action and mass movement. Killing of one or two person, or beating on one or two or even more will and can not help