Long march begins on March 12.

LAHORE: Making minor changes, the lawyers’ steering committee has announced the revised schedule of the long march and the sit-in, which would now start on March 12 instead of March 9.

While briefing the media after the committee’s meeting on Friday, Supreme Court Bar Association President Ali Ahmed Kurd, also the head of the steering committee, said they had changed their schedule for the long march in honour of the 12th Rabiul Awwal, while the sit-in at the Constitution Avenue would be staged on March 16, which will go on till the restoration of all the deposed judges, including chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry.

Aitzaz Ahsan, Munir Malik, Hamid Khan, Justice (retd) Tariq Mehmood, LHCBA President Anwar Kamal and office-bearers of different bar associations of the country were also present. Disclosing the decisions taken during the meeting on the long march and the sit-in, Kurd said last year the long march was a great success and, therefore, the steering committee had decided to hold the second long march on the same pattern.

He said the lawyers and the civil society from Sindh and Balochistan would start the long march on March 12 and reach Sukkur the same night. The next morning, they would leave for Multan from where they would reach Lahore on March 14. After a short stay, they would again start their journey and reach Rawalpindi on March 15. The sit-in would be staged the next day on March 16, which will continue till the reinstatement of all the deposed judges.

Kurd said a committee was being formed that would contact the leadership of all the major political parties and invite them to participate in the long march to make it a historical event. He, however, avoided a question about giving invitation to the PPP.

Kurd also appealed to all the sections of the society to participate in the long march that he termed a movement against injustice and discrimination. He urged doctors to set up a medical camp at the place of the sit-in with a view to providing medical treatment to participants.

He also asked all provincial and district bar associations and councils to launch a mobilisation campaign to make sure that millions of people assembled in Islamabad. Besides, he said invitations would be sent to all foreign bar associations to come and support the lawyers’ cause.

Kurd also announced that a code of conduct would be prepared to maintain discipline during the long march and every participant would be bound to follow it. To a question, Kurd said the lawyers would request the political parties to set up their separate camps at the Constitution Avenue. Kurd said the SCBA had unanimously supported the long march, giving him its complete mandate in this connection.

link: http://www.thenews.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=20144