Allahabad lawyers protest against emergency in Pakistan

Lawyers in Allahabad staged a protest today condemning the crackdown on their Pakistani counterparts following President Pervez Musharrafs proclamation of emergency in Pakistan.

Allahabad, Nov 6 : Lawyers in Allahabad staged a protest today condemning the crackdown on their Pakistani counterparts following President Pervez Musharraf's proclamation of emergency in Pakistan.

Lawyers marched through the streets shouting slogans and burning an effigy of Musharraf.

"We condemn the dictatorship imposed by Musharraf on November 3. He has suspended the Chief Justice. We also condemn the atrocities on our counterparts in Pakistan, including their arrest," said Naveen Singh, a lawyer.

Hundreds of lawyers and opposition politicians have been detained since the imposition of emergency in the country on Saturday, a move seen as a design to pre-empt a Supreme Court's expected unfavourable ruling on his re-election asresident.

On Monday, police used teargas against stone-throwing lawyers in Lahore, and wielded batons to break up another protest by dozens of their counterparts outside the High Court in Karachi.

Pakistan authorities had already arrested 400 to 500 political opponents and opposition lawyers as a "preventive" measure.

Several judges were being held incommunicado at their homes after they refused to back emergency. Among them was Pakistan's sacked Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, who became a symbol of resistance to Musharraf's rule after defying pressure to quit in March. The President subsequently reinstated him.

Chaudhry was sacked and replaced after he and eight other judges refused to endorse the Provisional Constitutional Order (PCO), declaring it unconstitutional.

Meanwhile, Pakistan police continued its crackdown by arresting more lawyers in Lahore today.

ANI