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Karachi: More than 3,000 lawyers, civil society activists and members of various political parties on Monday began their march towards Multan in support of their campaign for the reinstatement of deposed judges and the establishment of an independent judiciary in the country.
Shouting slogans against President Pervez Musharraf, the activists launched their agitation from the mausoleum of the country's founder, Mohammad Ali Jinnah.
Lawyers have spearheaded opposition to Musharraf since the former army chief dismissed the country's top judge, Iftikhar Chaudhry, and dozens of other judges after declaring emergency rule in November last year.
"The judges, including the deposed chief justice Chaudhry Iftikhar, should be restored immediately," said Mahmoodul Hasan, president of the Karachi Bar.
"We reject the constitutional package introduced by the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) which is an attempt to give constitutional cover to the unconstitutional measures taken by Musharraf on November 3, when he imposed emergency rule in the country," Hasan said addressing the rally.
"On June 13, we will demonstrate in Islamabad that the entire nation wants the deposed judges back and an end to Musharraf's rule," he told the emotional crowd.
Stream of activists
The lawyers plan to proceed to Islamabad from Multan today. Rallies and delegations of lawyers and civil society activists have been arriving from all over the country to participate in the rally.
The central rally is expected to arrive in Islamabad on Friday - the day after the announcement of the national budget.
Among political leaders who showed up at yesterday's rally were Jamaat-e-Islami leader Munawaar Hasan, the Pakistan Muslim League's Saleem Zia and Tehreek-e-Insaaf's Arif Alvi.
Hasan said the PPP would be seen as pursuing Musharraf's agenda if it tried to curtail the power of the judiciary through its constitutional package.
After winning the elections, the PPP and former prime mnister Nawaz Sharif's PML-N had promised to restore the judges but they have still not found agreement on the dynamics of such a move.
Sharif has argued that the judges' restoration should be simple - essentially done through an executive order from the prime minister.
Zardari, however, has sought to link the judges' return to a package of constitutional reforms that aims to reduce the powers of the presidency.
"We do not understand why, despite claiming that they believe in restoring the judges, ... why are they delaying the implementation?" PML-N spokesman Sadiqul Farooq said on Monday of the PPP.
He reiterated that his party would be "part and parcel" of the lawyers' agitation but observed that its coalition partner had been rather muted.
With additional inputs from agencies
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