Lawyers' Movement

Following the suspension of the chief justice, the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) declared the judge's removal as an "assault on the independence of judiciary" and was backed by several political parties.[3][4] Issues pertaining to the privatisation of the state-owned steel mills upset Shaukat Aziz, who served as the prime minister under the Musharraf administration.[17] On 9 May 2007, the general house of the Lahore High Court Bar Association (LHCBA) demanded the Punjab and Sindh governments to step down immediately for patronising state terrorism.[24] An editorial in the Daily Times said, "the possibility of any compromise to correct [Musharraf's] original mistake [of removing the chief justice] has vanished now ... the ante has been upped by the government."[25] Four months into the movement, Musharraf caved under the "pressure of incessant nonviolent civil resistance" and reinstated Chaudhry as the chief justice on 20 July 2007.[27] On 3 November 2007, the reelected president Pervez Musharraf declared a state of emergency in Pakistan and imposed a provisional constitutional order (PCO).[28] On 4 November 2007, prominent leaders of the movement were kept under house arrest including former chief justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, Aitzaz Ahsan and Munir A.[18] The protesting lawyers had earlier showered rose petals in front of the locked courtrooms of the judges who refused to take the oath under the PCO.Just before the emergency rule was imposed, the Supreme Court had begun deliberations on the legality of Musharraf's US-backed proposal — the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) — which had sought to drop corruption charges against Benazir Bhutto and Zardari in return for a joint Bhutto–Musharraf coalition to govern Pakistan.[41][42] Where Bhutto and Zardari sympathised with Musharraf on his feud with the Supreme Court, they simultaneously criticised the imposition of martial law or a military dictatorship.This eventually led the lawyers to openly criticise the PPP-led government along with its PML-N allies and considered "them [both] a part of the same regime",[26] since both had faltered over their agreement in the Bhurban Accord.Former prime minister and PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif called for the reinstatement of Chaudhry helping this renewed struggle gain some leverage.The march was from Karachi to Islamabad to demand the reinstatement of a Supreme Court Chief Justice and other judges ousted from office by former President Pervez Musharraf.[48] As a result of the Lawyer's Movement, Zardari was forced to meet their demands[47][49] and Chaudry was reinstated as the chief justice by prime minister Yousaf Raza Gillani on 17 March 2009.One of the campaign's message was an 8 minutes 12 Seconds video which showed all the promises and statements, especially by Pakistan Peoples Party leaders, about the restoration of the judges but were not fulfilled.Critics say that Print and electronic media, at times, crossed their limits of authority and helped creating a negative sentiment about the government among masses regarding the Chief Justice issue.
Policemen look on as lawyers gather in a pro-judiciary protest outside the Karachi Press Club on 5 November 2007.
The UN special rapporteur Asma Jahangir served a pivotal role in the Lawyers' Movement and was put under house arrest on 5 November 2007.
Pakistan Muslim League (N)long marchsuspension of Iftikhar Muhammad ChaudhryPakistanchief justiceIftikhar Muhammad ChaudhryProtest demonstrationPakistani judiciaryGovernment of PakistanMunir A. MalikAitzaz AhsanAli Ahmad KurdNawaz SharifLatif AfridiPervez MusharrafAsif Ali Zardaripresidentunconstitutionally suspendedSupreme CourtSupreme Court Bar AssociationPakistani governmentPakistan Steel MillsShaukat Azizprime ministerMissing Persons caseforced disappearancesSahiwalMultanpetrol bombsNew York TimesLahore High Court Bar Associationstate terrorism2007 Karachi riotsMuttahida Qaumi MovementPakistan Muslim League (Q)protest demonstrationsKarachiSindh High Court Bar AssociationPakistan Peoples PartyAwami National PartyBusiness Recorder GroupAaj TVpresidential electionsemergency rulestate of emergencyRana BhagwandasKhalil-ur-Rehman RamdayJavaid IqbalRaja Muhammad Fayyaz AhmadMian Shakirullah JanChaudhry Ijaz AhmedKhawaja Muhammad SharifSardar Muhammad RazaKarachi Press Clubspecial rapporteurAsma JahangirThe Independenttear gasSabihuddin AhmedAnwar Zaheer JamaliFakhruddin G. Ebrahim2008 general electionsBhurban Accordcoalition governmentmovement to impeach Pervez MusharrafPearl Continental BhurbanMurreeNational Reconciliation Ordinancepresident's ruleHamid KhanIslamabadSection 144Yousaf Raza GillaniHuman Rights Commission of PakistanAsian Human Rights CommissionTariq MahmoodBalochistan High CourtAthar MinallahNorth-West Frontier ProvincePakistan Bar CouncilLahore Bar AssociationNaseer Ahmed BhuttaAnwar Kamal KhansenatorBenazir BhuttoSafdar Ali AbbasiTalat HussainHamid MirMazhar AbbasAsma ShiraziLatif KhosaQazi AnwarGeo Newspublic service messageMir Khalil ur RehmanJamaat-e-IslamiPakhtunkhwa Milli Awami PartyPakistan Tehreek-e-InsafShehzad RoyLaga RehAli AzmatpovertyeducationterrorismDaily TimesAljazeeraThe TelegraphThe Associated PressThe EconomistConstable, PamelaHarvard Law ReviewMalik, MunirPenguin Group