Islamabad court carnage highlights Pakistan's security collapse as lawyers boycott proceedings nationwide

Islamabad [Pakistan], November 12 (ANI): The Islamabad Bar Council (IBC) and the Rawalpindi District Bar Association harshly condemned the terrorist assault on the district and sessions courts complex in Islamabad's G-11 area, which claimed multiple lives and left dozens wounded, including members of the legal community, as reported by Dawn.

According to Dawn, IBC Vice Chairman Naseer Ahmed Kayani and other council members expressed "deep sorrow, shock, and outrage" over what they termed a "cowardly and barbaric" act of terror targeting a judicial institution, a place symbolising justice and the rule of law. The IBC said that such attacks on lawyers, litigants, and court officials amounted to direct strikes on Pakistan's already fragile justice system.

IBC declared complete court boycotts across the Islamabad Capital Territory from November 12 to 14 as a form of protest and mourning.

During this period, no lawyer will appear before any court. The council further decided to hold a general house meeting with subordinate bar associations to chart a collective response to the worsening security climate.

IBC also demanded a transparent investigation into the attack and questioned how such a major security breach could occur in a supposedly high-security area.

The council highlighted that the state's repeated failure to protect its judicial institutions reflected deep administrative negligence. Following the incident, the Rawalpindi District Bar Association (RDBA) also announced a strike in solidarity with the Islamabad lawyers, as cited by Dawn.

RDBA president Sardar Manzar Bashir expressed grief and vowed that "the blood of the martyrs will not go in vain."

He called for strict legal action against those responsible and demanded accountability from institutional heads for administrative lapses. In response, the Rawalpindi district administration unveiled a new security plan, which includes enhanced checks at court entry points, the installation of walk-through gates, a ban on unauthorised entry, and the direction of the Frontier Works Organisation (FWO) to regulate controlled access for its workers, as reported by Dawn. (ANI)

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