Two years ago, lawyers in Pakistan inspired the world with their protests against former President Pervez Musharraf’s suspension of Pakistani Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry. The persistent street demonstrations by thousands of black suit-clad lawyers, braving beatings and arrests, were widely credited with rallying opposition to Musharraf’s growing authoritarianism and contributing to his 2008 ouster.
But are the lawyers now becoming a public menace? According to a recent BBC report, lawyers in Lahore, the city whose Bar group led the protest movement, have been accused of carrying out some 18 assaults in the past month.
