The lawyers on Sunday staged demonstrations across the country demanding repeal of the 16th amendment to the Constitution passed recently by the Parliament. The demonstration programme was arranged as part of their two-day countrywide programme announced by the Bangladesh Bar Council, the statutory body regulating the lawyers. The lawyers are scheduled to boycott courts across the country today (Monday). According to the earlier announcement, black flags were also hoisted atop all bar association buildings in the country. In the capital, the lawyers of the Supreme Court held a rally brought out a procession at the SC premises. Addressing the rally, the lawyers alleged that the government made the 16th amendment in a bid to secure its reign by controlling all the institutional bodies like the judiciary.The speakers urged the lawyers community of the country, irrespective of their party affiliation, to take part in the movement to intensify the demand of repealing the 16th amendment. Vice-president of the Bar Council Khaled Ahmed presided over the rally while secretary of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) Barrister Mahbubuddin Khokon and others spoke it.Later, Vice-chairman of the Bar Council and President of the SCBA Advocate Khandker Mahbub Hossain at a separate press briefing at the Bar Council auditorium urged all the lawyers to make the Monday’s court boycott programme a success. Addressing the opening ceremony of another seminar, the senior lawyer, who is also adviser of BNP chairperson, said that they want the moral support of neighboring India to ‘protect democracy’ of Bangladesh. “India is the largest democratic country in the world. Its moral support is needed to protect democracy of Bangladesh. We hope that the government of India and the Indian people will stand besides us instead of interference,” he said. Bangladesh Law Times arranged the two-day seminar on “Visa Laws and Capital Punishment” at the SCBA auditorium with Assistant Attorney General Ashek Momen in the chair. Chairman of the Bar Council of West Bengal of India Asit Baran Bosu, editor of Bangladesh Law Times SM Goswami also spoke in the function. Former SC judge Justice Md Delwar Hossain and Deputy Attorney General Abdus Samad Mondol presented keynote papers in the seminar.
