In the past the legal profession had faced a challenge from the executive whose ambition was to usurp the powers of the court from the judiciary and give directives to court directly or indirectly or by innuendo. When this was taking place, a majority in the profession resented such intrusions but by remaining silent, they permitted such intrusions to take place. They were not prepared to denounce such manoeuvres lest they may earn the wrath of the executive.

The silent majority believed that it was a matter for the leaders of the bar or those who were dreaming to become leaders of the Bar so that it could become another feather on their cap.

But in the recent past when the bar had been confronted with many intricate and complex problems they dared not even express their resentment. They apparently feared that if they took a stand, it would offend either the executive or certain members of the Bar who had expressed their opinions on the contentious matter. The gentle dead would not take any decision for or against. It does not matter to them whether the independence of the judiciary is attacked continuously and vigorously by any one. What matters is to maintain an eerie silence and be a good old boy.

When the appointment of the now-much-respected Shirani Bandaranayake as a judge of the Supreme Court took place there was opposition from many a quarter. But the Bar Association was strangely silent. At that time the Bar Association could not come to a consensus. But there was a small group of lawyers who took upon themselves the responsibility of challenging the appointment. The matter had to be addressed by seniors in the profession.

R.K.W. Gunasekera along with President's counsel L.C. Seneviratne, D.S. Wijesinghe and Shibly Azeez, a one-time Attorney General, appeared on behalf of petitioners who complained to court about the propriety of the appointment. Even the lawyers who disrupted a Bar Association meeting by singing 'pel kavi'- whose action was denounced by this column - had a backbone and were prepared to take cudgels against those who opposed the appointment. But a certain section of the so-called gentle deadwood of the profession did not want to take any side in the ensuing court battle.

When one of them, now a member of the Executive Committee, was asked by a daily newspaper what he thought of the appointment of Dr. Bandaranayake, he simply said, "I had no comment". This was the state of affairs and the mental hibernation of some of the seniors who did not want to take a decision on a matter that affected the legal profession.

Situations could arise where lawyers, in the interest of the profession and the people, have to take some coherent direct action against the executive whenever he or she tries to challenge the independence of the Judiciary and make inroads that would have direct bearing on the profession.

It is necessary that the Bar should have views on many matters that would affect the people at large. For the past four years, there have been various amendments to the constitution of the country. Even a new constitution is being discussed. But has the Bar Association made any observations or put forward opinions on any of these matters? For instance even on the ceasefire agreement, the Bar Association has not made known its position thought past Presidents such as H.L. de Silva, S.L. Gunasekera and a few others have expressed views on it. What contribution has the Bar Association made to bring about peace in this country?

It may be argued that the Bar Association being divided politically, it may be impossible for it to arrive at decisions . But surely cannot the Bar Association appoint a committee and publish its report so that the government, the opposition and the public would be enlightened by its in-depth findings.

In Pakistan though there is a military dictatorship and the democratic freedoms and rights of the people have been suppressed, lawyers have decided that enough is enough. They decided to protest against the infringements of the liberties enshrined in the constitution by the military regime.

Unlike in Sri Lanka, in Pakistan there are many lawyers' associations like the Supreme Court Bar Association, Lahore High Court Bar Association and many other associations of diverse segments of the Bar. All of them came under one banner called the ''Lawyers Representatives Conference'' consisting of all elected leaders of the Bar. They decided to practically boycott Courts across the country to protest against the government's proposed amendments to the constitution.

Under the proposed amendment to the Constitution, President Pervez Musharraf will have absolute powers to sack the Prime Minister, fire the Cabinet, dissolve the elected parliament and make key appointments. Gen. Musharraf intends to enforce such amendments through a presidential decree.

The strike and protest of lawyers made such an impact that courts proceedings remained suspended in all courts including the province of Balukistan and even special courts for suppression of terrorism in Quetta. The Judges were present in the courts but seemed to be actually supporting the protest of lawyers.

The consensus of Pakistani lawyers was that President Musharraf's military regime has entrenched its power on all sectors at will against the people's freedoms enshrined in the constitution. Due to the stand taken by Gen. Musharraf vis-à-vis the war against terrorism, the western world is turning a blind eye to the incursions made by the military regime. But the Pakistani lawyers have taken the bold step - not for the first time in the history of the profession - to protest against the proposed amendments. The Bar did not try to shape with the political masters. The amendments to the constitution are in no way going to affect their practice, but the lawyers felt the rights of the people and the independence of the judiciary are more important in civil society. They thought that it was their duty to do whatever they could to protect the interests of the people. This is what the people expect from the leaders of the Bar.

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