All India Black Flag Day-The Protest Begins...

This a protest by Lawyers called by the Bar Council of India.

If the judiciary of the Madras High Court continues in a position of being unable to issue directions to the State Government with regard to the attack on lawyers and judges, we urge that on moral grounds the Acting Chief Justice of the Madras High Court, Justice Mukhopathyaya and all the other judges should hand in their resignation. The Constitution demands them to sit in their court halls and issue their writ against the violators of law.

We believe that whenever there is an onslaught on the institution of democracy, it is the duty of the civil society organizations to atleast extends their solidarity to the ongoing protest. In the context of the ongoing protest by lawyers, we, the undersigned representatives of the Human Rights organizations and NGOs strongly condemn the brutal and barbaric assault on lawyers, the members of the judiciary, court staff and On lookers.

We urge the Government of Tamilnadu to immediately suspend the DGP Mr. K.P. Jain, the Commissioner of Police Mr. Radhakrishnan, the JCP Mr. Ramasubramaniam and other police personnel directly involved in the attack and initiate criminal proceedings against each of them.

We urge the Hon'ble High Court of Madras and the Supreme Court to ensure that an enquiry by a panel of sitting judges of the Supreme / High Court (not Retired judges) is undertaken by an order of the Court to enquire into the incidents of 19th February and not come out with recommendations but on the contrary with orders of the court issued on the basis of the enquiry for criminal prosecution, for compensation and for far reaching recommendations to restore the dignity of the Bar, the Bench and the Institution of Justice in the country. While doing so, we the undersigned are convinced that the attack of 19th February is a result of a 'conspiracy' at a very high level of governance in Tamilnadu – which alone resulted in the extent of damage and attack on the Temple of Justice.

We are convinced therefore as civil society organizations that we unequivocally stand with the victims of this police brutality, namely the legal fraternity. Therefore, we urge all civil society organizations and NGOs working in Tamilnadu with women, with children., with Dalit and Adivasis, with organized and unorganized labor, in the field of education, health, social security, protection of land and livelihood resources, women empowerment, consumer protection, environment, HIV AIDS, sexual minorities including transgender and in any other fields which are not mentioned here to mobilize in large numbers, to march in solidarity and express our deepest sense of concern and commitment to the legal community which is observing a BLACK DAY tomorrow the 27th February 2009 called by the Bar Council of India in every small town and cities all over the country where courts are located.