Are Pakistan's lawyers now a public menace?

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.

"Lawyers used to be a very gentle people," superintendent Sohail Sukhera of the Lahore police force told the BBC. "They were polite and educated. But the last couple of years have converted them into an absolutely different commodity.

"In one case, lawyers broke the leg of a police inspector," Sukhera continued. "Others have had their skulls exposed when lawyers have hit them on the head with stones or chair legs. It is really uncalled for."

What's behind the outbursts? It's not clear, but Sukhera theorised that some lawyers developed a "mob mentality" during the protest movement and now regard themselves as "above the law."

A video widely circulated in Pakistan shows three alleged lawyers, dressed in their characteristic black suits and ties, manhandling and punching a police officer.

The officer in the video, Fakir Muhammed said: "I tried to reason with them but they didn't listen and I still have no idea what it was about. I feel so insulted. My whole department looks at me as the guy that got beaten up. It's humiliating."

Sukhera told the BBC that dealing with the lawyers is consuming resources that could be used to fight terrorism.

But Lahore lawyer Raja Hanif told the BBC the Pakistani media is blowing up the incidents to make the lawyers' movement look bad. He points the finger at Musharraf supporters still bitter over the protests' success.

"But I believe the people of Pakistan understand we fought for truth," Mr Hanif said. "We fought for the rule of law over two years, and we achieved something great."

Justice Tariq Mahmood, a leader of the protest movement, said those lawyers involved in assaults should be dealt with harshly. "Yes, we did fight for the rule of law," said Mahmood, "but if you have earned so much respect, and then instead of being a role model, you involve yourself in these incidents of violence, then what message is being passed to the general public?"

"What is happening now is not what we fought so hard for and not what we made such sacrifices for," he added.

This article first appeared on The Am Law Daily blog on AmericanLawyer.com.