Pakistani lawyers protest court shutdown

On Nov 7, 7:12 am, Jonathan Sachs <js070...@sbcglobal.net> wrote:
> I was struck by a photograph in today's paper (the Chicago Tribune)
> whose caption describes the image as well as I could: "Amid tear gas,
> a Pakistani lawyer flees after hurling a rock at police Monday in
> Lahore..."
>
> First, all honor to the lawyers of Pakistan for risking their lives,
> as well as their livelihoods to defend their nation's constitution.  I
> am grateful that in America, our civil liberties are not so imminently
> threatened that we must contemplate this type of behavior.  I wonder
> how many of us would be up to it if they were.

Jonathan, you almost took the words right out of my mouth.   I couldn't agree more, after seeing (probably) the same picture in the Washington Post.  What also came to me was the parallel to the conduct of the Founders of the USA -- many of whom were lawyers -- who pledged their "lives, fortunes, and sacred honor" in signing the Declaration of Independence, whose ringing words may be part of what inspired the Pakistani protesters.  As IIRC Ben Franklin said, "We must all hang together or we shall all hang separately." 

> But the thing that struck me about this picture is that the lawyer is
> dressed in a suit and tie.  That's what virtually all of the pictures
> in the media seem to show: lawyers demonstrating, lawyers being beaten
> by police, lawyers fighting back, all in business suits.

This happened at the courthouse, which had been closed down by Musharraf's emergency order; he saw the judiciary as a political opponent because it had consistently ruled against his dictatorial policies.  I'm guessing the lawyers dressed in suit and tie the way they do every day when they go to work, and went to their workplace even though it was not open for business, there to do whatever they could do to get it opened again and to restore the normal workings of the law.  But if they gave it any thought, as lawyers often do when considering the image they want to project, it would make sense for them to consciously decide to dress that way to show their status as lawyers, and their respect for the rule of law.

> I wonder what's behind that.  Did the lawyers of Pakistan get together
> and decide that formal dress would make the protest look more
> legitimate?  Or, is wearing a suit and tie ground so deeply into their
> psyches that they can't imagine going out of doors any other way?

It is a striking picture.   But if something like that were to happen here, I'd probably put on my suit and tie too, and go down to the courthouse, and see if I could do anything about it.   I wouldn't wear jeans and a T-shirt; I would wear the uniform of my profession.  Although attenuated in the modern world compared to traditional societies, it is still true that clothing serves as a potent symbol of identity, privilege, rank, and power; if the protesters in Myanmar/Burma had worn Bermuda shorts and polo shirts instead of the saffron robes of Buddhist monks, their voice would not have been nearly so powerful IMO.   The fact that the photo of the protesting Pakistani lawyers in suits is so visually striking just proves that point as well.

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