'Never saw police enter SC and attack people, not even during military rule'

Noted Supreme Court Lawyer ZI Khan Panna today said he was ashamed of the scenes that unfolded during the Supreme Court Bar Association elections yesterday, when police assaulted journalists and pro-BNP lawyers inside the premises of the country's apex judicial body.

"I have never seen police enter the Supreme Court and attack people, not even during the military regime," ZI Khan Panna told The Daily Star.

Panna, also chairperson of Ain O Salish Kendra, said all the gains that legal practitioners achieved over the years was destroyed yesterday.

"I am ashamed of it. I don't know why we reached such a state," he said.

In the interview with The Daily Star, Panna also said that there was a strong tradition of trade unions in Bangladesh, but that has completely been destroyed.

The veteran lawyer said politics is part of the legal profession and lawyers used to do that for quite a long time. "Now lawyers do not do politics. Politics is now in the hand of looters and it is the same for both parties [Awami League and BNP]."

He said those who were involved in party politics were on the same page on any issue when they came to the SCBA.

"They [lawyers] not only looked out for their own interests, but also talked about rule of law and stood beside people. Lawyers used to talk about protecting human rights. They talked about free and fair elections. They played a strong and leading role in every movement or struggle of the country.

"But from what I have seen this time, it seems we have destroyed all our achievements."