It’s time to give lawyers the respect they deserve

Barrister Aiman R. Khan­­:

“Everyone hates lawyers until they need one”— whoever said this could not be more accurate. In Bangladesh, one can understand its meaning in the truest sense. We do not even want to let our houses to lawyers, let alone respect them. As unfortunate as it may appear, the word ‘lawyer’ is often made synonymous with the words ‘crook’, ‘cunning’ or ‘shrewd’. Here, when anyone tries to fool another person, we term it ‘Lawyer’s mind’ as if this is what only lawyers’ are good at. We are all about double standards when it comes to talking about lawyers. Parents do not allow their daughters to get married to lawyers but do not hesitate to admit them to a law school. Most of the time, we look down upon them as if they are of a different breed.

To make things worse, some of us use the term ‘lawyer’ as a cuss word. But all this hate suddenly turns into desperation when one gets into any sort of trouble. We look around but find no one to get us out of it. That is when our self-termed ‘savage of the society’ becomes our only salvation. Suddenly lawyers do not seem as bad as people used to think them to be. We now realize we have been treating lawyers wrong our entire lives. We begin to understand when our known persons turn their back at us and we have nowhere to go, a lawyer can become a ‘friend in need is a friend indeed’.

Becoming a lawyer is an arduous challenge in terms of the responsibility and commitment. It starts with struggling at law school, passing the bar enrolment exam and then establishing one’s practice. At each step of the way, a law student is faced with the toughest battle between his/her social and professional life. The actual struggle does not even begin till the start of his/her practice. A law student from an early age identifies the problems affecting the society and tries to find its solution. He/she learns to raise his/her voice for the disadvantaged and establish awareness of the law within his/her surroundings. The legal profession is a noble one since it involves working for the humanity. It is an independent profession that largely involves social work. Lawyers are not salaried by the Government or any other authority which makes it the only source of income for many.

A lawyer’s life is of constant struggle. They strive to uphold justice till the last day of their lives. They assume the prime responsibility of guarding the rights and interests of individuals. They are social workers who speak for the voiceless. A lawyer is sometimes called a social engineer as an experienced, efficient, and knowledgeable lawyer can contribute to building a new society. Lawyers are social engineers because they ensure equality and social balance. If we look into the history of the legal profession in Bangladesh, we will clearly understand why it is called a noble profession.

Those who are remembered in history for their contribution in the revolution against the British mostly belonged to the legal profession. The majority of the parliamentarians were lawyers in the initial days of independent Bangladesh. Our glorious liberation war was participated by many lawyers who even gave their lives for this country. Even the drafting of the Constitution of Bangladesh was headed by a lawyer.

But seeing how they are being treated today, it seems we took their contributions for granted. According to the writ filed by a Supreme Court lawyer demanding the enactment of ‘Advocates protection Act’ on 8^th February 2021 before the bench of Justice Farah Mahbub and Justice S.M. Moniruzzaman, more than sixty-seven lawyers have either been murdered, tortured, or have become victim of attacks and kidnapping in recent years. The amount of such incidents is constantly rising. The moment an Advocate steps out of the courtroom, he/she becomes exposed to unwarranted risk and vulnerability.

Below is the timeline of such incidents according Advocate Kazi Helal Uddin on his article titled ‘কেন আইনজীবী সুরক্ষা আইন প্রয়োজন? ’ published on LawyersClubBangladesh on 4^th May, 2020.

• On 17^th July 2007, an Advocate of the Dhaka Bar, Saima Khanam was killed at Dhaka’s Shahbagh Area. The assailant was arrested later on and hanged.
• In 2008, an Advocate of the Gazipur Bar Firoz Sohel alias Sohelur Rahman.
• In December 2009, an Advocate named Shamsul haque was brutally killed in the Dhalpur area of the capital. The perpetrator was arrested only because the deceased tightly embraced his attacker while dying.
• On 12^th October of 2009, Advocate Gias Uddin Khan Masud of Pirojpur Bar was shot and killed.
• On 15^th September 2011, the dead body of Advocate Mohiuddin Altaf of Narayanganj Bar was found at a bush beside Narayanganj road.
• In July 2013, Advocate Humayun Kamal was physically humiliated by his client infront of the Feni Court.
• On 25^th January 2014, a lawyer of the Chuadanga court was taken captive and tortured by a local goon.
• On 10^th August 2016, a letter sent by an anonymous person contained threat to kill 40 Advocates including the District and Sessions Judge of Joypurhat District. A general diary was filed at the Joypurhat police station but the offenders are yet to be traced.
• On April of 2017, a lady lawyer was assaulted at the Chittagong court premises by some attackers. The entire Chittagong Bar protested against such an attack.
• On 25^th March 2018, popular lawyer Advocate Z I Khan Panna became victim of an attack at the Dhaka University area. Supreme Court lawyers formed a human chain in protest of that attack.
• On 23^rd February 2019, Advocate Saidul Islam Chowdhury was kidnapped from the Pabna District Judge Court premises. It was later found out that the plaintiff of a case in which he was on the opposition side planned the kidnapping. The police got him freed and arrested the attackers.
• On 16^th April 2020, Advocate Tuhin Hawladar was beaten by the police at the capital’s Tikatuli area. He was later taken to the Dhaka Medical College for treatment due to his severe condition. He lodged a complaint against that police officer to the higher authority of the police
• On March 11, 2021, a Supreme Court Advocate Ibrahim Khalil was arrested from within the territory of the Supreme Court and tortured in custody.

The above were just few instances out of the several reported/unreported incidents. This goes to show that legal profession is a risky one and lawyers are the ones at the most risk. Even when there are so many cases involving hate crimes against lawyers that came to light, their protection is yet to be ensured. As lawyers are officers of the court and front liners in providing justice to the society, they deserve to be protected by law. We cannot afford to put at them at risk, when they are the ones who safeguard our rights.

At the moment, it is of utmost importance and demand that a ‘Lawyers Protection Act’ be enacted. This will ensure their recognition and give them the protection they deserve. Lawyers are the umbrella of the citizen’s rights. If there are no lawyers, there will be no justice. The disadvantaged of the society will lose their voice. As our national poet said in his poem ‘Jedin ami hariye jabo, bujhbe shedin bujhbe’ that “The day you will need me, only then realize my significance. ”The society needs lawyers as much as it needs individuals of other profession to maintain its balance. Therefore, it is the demand of not only the lawyers themselves, but of ordinary citizens of the country that such law gets enacted as soon as possible.

Writer: Associate Advocate at Rahman Law Associates and Company.