Latif Lala, A Voice For Voiceless Is Brutally Silenced

Muhammad Bilal Yasir

Abdul Latif Afridi, prominent lawyer and former president of Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) was shot dead inside the bar room of Peshawar High Court on Monday morning. The senior lawyer was shifted to the nearby Lady Reading Hospital for medical assistance; however, medics at the hospital pronounced the lawyer dead on arrival. They said that Latif Afridi received six bullets while Police said that have detained the killer, identified as Adnan at the spot.

Abdul Latif Afridi, who was known as Latif Lala among the legal fraternity and his circle of admirers and friends, was one of the senior most lawyers of the province and Pashtun nationalist politician. Latif Lala had the honor of the being the first Pashtun president of SCBA, the highest body of the lawyers in the country. He was born in Tirah area of Khyber district in 1943 and did his Masters from University of Peshawar in 1966. Two years later, Latif Lala also obtained his LLB degree from the same institution. During his student life, Latif Lala was active in student politics and was also expelled from the University for campaigning for the Fatima Jinnah presidential bid against military dictator Ayub Khan in 1964 presidential elections.

Latif Afridi joined the Ghous Baksh Bizenjo led Pakistan National Party (PNP) in 1979 and became its provincial president. In 1986, when the PNP was merged into the Awami National Party (ANP), Latif Lala was appointed its first provincial president. Latif Lala was elected MNA from NA-46 Khyber in 1997, when first elections under the adult franchise were held in the tribal areas.

ANP terminated Latif Lala basic party membership on September 2, 2019 and two years later on September 1, 2021, he joined the newly formed National Democratic Movement (NDM) as its founding member and was among the top leaders of the party. Besides, Latif Lala was also supporter of the Pasthun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM) and represented the PTM leader and MNA Ali Wazir case before the courts.

He had served Peshawar High Court Bar Association (PHCBA) on four occasions and also led the lawyers wings of the ANP. Besides, he also served as the vice president of ANP provincial chapter. In addition to being the four times president of PHCBA, Latif Lala also served as the vice-chairman of Pakistan Bar Council. Latif Lala was also among the senior leaders of the Lawyers Movement in 2007 for the restoration of former chief justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Muhammad Chudhary.

On October 30, 2020, Latif Lala was elected president of the SCBA by securing 1,236 votes against 968 votes of his rival Sattar Khan.

Latif Lala was served at the forefront of Lawyers Movement, which culminated in the reinstatement of former Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Muhammad Chudhary.

Besides, he was also regarded as the symbol of resistance and never shied away from publically daring the forces of tyranny, obscurantism and always stood for the rights of down-trodden and marginalized.

May Almighty shower his blessings on his soul and forgive his sins.

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