Islamabad, April 13:

Protesters burned an effigy of President Gen Pervez Musharraf and demanded his resignation, as thousands rallied across Pakistan during a court hearing today for a top judge suspended by the government.

Musharraf suspended Ifitkhar Mohammed Chaudhry from his Supreme Court post last month to allow a panel of judges to examine suspicions that he had abused his position. In one instance, he allegedly sought a promotion for his son.

But critics accuse the general of undermining the independence of the judiciary and trying to oust a strong-willed judge before elections that could trigger legal challenges to his continued rule.

In the latest in a series of demonstrations, more than 3,000 opposition party activists and lawyers took to the streets of Karachi, Lahore and other cities.

At the biggest gathering, protesters chanted “Go Musharraf Go” and “Stop attacking the judiciary” outside the Supreme Court in the capital, Islamabad. Some of the participants set fire to an effigy of the president and a tyre outside the white marble court complex.

Inside, the judge’s lawyers objected to three of the five judges on the Supreme Judicial Council hearing his case. The lawyers told the council that the three had “personal differences” with Chaudhry, and that he did not expect justice from them, said Munir Malik, a member of the defence team. He said the council adjourned the hearing until April 18.

In Karachi, about 400 protesting lawyers marched several kilometers from the city courts to the mausoleum of Pakistan’s founding father, Muhammad Ali Jinnah.

Some of the lawyers scuffled with reporters, apparently after a TV crew’s car bumped one of the demonstrators. But there were no reports of violent clashes with police.