Patna, Feb. 7: Lawyers of Patna High Court today abstained from work to protest against last Friday?s ?unpleasant? events following the alleged use of loudspeakers at a local mosque and the subsequent ?arrest? of a muazzin.

Justice R.S. Garg had on Friday instructed the police and civic authorities to ensure that loudspeakers did not interrupt court proceedings. Following the order, police allegedly arrested a muazzin of the mosque, which led to unrest in front of the court on Bailey Road.

After the police allowed the muazzin to leave, a group of protesters approached the court and raised ?indecent? slogans against Justice Garg.

Allegedly ?hurt? for being branded an RSS ?agent?, Justice Garg said he wanted to leave Bihar. Several social organisations later supported the judge and condemned the incident as an ?assault? on the judiciary.

Yesterday, the Bar Council of Patna and the Coordination Committee of Advocates decided to strike work as a symbolic protest. ?We want to condemn the attack on the independence of the judiciary,? coordination committee convener Yogesh Chandra Verma said.

?Friday?s incidents were an attack on the dignity and majesty of the judiciary. We want to express our solidarity with the judges and our protest has nothing to do with religion,? he added.

?If one is dissatisfied with the procedure or order of a court, he or she has the provision to appeal to a higher court. One should not ascribe motives to a judge,? said Arvind Kumar, a high court advocate.

?We don?t want to paralyse court proceedings. But we want to send a strong message to people in the country that no rule of law and democracy can be ensured if the judiciary has to contend with such treatment at the hands of the public,? Kumar observed.

The committee demanded that the government take immediate action against the offenders.

Most Opposition parties in the state have described the incident as an ?attack on the judiciary? and criticised the ruling Rashtriya Janata Dal for its ?deliberate attempt to raise yet another emotive issue to garner Muslim votes?.

Backward Muslims in the state too criticised the government and demanded an apology from RJD president Laloo Prasad Yadav.