"The lawyers should convey my message to the people to rise up and restore the Constitution," the chief justice, Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, told dozens of lawyers on speakerphone at a meeting of the Islamabad Bar Association before his cellphone line was cut. "I am under arrest now, but soon I will also join you in your struggle."

Today, the second day of protests, the police arrested 50 lawyers in the eastern city of Lahore and clashes broke out between hundreds of lawyers and Pakistani police officers in Multan, about 200 miles to the southwest. On Monday, in Lahore and other cities, thousands of lawyers protested, with many beaten by baton-wielding police officers and then thrown into police wagons. By the end of that day, about 2,000 people had been rounded up by the authorities, among them 500 to 700 lawyers, according to lawyers and political officials.

It was unclear how Chief Justice Chaudhry, who was fired on Saturday and is under house arrest, was able to gain access to a cellphone. He and other lawyers said they hoped to re-create the protest campaign they carried out this spring when the lawyers mounted big rallies in major cities after General Musharraf had removed Chief Justice Chaudhry from the Supreme Court bench. General Musharraf's popularity plummeted during the protests, and Mr. Chaudhry was reinstated after four months, invigorating the Supreme Court and the general's opponents.

On Saturday, citing a need to limit terrorist attacks and "preserve the democratic transition," General Musharraf suspended the Constitution, dissolved the Supreme Court and the four provincial High Courts, and silenced privately owned television news channels. Many of the Supreme Court judges are, like Mr. Chaudhry, under house arrest.

But the general stopped short of taking some steps characteristic of martial law, like shutting down Parliament, analysts noted.

How long the lawyers can keep up their revolt now without the support of opposition political parties, which so far have been lying low, remains in question. But the leader of the biggest opposition political party, Benazir Bhutto, has pledged to lead a major protest rally on Friday in Rawalpindi, the garrison city adjacent to Islamabad.

President Bush and other Western officials urged General Musharraf on Monday to immediately end emergency rule and prepare for elections as planned in January.

Aides to General Musharraf gave conflicting signals about the election timetable. On Monday, some said the voting would proceed on schedule, but today, others said there would be delays.

"It will take some time," said Sheikh Rashid Ahmad, a cabinet member who is close to General Musharraf, The Associated Press reported.

Mr. Ahmad said General Musharraf wanted to hold the election in January, but "some elements want them to be delayed for a year."

Anne W. Patterson, the American ambassador to Pakistan, visited the country's election commission today and urged the election commissioner to announce elections for Jan. 15, as had been planned. In the first practical sign of displeasure at General Musharraf's move, the United States said Monday that it had suspended annual defense talks with Pakistan.

Eric S. Edelman, an under secretary of defense, was to lead a delegation to the talks beginning on Tuesday. But the meetings will be delayed until conditions are "more conducive to achieving the important objectives of all those who value democracy and a constitutional role," said Elizabeth Colton, a spokeswoman at the American Embassy.

Ms. Bhutto flew from her home city of Karachi to Islamabad this evening, landing about 6 p.m. On Wednesday, she is to meet with other civilian political leaders but she said she will not meet or negotiate with General Musharraf.

The Musharraf government has tried to reconstitute the top courts by swearing in new judges loyal to the government. Only five judges have taken the oath for the 17-seat Supreme Court, and there are many gaps in the other High Courts.

In Multan today, the riot police prevented 1,000 lawyers from leaving a court building to carry out a street rally, according to Pakistani journalists. The lawyers and the police then hurled stones at each other.

In a separate clash, police officers stormed Multan's High Court and arrested at least six lawyers.

In Islamabad several dozen lawyers protested inside the city's court complex after listening to Mr. Chaudhry's telephone call. They made no attempt to break through dozens of police who had gathered to prevent them from carrying out street protests. After shouting anti-Musharraf chants for 30 minutes, the demonstration ended peacefully.

In his call to lawyers, Chief Justice Chaudhry said, "Go to every corner of Pakistan and give the message that this is the time to sacrifice," The Associated Press reported. "Don't be afraid. God will help us, and the day will come when you'll see the Constitution supreme and no dictatorship for a long time," he said.

Feisal Naqvi, a Lahore lawyer, and other lawyers said they believed that the battle against the government could not be won on the streets. Rather, they said, the fight should focus on undermining the newly constituted courts from inside the courthouses.

One goal of the lawyers, Mr. Naqvi said, was to paralyze the new courts. "The fundamental point is not to allow the Supreme Court and the High Courts to operate," he said. A monitoring system was being considered under which lawyers would patrol courts and urge their colleagues not to appear before the new judges. "There should be no acceptance of the new judges," he said.

Potential problems for General Musharraf emerged on another front as well. On Monday, the Karachi Stock Exchange, the country's largest stock market, declined by 4.6 percent - its heaviest single-day loss, according to Pakistani news reports. And Standard & Poor's, the credit rating agency, revised its credit ratings outlook for Pakistan from stable to negative.

The ratings agency blamed political upheaval caused by the government's declaration of emergency "and its potential impact on economic growth, fiscal performance, and external vulnerability."

In random street interviews, average Pakistanis expressed sweeping opposition to General Musharraf's emergency declaration. The general's popularity, already low, appears to have declined even further.

Some Pakistanis complained that business had dropped off since the emergency declaration this weekend. Others called the declaration an obvious attempt by General Musharraf to maintain his personal power and flatly dismissed his claim that the move was an effort to fight terrorism. All called for an end to military rule and a return to democracy.

"There are weak points in the political parties," said Yasir Mehmood, a 31-year-old cellphone store owner, referring to corruption. "But one cannot deny that political parties and democracy are better than martial law."

One policemen, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said he and many other officers believed General Musharraf was "not acting according to the law." But he said officers would not dare defy orders.

"It would be good if he leaves with dignity," the officer said. "Nobody respects him anymore."

Salman Masood contributed reporting.

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