Two groups of eunuchs clash over turf

Eight jailed for two weeks for brawling at wedding in disputed territory.

GUJRANWALA: Eight eunuchs were arrested and sent to jail for two weeks on Monday in Gujranwala under the Maintenance of Public Order ordinance.

They belonged to Mian Zahoor Guru Group and Ijaz Group.

They were arrested by Cantt police on Sunday after they brawled at a wedding ceremony. Ijaz Group had performed at the ceremony and made Rs6,000. Zahoor Guru Group had then allegedly attacked them claiming the Cantt police precinct belonged to them and that no other group was allowed to operate there.

SHO Amir Abbas said the police had tried to settle the dispute but the eunuchs attacked one another at the police station as well. He said when they were unable to calm them down they had to put them in separate lock ups.

Police learnt that the two groups had been clashing over demarcation of territories for over a month.

Earlier, a case was registered against these groups in the first week of January at Cantt police station when Zahoor Guru Group had allegedly broken into Ijaz group’s office and roughed up its members. SHO Abbas said they had detained them for several hours. “They were released with a warning to discipline themselves,” he said.

Those arrested, besides the group leaders, included:

Tahir alias Sana, Tariq alias Tara Ji and Mohsin alias Pooja of Zahoor Guru group and Shahbaz alias Sana, Hamid alias Midda and Javaied alias Jadda of Ijaz group. They were produced before Magistrate Ghulam Abbas on Monday morning who sent them to Central Jail for two weeks. Zahoor Guru Group claimed that they had been working in the area for over 18 years and Ijaz Group had recently settled in.

They accused Ijaz Group of trying to steal their business. Group leader Zahoor Guru said that their business had fallen ever since Ijaz Group’s ‘invasion’. “This is my area. Only my pupils can operate here,” he said. Guru alleged that Ijaz was not even a eunuch. “He’s married. He has hired these eunuchs as a side business. For us, this is our life,” he said.

Ijaz denied the allegation. He said he was as much a eunuch as Zahoor Guru. He challenged the suggestion that the eunuchs could be confined to specific territories. “Everyone should be allowed to operate everywhere. They can’t bar us from any place. We will go wherever we are invited,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune February 8^th, 2011.