Ehtiram-i-Ramazan: Residents protest arrest of ‘fasting’ workers

FAISALABAD:

Scores of residents of Ghulam Muhammadabad on Sunday protested against police for arresting 70 power loom workers for violating the Ehtiram-i-Ramazan Ordinance.

The protesters blocked Qaim Sain Darbar Road and demanded their release.

They also burnt tyres and threw bottles on the road, suspending traffic for several hours.

Talking to newsmen, Shabbir Hussain, one of the protesters, said the assistant commissioner had led a police team that had arrested power loom workers who had been fasting.

“They told them that they were observing a fast and begged police not to arrest them but to no avail,” he said.

The protesters chanted slogans against the assistant commissioner and Ghulam Muhammadabad police.

Later, Gulgerg DSP Mazhar Gondal met the protesters and assured them that workers who had been fasting would be released immediately. The protesters dispersed on his assurance.

Police spokesman Muhammad Ramazan told The Express Tribune that City AC Shah Rukh Khan Niazi and a police team had raided a hotel in Faizabad and had arrested 70 people for eating at a public place and violating Ehtiram-i-Ramzan Ordinance.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 6^th, 2015.