Citizens staged a demonstration on Sheikhupura Road against police on Wednesday, to highlight growing street crime.
The demonstrators chanted slogans and blocked the thoroughfare.
Muhammad Ahmad, one of the protestors, said “many crimes are apparently committed with police connivance”. He said three robbers had snatched a tractor from a resident of Chak 191-RB Malloanai. When he approached police, they pressured him to withdraw his complaint.
“It is not the first time that police officers have responded in this way. They have consistently disregarded complaints against a growing number of crimes in the area”, Ahmad said.
The Khurarianwala Station House Officer (SHO) told the protestors that the men involved in stealing the tractor would be arrested shortly.
The protesters then dispersed but some of them said they would besiege the police station if arrests were not made and the tractor was not recovered within 48 hours.
Relatives of arrested kite makers protest against police
Hundreds of residents from Sheikhupura Road and nearby localities staged a demonstration on Wednesday against the Nishatabad police over the arrest of some kite manufacturers.
The protestors, mostly the relatives of the kite manufacturers, blocked the road in front of National Textile University (NTU) Faisalabad.
Muhammad Shafiq, one of the protestors, said that the Nishatabad police had arrested Rafiq Akram, Waseem Akhtar, Naseem Mujahid and Khursheed Anwar for making kites.
He said “kite making is an ancient profession…The police started harassing us when we stopped bribing them”.
Shafiq added “it is true that the government has imposed a ban on kite flying. It is dangerous when a metal wire is used. Metal wires have injured motorcyclists among others, but that is an offence on the part of the users or manufacturers of metal wires. The administration has wrongly prohibited kite making, as kites are made of paper and small sticks are not dangerous”
The Nishatabad SHO ordered the protestors to disperse and threatened them with severe baton charge if they did not. He said that the manufacture, sale, purchase and transportation of kites were banned. He said the police was bound to take action…and could not release anybody arrested for flying or making kites.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 23rd, 2014.