ISLAMABAD, 30 January 2006 — Under the watchful eyes of over 9,000 policemen, the controversial Lahore marathon concluded peacefully yesterday, sources said.
Governor Punjab Lt. Gen. (retd.) Khalid Maqbool and Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervez Elahi took a sigh of relief after the marathon passed off without any untoward incidents.
Islamists had called for the boycott of the marathon and had threatened to disrupt the event if women participated.
“It went better than our expectations. Security was adequate and there was no incident,” Lahore mayor Aamir Mahood said.
Around 20,000 people including women participated, he said. Some 160 foreign athletes also joined in, he said.
“I am glad, the women’s participation was very encouraging.”
Thousands of police were deployed along the route of the 42.2-km race as Pervez Elahi declared the event opened at the Gaddafi Stadium in the eastern city.
Police arrested more than 100 activists of the Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) party and besieged its headquarters in Lahore, officials and witnesses said.
JI is a key member of the hard-line six-party Muttaheda Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) alliance whose leaders opposed the race, saying the participation of women was against Pakistani culture and values. The MMA banned male coaches from training female athletes in North West Frontier Province in 2003.
The government rejected its demand to bar women from taking part in the race.
“It is a pure, healthy activity and it is not against Pakistan’s cultural, social and other values,” Governor Khalid Maqbool said.
The MMA claimed the arrests continued yesterday also to thwart its protest.
“Police have arrested our 5,000 workers and supporters, We condemn it and we demand their immediate release,” senior MMA leader Liaquat Baloch told a news conference here. The MMA campaign was successful and the women participation was negligible,” he said.
“Only police, government officials and women from a local educational institution participated,” he said.
“We are against mixed marathon races and we will continue to oppose it in future also.”
Officials said there had been no trouble at the race. Police on motorbikes escorted the runners and helicopters flew overhead as the marathon went ahead as scheduled.
Pervez Elahi had warned that those who tried to disrupt the event would be dealt with “iron hands.” This race will show to the world the soft image of Pakistan,” he said.
Ethiopian athlete Helefom Abebe won the race in two hours 16 minutes three seconds, organizers said. Riots erupted in the city of Gujranwala in April last year after police stopped armed activists from disrupting a mini-marathon involving women competitors.
Pakistan has recently tried to open up sports to women with the creation of female cricket and hockey teams, although only family members are allowed to watch their matches.
Rubab Raza, 14, was the country’s first female swimmer to dive in an Olympic pool at the 2004 Athens Games.
Women Set Record in Aviation History
A woman pilot and an all female crew made aviation history in Pakistan this week by flying a Fokker aircraft on a domestic flight of the national flag carrier, officials said yesterday.
Capt. Ayesha Rabia took off from Islamabad on Wednesday on a Pakistan International Airline flight to the central city of Multan via Lahore with 40 passengers aboard, PIA spokesman Mohammad Latif said.
“This is the first time in Pakistan aviation history that a woman pilot with all female crew flew a commercial plane in Pakistan,” Latif said. Her co-pilot was also a woman, he added. The passengers had no idea about the all-female crew until the plane landed at Allama Iqbal International Airport in Lahore.
