Police in the Pakistani city of Lahore say they are planning to deploy 6.000 officers to prevent any disruption to a marathon race planned for Sunday, BBC Online reports Friday.
Islamic activists are demanding that women do not take part in the race, as they say that such mixed-sex activities run counter to Islam. They want women to run separately or in-doors.
– We intend to put up peaceful resistance against the un-Islamic act of organising a mixed race, by making our presence felt all along the route, Salman Butt, Protest leader from the six-party alliance of religious parties, the MMA, said.
– It is against our cultural, social and religious norms, Liaquat Baluch of the MMA commented.
Organisers hope the race willl help raise funds for the victims of the earthquake which devastated parts of northern Pakistan and Kashmir in October.
Last years marathon in Lahore was the first time Pakistan had staged such an international event. It passed peacefully even though women took part. But last April a ban on mixed gender races was enforced after Islamic hardliners attacked runners in a race in the city of Gujranwala, about 100 km north of Lahore.
In May womens rights activists defied the ban by holding a symbolic one kilometre “mini-marathon” in Lahore. Women participants wore traditional dress, the salwar kameez, and some wore high heels rather than running shoes.
