LARKANA, Dec 23: Three simultaneous demonstrations, that of people calling for early arrest of Malik Agani, irrigation workers protesting against proposed takeover of the province’s irrigation system by the SIDA, and teachers protesting against frequent visits of male local council members to girls schools, were held outside the local assembly on Monday.

The protestors from the Agani village, mostly women and children, occupied the stairs of the local assembly hall while it was in session and called for the early arrest of the killers of Malik Agani immediately.

They accused the suspended SHO, Abdul Nabi Rind, of lethargy because of which the criminals had escaped.

The protestors were led by Rajib Agani, Dr Tufail Kehar, Idress Mirani and Dr Munawar Kehar.

In the meantime, the irrigation workers, who were led by the leaders of the Sindh Irrigation Muttahida Federation, feared that the move to hand over the irrigation system to the Sindh Irrigation Development Authority (SIDA) would lead to the termination of over 70 per cent of the irrigation employees.

The leaders of the Sindh Irrigation Muttahida Federation, Aslam Rind and Sikandar Mangi, termed it a calculated move, which would render more people jobless in Sindh, saying that if this was such a good move why was this not being enforced in other provinces.

They later staged a rally, which terminated at the Pakistan Chowk where a sit-in was also staged.

The district council’s chief whip, Amir Bakhsh Gaad, assured the protestors of support and later placed their demands before the house for discussion.

Earlier, a group of teachers, affiliated with the Government Secondary Teachers’ Association, also staged a demonstration outside the council hall to protest against the frequent visits of the male members of the education sub-committee to the girls’ schools.

They also accused the members of the sub-committee of harassing women teachers and warned of wide-spread protests if such visits continued.