September 14, 2007	Friday	Ramazan 1, 1428

LAYYAH, Sept 13: A local motor mechanic on Thursday learnt what it meant to bend the bureaucratic rule of unquestioned obedience when he was given a sound beating for being critical of the district nazim.

The gunman and three employees of District Nazim Malik Ghulam Haider Thind thrashed the mechanic who allegedly used vituperative language against the nazim while having a chat with his servant.

Reports said Abdul Hamid, the nazim’s servant, visited motor mechanic Muhammad Ramazan who allegedly passed offensive remarks against the nazim. According to eyewitnesses, the nazim’s servant threatened the mechanic for speaking against his master.

Within 10 minutes, the nazim’s bodyguard and a police constable came to the workshop by an official vehicle of the health department and started thrashing Ramazan in the presence of his colleagues. They also bundled him into the vehicle and drove him to the district nazim’s house.

The victim said he apologised to the nazim and tried to convince him that he didn’t use abusive language against him, but only refused to appreciate an advertisement published in a local daily about the achievements of the nazim. “This is not a crime that I didn’t appreciate an advertisement boasting of the nazim’s achievements”.

He said he was tortured by the men of the nazim as all his entreaties fell on the deaf ears.

Moved by the high-handedness, the shopkeepers of General Bus Stand staged a sit-in and observed shutdown. They threw traffic out of gear by placing tyres on the road for two hours.

A police team, led by the Saddar DSP, reached the spot and pacified the protestors assuring them of probing the case on merit and bringing the wrongdoers to the book.

All the nazim had to say while justifying the action of his personal staff was: “Any one using the derogatory language against him will have to face the music”.