LAHORE: A number of Samanabad residents took out a protest rally on Sunday against the government for demolishing a gym’s building and giving its land to the ladies’ park in violation of rules and court orders.

The protesters, a majority of them members of the Muslim Gym (Samanabad), chanted slogans against the government and held it responsible for discouraging the healthy activities.

“It is really shocking to see the government that acted in such a brutal way by razing our gym’s structure and making its land a part of the ladies’ park in Samanabad. I am also surprised that why the government was required to do this since it knew legal position of the land (30-Marlas). I had purchased it many years ago and got the gym’s building constructed,” Moeen Chishti, gym’s owner, told Dawn.

Chishti said he had developed this gym in 1997 for the people to maintain their health against a monthly fee of just Rs200 to 300.

Published in Dawn, July 25th, 2016