LAHORE, Dec 31: Police baton charged participants in a rally held by progressive parties to protest against the construction of the Kalabagh dam here on Saturday.

The police misbehaved with women protesters but they failed to check their way.

The demonstrators were led by Abid Hasan Minto, Farooq Tariq, Wazir Sahu and Mukhtar of the National Workers Party, the Labour Party, the Mazdoor Kissan Party and the Pakistan Mazdoor Mahaz respectively.

Human Rights Commission of Pakistan’s I.A. Rahman, Pakistan Communist Party’s Jameel Ahmad Malik and Pakistan Social Forum’s Irfan Mufti were also present.

After taking a round of the Lahore Press Club, they held a public meeting and condemned the government for its double standards. They said the government had allowed a pro-Kalabagh rally on The Mall but it prohibited the opponents from venting out their emotions at a comparatively less crowded area.

Minto said Punjab was being defamed by raising the Kalabagh dam issue which, he feared, would do no good to national politics. He said the army government on the one hand talked about moulding public opinion while on the other it announced that the decision to build the dam had been taken.

Tariq denied the impression that Punjab was in favour of the dam and claimed that most of the political parties were against the project.