MULTAN, Feb 25: Hundreds of women and children brought out a procession at Cantonment on Friday to protest against an "anti-encroachment drive."

The protesters gathered at Kanak Mandi area and later marched to the offices of the Cantonment board. A delegation, led by Mrs Azra Wajid, met the board secretary to convey the concerns and demands of the people affected by the drive.

The protesters said they were leased out one-room houses at the time of partition in 1947 in the area, which was formerly used as a stable of the Cantonment under the British Raj. Owing to paucity of space, the lessees were allowed to construct purdah-walls after paying an annual levy named 'purdah-tax.'

They paid the tax regularly until 1993 when the levy was withdrawn. They urged the authorities to not execute the anti-encroachment drive on the basis of land survey conducted in 1947.

They alleged that the Cantonment authorities were out to obliterate kitchens and bathrooms of the poor, though they had allowed influential people to construct markets and plazas on the lands allocated for greenbelts, library, public toilets and hospitals. They said their small constructions neither hampered the flow of traffic nor were they situated on the thoroughfares.