The protest by lower caste Hindu community entered 8th day on Friday. The protest is being held against a Sindh minister, who is accused of threatening and putting pressure on the community candidates to withdraw from contesting local bodies' elections. Bheel, Kohli and Oad communities from Umerkot staged a demo outside Hyderabad Press Club for 8th consecutive day, which was also participated by a large number of women and children.
The protesters chanted slogans against police and Sindh Minister Ali Mardan Shah. They were also holding banners inscribed with slogans against the police crackdown on religious minorities. Speaking on the occasion, they said that they had formed an alliance with the local people of different communities, including the Shah community, to elect real representatives in the elections. The alliance was formed because feudal and sitting representatives had disappointed the local people, they added.
They further said that the formation of this alliance had annoyed local feudal including Ali Mardan Shah. They alleged that when the community did not agree to support the local feudal in local bodies' elections, Shah started victimisation. President Sindh Bhatha Mazdoor Federation, Punhu Bheel, said that more than dozens of people from Oad, Bheel, Kolhi and Macchhi communities had been nominated in fake FIRs by Umerkot police to pressurize them.
On the directives of the local PPP leadership, Umerkot police initiated a crackdown and detained four persons Ghanar, Hakim Bheel, Raji Bheel and Bhago Bheel and kept them in an undisclosed location, he said adding that Ghanar and Hakim Bheel were released after protest by the community, whereas Raji Bheel and Bhago Bheel were still under the custody of police. The protesters threatened to expand the scope of protest, if the illegally detained persons were not released and fake cases were not withdrawn.
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