Male-Female Race Sparks Arrests in Pakistan

LAHORE, Pakistan — More than two dozen people were detained Saturday after taking part in a foot race that included women, defying a ban that was issued after Muslim hard-liners attacked participants in a similar mixed event last month.

Asma Jehangir, the former chief of Pakistan’s human rights commission, a woman, and about 30 other participants were detained at the race, police official Waqar Abbasi said. The event was canceled.

Authorities banned women from competing in foot races after Muslim hard-liners, who regard women’s participation in sports as un-Islamic, attacked runners at a similar event last month in Gujranwala, also in Punjab province.

Abbasi said police and other officials had asked organizers to obey the ban, but they refused.

One of the organizers, Nabeel Ahmed, said that the arrests were “unjustified” and that race participants had not committed any crime. Ahmed said the runners were beaten before they were bundled into police vehicles.

Khawar Mumtaz, a human rights activist, said police dragged away dozens of people. “Police treated participants of the race like criminals,” she said. “Some women were also severely beaten.”