Islamabad, May 18: Runners in Pakistan are to defy a government ban on mixed-sex events by participating in a race in Lahore on Saturday.

Police wielding batons broke up a race involving more than 100 men and women last weekend and made 30 arrests, including Asma Jehangir, a women’s rights activist.

A number of athletes were injured in clashes with police before the crowd was dispersed. Activists, announcing plans to stage another race, spoke today of their determination to beat the ban and urged women and men to take part.

“We want to show that this brutal behaviour of the state is unacceptable,”Jehangir, chairman of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), a campaign group, said. She said that the police and intelligence agencies were encouraging religious fanatics.

The venue for the second race has yet to be made public in an effort to frustrate an Islamic youth organisation that has threatened to attack the race, saying that Islam did not allow women’s participation alongside men.

The Lahore administration has banned gatherings by four or more people and has given warning that violators will be punished. Despite the ban, organisers have appealed to rights activists in other cities to join the protest.

One of the purposes of the race last week was to draw attention to growing violence against women. An HRCP statement said that by using force to prevent it, the authorities had demonstrated their anti-women bias and contempt for basic rights.

Jehangir, who is also a lawyer, said that the police action had exposed the government’s claim that it was pursuing a policy of liberalism and tolerance. “They do not want independent voices,” she said.