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Ashura processions underway
Ashura is being observed with fervor throughout the country, amid terror threats and heightened security.
Mourners hold Alams during a procession on MA Jinnah road on the 8th of Muharram in Karachi. PHOTO: PPI
Ashura is being observed with religious fervor throughout the country, amid terror threats and heightened security measures.
Thousands of mourners are commemorating the great sacrifice of Hazrat Imam Hussain (RA) and his family members at Karbala. Mourning processions all over the country that started out from their traditional Imam Bargahs in the morning are headed towards their culmination points.
Karachi’s main procession started out from Nishtar Park with thousands of police, rangers, scouts and volunteers personnel on security duty. Surveillance helicopters are also being used.
In Lahore, all roads leading to the Ashura procession have been blocked with barricades and barbed wires.
In Peshawar, where a grenade attack occurred last night, security has been beefed up and all mobile services have been jammed along the procession routes.
In Quetta, thousands of police, Frontier Constabulary and Balochistan Constabulary personnel have been deployed. Several check posts have also been set up in the city to check vehicles entering the city. The main procession in Quetta will culminate at Alamdar road after passing through its traditional route.
Foolproof security has also been implemented in the Federal Capital of Islamabad, Rawalpindi and Hyderabad to ensure the Muharram processions go about peacefully.
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May Allah bless us with peace and harmony.Recommend
Why does the subcontinent have ‘juloos’ for every occasion? The same thing happens in India too. What purpose do these processions serve? Most of the time, the roads that they go through is left impassable for days because of the littering and sometimes wanton destruction. People who use the roads are inconvenienced due to massive traffic diversions. Recommend
Given the serious security situation and the very high possibility of bombings when these processions are taken out, why doesn’t the Shia leadership temporarily refrain from taking them out? At least for a few years until the situation improves.
Why is it that certain people in our society were asking people not to go to Hajj (which is an obligation for Muslims unlike these processions) due to the so-called swing flue virus but given the almost certain threat to these processions, they are not asking them to stop them?
Are these processions part of the religion? If yes, we need to know from authentic sources.Recommend
Processions are taken out all over the world for all kinds of occasion not only in south Asia. In North America you have Santa parade, In Europe parade for St. Patrick’s Day, In US MardiGraw and numerous others are celebrated by taking out procession. Yes it may be inconvenience for some but these Traditions are important as it carries the message to the next generation.
Well if you can’t fight them. Join them You may just enjoy it.Recommend
@Omar Farooq and others
The curious thing about people such as yourself is that you never seem to comment on articles regarding barbarous attacks on mosques, shrines, markets, buses and hospitals (note the paucity of any comments expressing outrage under the ET article on the Hangu hospital attack) but when it comes to processions, you come out of the woodwork. You feign concern for the lives of the participants but in fact, on self-examination, you know perfectly well what the problem is. Clue: “authentic sources”…. Recommend
@ Omar Farook
I respect your suggestion from the safety point of view but life in general cannot be halted due some threat from certain intolerant people. With all the killings at Shrines, Jirga’s, Mosque, Procession. Has the Life come to a stand still? NO, and it should not. Couple of Terrorist will not and cannot impose their way of Life on others,
As for “Not going for Hajj”. Religion is a very personal issue. If you have question regarding any issue You need to consult you own AlimRecommend
Ashura is a day which reminds us the day in which imam Hussain a.s sacrificed all his nears and dears in order to keep the islam (din-e-mohammad)alive. Instead of castigating the yazeid, our imam embraced death and gave the world a lesson that one should never bow before the oppressor and one should always get up to fight against those who try to harm the cause of din-e-mohammad saww. This day also reminds us how the yazeid snatched the parda of sacred women like zainab s.a. And how ailing imam was grabed out on streets of kofa. May God keep this enthusiam always alive in our hearts so that we shia’s will always celebrate this day in the same manner as we are celebrating. Recommend