Unchecked luggage makes Data Darbar a sitting duck

Devotees are depositing unscreened luggage at shops ahead of Nawaz visit

LAHORE: Law enforcement agencies have failed to ensure foolproof security arrangements at Data Darbar where ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif is scheduled to address PML-N’s GT Road rally.

A huge concern is that several shopkeepers around the shrine are running a business to keep the luggage of devotees and none of the baggage is properly checked. The negligence of the shopkeepers and lackadaisical approach poses a risk and could pave the way for an untoward incident, locals said.



Police officials deputed at the main gates said devotees carrying luggage tried to enter the shrine from the main gate and keep their belongings. Between Rs20 to Rs50 are charged from the devotees for each bag and tokens are issued. However, none of the luggage has been put through a proper screening process.



Some shops are much nearer to entrance points where devotees stand in long queues. The shopkeepers also do not bother asking for the identity of visitors depositing their particulars.

Muhammad Kamran, a shopkeeper at Ittehad Bawarchi, said he charged Rs50 for each bag which is deposited by devotees of Data Ganj Baksh Ali Hajveri from far-flung areas. When asked whether he was checking the luggage, he replied there was no need to check the bags of those who had come to pay their respects at the darbar.

Nasir Mehmood of Gillani Bawarchi said he is also keeping luggage at his shop. When asked whether any action was taken for not checking bags, he replied in the negative. He said it was officials, in fact, who had sent the devotees to their shops to keep the luggage.

Sadiq Ahmed, 60, said he and his family reached Data Darbar from Sargodha and he had some luggage which was kept at a shop. “It was not properly checked by the shopkeeper.” He feared that an incident could emerge due to the negligence of authorities concerned.

Safia bibi, another devotee, said she had kept her luggage at Gillani Bawarchi as she was not allowed to enter the shrine with it. “It was the police who asked me to deposit the baggage at a shop.”

Devotees from all over Pakistan approached Data Darbar and there is always a crowd at the main entrances of the shrine. Devotees are not allowed to enter with luggage.



When contacted DSP Shaukat Ali Shaikh who is looking over security at Data Darbar said he will probe the matter and strict action will be taken against the responsible people.



As many as 35 people had lost their lives and 175 were injured as a result of a bomb blast in July 2010 at Data Darbar. In September of the same year, 18 people died and 190 were wounded in a blast at Karbala Gamay Shah in September 2010 near the Data Darbar.

After the tragic suicide blast in 2010, the mingling of men and women was banned for the first time in 700 years at Data Darbar and both genders were segregated. Entry without original computerized national identity cards was restricted and entrance was reduced to just one gate. A passage of pipes was installed over a 100-150 metres and a person entering the premises was checked at five points. They were physically frisked, scanned with a metal detector and asked to pass through a walkthrough gate.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 11^th, 2017.