Security stepped up for Youm-e-Ashur
Mourners participate in the 9th Muharram procession in Rohri. Photo: APP
Like other parts of the country, the main Ashura procession will be carried out in Rawalpindi on Tuesday (today) under strict security measures.
The Youm-e-Ashura will be observed with due solemnity and sanctity to recall the sacrifices rendered by Hazrat Imam Hussain (RA) and his companions.
Six mourning processions of Zul Jinah, Taaziya and Alam will be held in Rawalpindi under strict security.
The main procession in Rawalpindi will be carried out from Imambargah Ashiq Hussain under very tight security. Rawalpindi police along with other law enforcement agencies have completed strict security arrangements. Around 6,000 police personnel will be deployed to guard the central procession.
To maintain full-proof security, mobile phone and Internet service will be suspended from early morning till late night while barbed wire and heavy containers will be placed on roads to seal the main procession routes.
Pakistan Army’s 111-brigade will remain on high alert and standby while Rangers will back up police personnel deployed on the front line. There will be a complete ban on pillion riding on motorcycles in areas near the processions. All link roads and highways adjacent to the main procession will be sealed with containers and barbed wires. All business centres along the procession routes will be closed.
According to police officials, the main procession will be given security cover from Teli Mohalla Imambargah Ashiq Hussain at 11am, from where it will reach Colonel Maqbool Imambargah via Iqbal Road and College Road, from where another procession will join the main procession, which will reach Fawara Chowk at 3pm, where mourners will offer prayers and Zakirs will shed light on the philosophy of Hussainiyat.
First-aid camps will also be set up for the mourners in Fawara Chowk, where walk-through gates will be installed before men and women were allowed to join the procession after a thorough search. Women police personnel will be deployed to search the women participants of the procession.
According to the police, a total of five small and big processions will join the main procession. The procession will culminate at the old Imambargah at night, after passing through the designated routes.
The metro bus service between the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad will remain suspended, while vehicles will be allowed to be parked on Liaquat Road and Dhok Elahi Bakhsh Road.
The main procession and other joining processions will also be monitored through CCTV cameras and for this purpose a central control room has been set up. Mobile generators will also be made available along with the procession routes to maintain proper lighting arrangements.
Officials of ISCO, WASA and other departments will be on duty along with the procession. Entry of unrelated persons to join the procession will be closed to ensure the security of mourners.
Rescue 1122 personnel will be deployed in large numbers to provide medical cover to the injured mourners. Civil Defence personnel will perform duty along the procession routes. There will be a complete ban on the display of all types of weapons, police officials said.
Officials of the district peace committee will be present with the procession participants for complete adherence to the timing of the procession and to stop provocative speeches.
The WASA Rawalpindi has been given the task of cleaning the main procession routes while 1,000 traffic personnel will be deployed to ensure traffic flow in other parts of the city.
Police said that a total of 65 mourning processions and 113 congregations will be held in the Rawalpindi district today.
Aerial surveillance will also be carried out by a helicopter. Standing on the roofs, balconies and windows of houses on both sides of the procession routes has been banned. Placing bricks and stones on the roofs has also been prohibited.
A loudspeaker would be used only for the Azan in all mosques falling along the procession routes. All shops and plazas along the procession routes will be sealed. Bomb disposal squad teams have also been called while an emergency has been declared in all hospitals.
Around 450 closed-circuit cameras have been installed along the procession routes for the security and monitoring of each mourner. The entire area from Fawara Chowk to Dingi Khoi Chowk has been declared highly sensitive and 200 closed-circuit cameras have been installed in this area. The mourning procession will also be monitored by drones.
The first mourning procession of Zul-Jinnah will start from Imambargah Ashiq Hussain Teli Mohalla at 11:30am which will join the main procession from Murree Road and Committee Chowk. The second procession will start at Imambargah Colonel Maqbool Hussain at 1pm, the third procession will start from Imambargah Hifazat Ali Shah at 2pm and the fourth procession will start at Imambargah Shaheedan Karbala Tyre Bazaar at 3pm. The fifth procession will start Imambargah Darbar Shah Chun Chiragh at 4pm and the sixth procession will start from Imambargah Baltistania at 2pm.
Before the joint procession, there will be Majlis-e-Aza in which scholars and Zakars will shed light on the sacrifices of Imam Hussain (RA) and his companions.
The Pakistan People's Party and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf will put stalls to offer Sabeel to mourners.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 9th, 2022.