Shia Muslims across Pakistan participated in Ashura processions taken out on the 10th of Muharram amid tight security arrangements, Express News reported on Tuesday.
The main Ashura procession in Karachi began from Nishtar Park and headed towards Tibet Centre for Zuhrain prayers and concluded at Kharadar. In Lahore, the procession began from Nisar Haveli and ended at Karbala Gamay Shah.
In Faisalabad, the procession began from Markazi Imam Bargah with thousands of Shia Muslims headed towards Rail Bazar for the Majlis. The procession then returned to the Imam Bargah at night for Sham-e-Ghareeban.
Around 8,000 police personnel were been deployed on procession routes with walk-through gates, metal detectors and mobile jammers. More than 25 CCTV cameras have also been installed in various areas and security personnel have been deployed on high buildings for security.
In Hyderabad, the procession began from Imam Bargah Qadam Gah Mola Ali and covered a distance of 1.5km up to the Station Road. All 58 streets leading to the main procession were secured with barbed wires and tents. Twelve security cameras and jammers, covering areas of 90 metres, were also been put into place.
Only two entrance and exits points have been given to the main procession at Bacha Khan Chowk and Sarfraz Colony.
Processions in other cities including Quetta, Sukkur, Multan, Peshawar, Jhang and Dera Ismail Khan also concluded peacefully.
Wassan assures security to remain 'strict' during Ashura
Sindh Home Minister Manzoor Wassan assured the media on Tuesday that the law and order situation will remain in control during the Ashura processions as the police and Rangers are on high-alert.
He addressed the media at the Tibet Centre in Karachi while inspecting the site for security arrangements.
Wassan said that the terrorists targeted the Lines Area on Monday and the Kala Pul on Tuesday with minor blasts in order to instill fear among the people; however, the security arrangements all over the country are strict enough to control such incidents.
COMMENTS (25)
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ
@molvi Mujtaba..You are one of the molvis who never wanted pak. to be prosperous.just because of your third class mentality and your stubbornness with the radical more conservative school of thought .Islam is the religion of peace and if you are a muslim you should tolerate others and keep your mouth shut before giving any comments on any sects..infact you are one of them who are fueling sectarian violence in pakistan
@Molvi Mujtaba:
You must not had been to New Orleans during Mardi Gras festival or Dallas during President's visit (I am glad he don't come here too often). It is the nature of the beast for traffic disruption.
The Moharram rituals are culture in many countries of the world unless some dictators are scared that they may overthrow their Govt. Even in TX cities like Houston, Dallas have these symbolic processions by Shia community from Pakistan to Zanzibar.
Moreover it is not for anyone; it is Honoring Mohammad's (PBUH) grand kids massacre.
People need to be tolerant to other religions, ethnicity and culture. India is one fine example of tolerance. People need to be grow up & move beyond hate. If the Muslim world does not change then they will be left in dirt and some historian will write how a great religion got doomed by it own people.
First of all thanks to Allah for protecting all of us .Excellent work by the security forces and Rehman Malik has done superb job .Living abroad taught me tolerance .Tolerance to all religions , languages , casts .We can bring peace and harmony in our country by tolerating each other .Geat job Pakistanis and i hope in the future this nation will show same love and affection for each other.Pakistan Zindabad .
There is no doubt that all minorities should be respected and protected, BUT blocking all transport, business, is no where is any religion be it shiasm. It is a culture which has developed in time and it can be done anywhere. No one says to stop them doing it, but it can be done at a place where there is no hospital, business area so that the majority is not disturbed for 3 - 4 days. There are people who work in those areas on daily wages, can we imagine what will happen to them. Be rational, be logical and do justice with all. If you blackmail the majority for the minority, it is natural that hard feelings will come. If these processions be transferred to some other place which will have not much impact on the daily life of people that will not stop them from practicing their religion and harmony among all will prevail. The business and life will not come to stand still for 3 - 4 days.
Glad, that everything went smoothly. Hope we can have the same good ol' times back when we did not need high security. And yeah while every ethnic and religious group should have the right to celebrate and practice their rituals, some dedicated places for such processions would be a nice idea to ensure that rest do not face any problems!
"Thanks to Taliban for remaining peaceful" Ah* Rehman Malik
There are tentative signs that Pakistan's fight against Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) is beginning to succeed. Here are some of the facts that reinforce this assessment:
There have been no major terrorist attacks in Pakistan since the the Mehran Naval Base siege in Karachi in May, 2011.
Some 1,022 civilians have died in bomb attacks in 2011 so far, according to a report in Christian Science Monitor. Barring a late-year surge, this represents the lowest figure in four years, according to monitoring conducted by the New Delhi-based South Asia Terrorism Portal. This is significantly lower than 1,547 in 2010, and 1,688 in 2009.
The TTP has been battered by Pakistani military operations and U.S. drone strikes. It is splintered into more than 100 smaller factions, significantly weakened and running short of cash, according to security officials, analysts and tribesmen from the insurgent who spoke to the reporters of the Associated Press (AP).
Read more at http://www.riazhaq.com/2011/12/tide-turning-against-ttp-militants-in.html
First of all, i would like to thank Allah for making our ritual safe and easy and secondly, huge credit goes to security forces for guarding us during the procession. Well done!.
Apparently the attacks on Shias are now being exported to Afghanistan. That's why Malik was thanking the Taliban -- so the establishment's veritable arm has taken to attacking Shias outside the country.
Congratulations to all security forces. They have done a great job.
@Dallas Ali: I understand your argument but you completely missed the point. I have also lived abroad during my study years and never have I ever witnessed an event that involves a minority of people that stalls the activity of a whole city for TWO complete days! I completely vouch for the freedom of expression and in the religious context one relevant example can be of Raiwind Congregation, which is regarded as the second biggest gathering after Hajj. One of the admirable aspects of its management is that its confined to a certain precinct and it does not bring down the whole city to a standstill through traffic jams, processions, security threat to the mourners etc.
At the comments above that mention how this is a waste of time. Maybe a better question to ask is why is there so much security? Maybe a better question to ask is when shias go about beating themselves, who are they truly harming? Themselves or others? Seems like others get hurt when shias beat themselves...Seems kinda strange...
The reason for all this blockage are those who cant stand a "few" people beating themselves. Its funny how they want to stop a "few" people from committing this act. To me, it makes no sense for people to be offended when others are beating themselves. It is what we call Yazediat! Regarding these processions, atleast read your own hadith books before commenting. Prophet Muhammad (p.b.u.h) said "Hussain is from me and I am from Hussain". Why cant we mourn one day for the murder of Hussain?
If the Prophet's(p.b.u.h) single hair is brought in the country, we would block all streets for the people who would rush to see it, yet there is no significance for his grandson.
Tolerance my friends. Tolerance to our Shia brothers. It is their ritual. Respect it. It is better not to bring up controversial issues, especially on social media.
@Molvi Mujtaba, small percentage or a big chunk of Pakistan! why it is that funny Imran khan has the right to hold political rallies where ever he choses , and holding a march to commemorate the martyrdom of Imam Hussain is a problem for you, I know where you are coming from, isn't what you said is the demand of terrorists, you just wrapped terror manifesto in your civil concern! We all knows law and order situation is created by a particular small hateful and armed section of madrassa society, and tell you what, no one can stop these marches, no matter how many innocents are killed while participating in processions, these marches are here till eternity.
@Molvi Mujtaba:
Completely disagree.
We have certain traditions in this country such as New Year parade, Christmas, Thanksgiving parades, October Fest, Mardi Gras festivals etc.
People in any free society should be able to practice their culture, their religion, their heritage, freedom of expression & free speech.
If one disagrees they need to look at Middle East & Arab Spring. as one ruler or Shekih or dictator has in his own little puny or pea brain, a set of ideas that rest of the citizens have to follow. If we cannot have tolerance towards each other then we will be doomed as well.
@Niaz Ahmed : Police and LEA also have the responsibility towards thousands that come in processions. Its about time that we start living in harmony.People have different beliefs and we all should respect that
@Niaz Ahmed: I completely agree that for a small percentage of people in the community everyone else has to suffer. It's completely implausible to me why they can't be escorted to a dedicated space so that rest of the city can peacefully continue to do their daily activities.
May God help Muslims (Ummah?) learn from tolerance lesson taught by Prophet though its practice. Only a practicing Muslim is entitled to preach.
These processions are waste of resources, lead to deaths and are brutal form of torture by inflicting wounds on your own body.
It is so unfortunate that thousands of security officials have to leave the whole nation to protect some processions. I saw people crying to police officials to let them go to hospitals but they would not allow. Business, transport and the whole nation comes to stand still for something having no ground in our religion. Can't this be moved to some other place so that the routine business, transport and other works can go on. Why close roads with containers, why But again who in Pakistan listens. Things go on as they have been going.
Congratulations to all law enforcement and security agencies of Pakistan.
I am also grateful to the Federal Interior Minister who took personal interest to maintain the law and order situation during the Moharram processions throughout the country.
Looking at the video, all I can say is: OUCH!