Forced closure: Hotel owners criticise Muharram security measures

Rule will have no effect on law and order, instead will create further problems for general public, says hotel owners.

PESHAWAR:

Hotel owners criticised the government’s decision to shut down hotels in Muharram, saying that the rule will have no effect on law and order and instead will create further problems for the general public.

Talking to The Express Tribune, a hotel owner, requesting anonymity, said that the closure of hotels by law enforcement agencies will create a lot of problems for people who come to Peshawar from remote parts of the district.

“In Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) specialist doctors are not available outside the provincial capital. Many people come to the city with patients and need to stay in hotels at night,” he said, arguing that these people would be among the most affected by the decision.

Another hotel owner said that people come to Peshawar from across the province to receive their relatives returning from Hajj, and need to stay in hotels when they come to the city.

“The police think that all suicide bombers and terrorists use hotels to stay in, although they have safe houses inside the city area from where they operate,” said a hotel manager.

He adding that people employed in the hotel industry cannot record their protests because they fear the police.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 13^th, 2012.