Cars, motorcycles should be parked 1,000 yards away from imambargahs: Malik

Interior Minister Rehman Malik says motorcycles will not be allowed to go with the Muharram processions.

ISLAMABAD: Giving details of the security arrangements for Muharram processions, Interior Minister Rehman Malik said on Wednesday that he had directed the home secretary of Sindh that cars and motorcycles should be parked at least 1,000 yards away from imambargahs.

Speaking to the media in Islamabad after attending a meeting regarding security arrangements for 7^th, 9^th and 10^th of Muharram, Malik said that motorcycles will not be allowed to go with the Muharram processions.

He said that the areas which were declared vulnerable according to intelligence reports would be closely monitored and a three-layer security will be put into place.

“I got the vulnerable areas identified by the home secretary of Sindh and directed him that motorcycles should be kept away from a radius of half kilometers,” said Malik. He added that information regarding the residents of those areas will be obtained and only “they will be allowed to take their motorcycles home.”

The interior minister further said that motorcycles will not also allowed to enter areas marked as red zones, during nighttime.

Malik said that he had also briefed the Balochistan administration regarding the security arrangements. “They [the Balochistan administration] was so happy to hear about the arrangements that they told me ban cellular services as long as the situation is under control,” he chuckled and added that he had assured them that the bans were only temporary.

He said that killings were brought down by 75% in Quetta and that the security situation in the city and surrounding cities had become better.

“I had committed before the chief justice of Pakistan that I will personally monitor the situation of Balochistan,” said Malik. “I regularly give him report and speak to him, too, regarding the situation.

Talking about a television show aired Tuesday night, Malik said, “When I give instructions, people say I am interfering and when I don’t, they call me a failure.”