Muharram security: 69 preachers debarred from Balochistan
HS Gillani told reporters that 30 Shia and 39 Sunni ‘firebrand speakers’ will not be allowed to enter province.
QUETTA:
The Balochistan government has banned entry of 69 clerics from Punjab, Sindh, Islamabad and Azad Kashmir during the month of Muharram. At a news conference on Wednesday, Home Secretary Asad Gillani told reporters that 30 Shia and 39 Sunni ‘firebrand speakers’ will not be allowed to enter the province during the month of Muharram. An over whelming majority of the listed speakers belong to Punjab and Sindh provinces, and one hails from Azad Kashmir. The order has been sent to interior ministry and the provincial head of law-enforcement agencies. Four districts have been declared sensitive. According to home secretary, Quetta is highly vulnerable to sectarian attacks during the first ten days of Muharram. Threats to Mach town in district Kachi have already been reported. Seven coalminers from a specific sect were targeted there recently. Other sensitive areas include Nasirabad, Dera Allah Yar and Khuzdar. Security will be beefed up in these four areas during the critical 7th and 10th of Muharram.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 7th, 2013.
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