Muharram security: Peshawar markets under siege

City police blocks roads leading to all major markets of the interior city.

PESHAWAR: The city police on Wednesday blocked roads leading to all major markets of the interior city with concrete blocks and barbed wires to thwart any terrorist act ahead of Muharram.

Almost all of the interior city markets, including Khyber Bazaar, Qissa Khwani Bazaar, Misgaran Bazaar, Koochi Bazaar, Cinema Road and Kohati Chowk were closed and only pedestrians, bikers or cyclists were allowed to pass through a narrow passage left at the entrance and exit points of these markets.

Talking to The Express Tribune, Fazal Rahim, a trader in Kohati Bazaar said that for the past two years this congested part of the city is virtually under siege; people are scared to visit these areas resulting in heavy losses to the traders.

“To come to Koochi Bazaar during Muharram, one has to either walk from Khyber Bazaar or take a longer route to reach Kohati Chowk via City Circular Road, which is tedious and time consuming,” Rahim said.

“Closing everything is not a security measure,” said President of the Anjuman Tajiran, Haji Halim Jan. He said that police officials had agreed to close all markets on the sixth and seventh of Muharram but, disregarding this, they imposed a curfew-like situation in the city on Tuesday.

“We are ready to cooperate with the authorities, but the administration should not expect us to starve ourselves.” The authorities should not have closed the bazaars as thousands of people rely on them to earn livelihood for their families, Jan added.

The police closed the entrances to the Khyber Bazaar at Soekarno Chowk with concrete blocks and barbed wires. However, it was opened later in the day after a protest by the businessmen. The entrance of Qissa Khwani Bazaar and Khan Raziq Police Station Road was also barricaded.

The Misgran Bazaar’s opening from Chowk Yadgaar was closed and traffic was not allowed on Qissa Khwani and Mohammad Ali Johar Road, which then joins Koochi Bazaar. No traffic was allowed from Kohati Chowk to Koochi Bazaar and to Qissa Khwani and Namakmandi either. The road to Kohati Gate was also closed by the police.

Cinema Road was blocked from Shah Qabul Auliya Chowk in Namakmandi Bazaar, while the closure of the Khyber Bazaar disrupted all traffic coming towards Hospital Road from Khyber Bazaar.

Concrete slabs and barbed wires were also placed at most of the small streets near these bazaars.

At the same time, police had blocked all U-turns with concrete blocks on the Sunehri Masjid Road and other parts of the cantonment.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 10^th, 2010.