Banners, posters okay for Muharram

Millat-i-Jafria says Shia posters not derogatory or insensitive.


Sher Khan December 12, 2010

LAHORE: Shia groups have been given permission this year to put up posters and banners for Muharram, provided they do not contain any material that incites hatred towards other groups.

Many city roads, including The Mall, have been covered with banners and posters paying tribute to Imam Hussain (RA) and the other martyrs of Karbala.

“There isn’t anything derogatory or insensitive in these posters,” said Shabbir Shah, the information secretary of Millat-i-Jafria’s Lahore chapter. “We spoke with the district coordination officer and an understanding was reached that the posters must not be insensitive.”

Shah said that Shias and Sunnis were brothers and the goal was to raise public awareness about Muharram. “We think that we have to advertise Muharram more,” he said, adding that the posters aimed to encourage tolerance, which was particularly important because of the recent violence in the country.

But Jamia Naeemia spokesman Muhammad Ziaul Haq said that the Muharram posters should not be allowed and they would create tension in the city. He said that the city government’s process of inspecting posters was ineffective.

He said there should be a uniform policy for all advertising. “There should be a balance. If you’re banning wall chalking and loudspeakers, then ban posters advertising dramas. Whatever the decision, it must be applied across the board and the whole year,” Haq said.

The town municipal officers (TMOs) are supposed to monitor posters, wall-chalking and other public spaces. They told The Express Tribune that the Muharram posters were allowed this year and that the ones they had seen were not offensive.

“They are positive so there is no reason for removing them,’ said Nishter Town TMO Ali Abbas. “When it comes to removing derogatory material we have squads that work around the clock to whitewash walls and remove material.”

“Generally, most TMOs would have taken action against the religious posters but since it is Muharram, the minister for excise and taxation had said in a meeting that Imam Hussain goes with all sects and religions and the posters should be allowed till the 10th of Muharram,” said Data Gunj Bakhsh Town Officer Tahir Ali.

Allama Iqbal Town Officer Rana Ashraf said that the inspectors were usually lenient about posters when it came to religious and political parties.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 12th, 2010.

COMMENTS (4)

Khan | 13 years ago | Reply “We think that we have to advertise Muharram more,” Really?
SA | 13 years ago | Reply :)
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