LAHORE - Police officers, religious scholars, and organisers of mourning processions on Saturday called for extraordinary security measures to maintain peace during Muharram. Citing Kashmir crisis and security situation, they stressed the need for being vigilant and careful.
On the directives of DIG (Operations) Ashfaq Khan, SP (Security) Muhammad Naveed chaired a meeting with members of District Peace Committee at District Police Lines Qilla Gujjar Singh.
SP Iqbal Town Muhammad Ajmal, SP (Cantonment Division) Safdar Raza Kazmi, SP (Civil Lines) Dost Muhammad and SP (City) Syed Ghazanfar Ali attended the meeting. Leaders from Shias including Khawaja Basharat Karbalai, Agha Shah Hussain Qazalbash, Syed Ali Raza Jaffari, Touqeer Hussain Baba, Syed Kazim Raza Naqvi and Laal Shah and hundreds of license holders of Majalis were among the attendees.
SP chairs peace body members
SP Naveed said religious leaders from all schools of thought should promote interfaith harmony, tolerance, and brotherhood in their speeches to create an atmosphere of peace and love in the society. He said issues of Majalis and Azadari processions be resolved at local level.
The SP said to ensure security of the Majalis and processions along with protection of the participants, all the stakeholders should strictly follow the SOPs issued by Lahore Police. The divisional SPs on this occasion said that effective and constant coordination will be ensured among Lahore Police and organizers of the religious gatherings during Muharram whereas monitoring of these programmes will also be ensured. The meeting was informed that checking of the participants will be made through metal detectors and walkthrough gates in addition to physical body searches by police officials and volunteers at different points.
The procession routes will be monitored through CCTV cameras installed as part of the Punjab Safe Cities Authority project. Similarly, snipers will be employed on the rooftop of high-rises to keep an eye on any suspicious activities.
SP Security Muhammad Naveed further informed the meeting that the volunteers would be imparted proper training regarding body search and checking process along with weapons handling at the District Police Lines Qilla Gujjar Singh. Members of the District Peace Committee and license holders of Shia community expressed their satisfaction over the detailed security strategy of the Lahore Police to ensure peace during Muharram-ul-Haram.