Mourners recall sacrifices at Karbala as procession ends peacefully

KARACHI: The central procession of 9th Muharramul Haram ended peacefully on Friday under tight security measures by police and the Rangers. Mourners who attended the procession recalled the great sacrifices of Imam Hussain (RA) and his companions for the just cause.

Officials said the procession started at 9am at the Martin Road Imambargah and it reached the Nishtar Park at around 12 noon, where the main assembly was held.

The procession then left the Nishtar Park and followed its traditional route that culminated at the Hussainia Iranian Imambargah in Kharadar.

The procession passed from different areas under tight security and at some areas of the city, the cellular mobile phone service was also suspended as part of the security measures.

Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah also attended the procession. He joined the main procession at Seven Day Hospital. He was accompanied by Sindh Labour Minister Saeed Ghani, Karachi Mayor Murtaza Wahab, Chief Secretary Sohail Rajput, Sindh Inspector General of Police (IGP) Ghulam Nabi Memon and others.

The CM was welcomed by the organisers of the procession, officials said and added that Shah reviewed the security arrangements of the main procession and give necessary instructions to the administration.

The CM also inspected Sabeels along the procession route and directed the provincial police chief not to leave any stone unturned in security arrangements.

The IGP briefed him regarding the route of 9th and 10th Muharram processions and said the participants had earlier been informed about the route they had to follow, which would pass through Nishtar Park, Naumaish, MA Jinnah Road, Preedy Street, Tibet Centre Chowk, Boulton Market and Kharadar.

The CM was briefed that parking arrangements had been made at eight places for the mourners who wished to participate in the procession.

Regarding security passes, IGP Memon informed Shah that the passes had been given only to the owners of houses along the route, scouts and those arranging Sabeel and Niaz. The security passes were issued by the traffic DIG after submission of relevant documents.

The IGP said law enforcement agencies, ambulance and media passes had also been issued upon submission of required documents.

The police chief explained that 4,698 police personnel had been deployed for the security of the procession. To this, the CM said the organisers of the procession should be taken on board regarding all security measures.

Besides, over 1,000 police personnel of the Security Division have been performing security duties during the mourning processions and Majalis in Muharramul Haram across the city.

According to the security plan, more than 1,000 police personnel of the Security Division, including 331 SSU commandos and female commandos, have been deployed at sensitive areas, traditional routes of the mourning procession and Majalis.

Apart from this, sharp shooters have been deployed on high-rise buildings along the main route of procession, which is also being monitored through surveillance cameras at the SSU headquarters. A specialised command and control bus equipped with modern cameras is also monitoring the main procession. The citizens have also been asked to inform Madadgar-15 or nearby police station about any suspicious person or activity they notice.