Lahore ready for Eid Milad festivity

LAHORE
The nation will celebrate Eid Milad on Sunday (today) to rejoice the birth of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), who provided for the deliverance of mankind by bringing the last divine book and final religion to human beings.
On the eve of the occasion, religious organizations and individuals across the country were engaged in last minute rush to complete the preparations for celebrations with traditional spirit and zeal, holding hundreds of seerat conferences, processions and gatherings besides the traditional modes of celebrations like illuminating the buildings, mosques, markets and neighbourhoods to express their joy.
The government has increased the security measures to ward off any subversive activity in the wake of terrorism incidents.
This year, the day is again being observed as Namoos-e-Risalat Day, (Prophet’s Honour Day) to counter the western conspiracy of deliberate and organised blasphemy against the Prophet of Islam by repeated publication of profane sketches especially in European press.
Various religious organizations and groups, like Tehrik Hurmat-e-Rasool (THR), and Tehrik-e-Namoos-e-Risalat (TNR), which are striving to counter western blasphemy attempts and conspiracy to amend blasphemy laws, have appealed to the believers to devote extra efforts to highlight the glorious Sunnah of the Prophet (PBUH) in order to expose the western hatred of Islam and the conspiracies.
All city mosques and important government and private buildings were decorated with colourful lightings and buntings. The preparations culminated on Saturday night with a torch rally under the aegis of Central Milad Committee Jamia Hizbul Ahnaf from Data Darbar. The participants riding vehicles and motorbikes, and on foot, marched on The Mall up to the Regal Chowk, carrying torches and reciting Durood and Na’ats, paying homage to the most sacred and remarkable personality of the entire world history.
They were led by committee president Mukhtar Ashraf Rizvi while Pir Afzal Qadri, Raghib Hussain Naeemi, Shahid Gardezi, Mustafa Ashraf Rizvi, Pir Idris Shah, Nisar Ashraf Rizvi, Naeem Arif Noori, Arif Awan Advocate, Muhammad Shah Hamdani, Pir Khadim Hussain, Usman Noori, Maulana Tahir Tabassum and others were also among the marchers.
The day will begin with a 31-gun salute in the federal capital and 21-gun salute in provincial capitals while special prayers will be offered for the security, solidarity and prosperity of the country in particular and Muslims in general. It will be a public holiday and all offices and business centres will be closed. The electronic and print media will highlight the significance of the day by airing special programs and brining out special supplements.
In Lahore, the central Eid Miladun Nabi procession will be taken out from the Railway Station and will culminate at Data Darbar. Dozens of smaller processions from different parts of the city will merge with the main rally en route to Data Darbar.
The participants of the procession will be showered with rose petals and rose water from airplane. The central ceremony would be chaired by committee Malik Aftab Rabbani and leader of House in Senate Jahangir Badar, while other noted participants included Ishaq Dar, Sardar Latif Khosa, Justice (r) Dr Munir Mughal, Samina Khalid Ghurki, Dr Sabiha Mashriqi, Kh Saad Rafiq, Mustafa Qureshi, noted politicians, jurists and religious scholars.
The procession accompanying na’atkhwans and decorated vehicles will march through Australia Chowk, Brandreth Road, Circular Road, Railway Road, Gawalmandi, Mayo Hospital, Bansanwala Bazaar, Shah Alam Chowk and Anarkali before reaching Data Darbar.
A number of gatherings will be held across the country, while people will decorate their markets, houses and surroundings with illumination, chandeliers and other items.
Children and youth were busy erecting the clay replica of desert and mountains of the Arabian Peninsula where the divine message was first dawned on the Prophet (PHUH).
Special security arrangements have been made by the district administration to maintain law and order on the occasion and along the route of the procession. Government has issued directives to beef up the security all over the country.
The bomb disposal squad and ambulance units will remain stand by to meet any emergency while Rangers and reserve police will also be deployed in sensitive areas.
Tehrik Minhajul Quran held annual Milad Conference at historic Minar-e-Pakistan which was addressed by its chief Dr Tahirul Qadri via video link from United States. His address began way after midnight as he spoke to the participants on the philosophy of the prophethood and the problems Muslims were facing due to extremism and terrorism.
The conference was attended by noted scholars from across the country and was attended by thousands of people including women and children. Its proceedings were televised all over the world. The participants were offered dinner for which 1,000 goats were slaughtered.
Milad conferences were also held at Baba Ground behind Civil Secretariat by Dawat-e-Islami and in other parts of the city by a number of other religious organizations.
Besides, the Auqaf Department also held the provincial Seerat Conference presided over by provincial minister for religious affairs and addressed by different religious scholars and officials to pay glowing tributes to the Holy Prophet (PHUH).