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Tuesday March 19, 2024

Lahore set to celebrate Eid Milad today

By Asim Hussain
November 21, 2018

LAHORE: The nation will celebrate Eid Milad-un-Nabi (PBUH) today (Wednesday) to rejoice the birth of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), the final messenger of Allah, who provided for the deliverance of mankind by bringing the last divine book and final religion to human beings.

This year, the PTI government has decided to celebrate the Eid Milad at the government level by holding Seerat conferences at federal and provincial capitals. The government has increased the security measures to ward off any subversive activities in the wake of terrorism incidents especially in Sindh and Balochistan. Various CCTV cameras have been installed by district government to monitor trouble makers while ensuring foolproof security.

As is the practice for the last many years, various religious organisations observe this occasion as Namoos-e-Risalat Day, (Prophet's Honour Day) to counter the western conspiracy of repeated publication of profane sketches especially by European press. Various religious organisations and groups like, Tehrik Hurmat-e-Rasool (THR), Tehrik-e-Namoos-e-Risalat Mahaz (TNRM), and other platforms of religious organisations 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 Seerat of the Prophet (PBUH) in order to expose the western hatred of Islam and the conspiracies.

Markazi Milad Committee and some other religious organisations have also been campaigning lately to ban certain objectionable practices in this year’s Eid Milad celebrations especially those that hurt the feelings of certain schools of thought.

Almost all city mosques and important government and private buildings are illuminated and decorated with buntings. The preparations culminated on Sunday night with the taking out of a torch-bearers procession 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 Naats, paying homage to the most sacred and remarkable personality of the entire world history.

The torch-bearers were led by committee president Mukhtar Ashraf Rizvi while various other leaders of Ahle Sunnat organisations, seminaries and representatives from all walks of life included 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. 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 Mulsim Ummah in general. It will be a public holiday and all offices and business centres will remain closed. The electronic and print media will highlight the significance of the day by airing special programmes and bringing out special supplements.

In Lahore, the central Eid-e-Milad procession will be taken out from Railway Station and march up to Data Darbar, while dozens of smaller processions from different parts of the city will merge with the central procession 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 president Malik Pervaiz Rabbani, Justice Mian Nazeer Akhtar (r), Justice Dr Munir Mughal (r) while other noted participants included PPP Lahore president Samina Khalid Ghurki, Dr Sabiha Mashriqi, Khawaja Saad Rafique, filmstar Mustafa Qureshi and others, including noted politicians, jurists and religious scholars at Railway Station. The procession accompanying Na’at Khwans and decorated vehicles would march from Australia Chowk, Branderth Road, Circular Road, Railway Road, Gowalmandi, Mayo Hospital, Bansanwala Bazaar, Shah Alam Chowk, Anarkali and culminate at Data Darbar.

Apart from central procession, a number of gatherings for Na’at Khwani, Qirat, Qawwali and Na’atia Mushaairas will be held across the country. Groups of volunteers and market committees will decorate their markets, houses and surroundings with illuminations, coloured flower ropes, buntings, chandeliers and ribbons and many organisations will hold competitions among people for best decorated mohallah and street.

Special security arrangements have been made by the district administration to maintain law and order along the route of the procession. The government has issued directives to beef up the security all over the country especially along the route of procession to counter the enemy designs. Volunteers of bomb disposal squad and ambulance units will remain standby to meet any emergency while units of Rangers officials and reserve police will also be deployed on sensitive areas.