99 clerics banned from entering Sindh during Muharram

KARACHI - Sindh Home Minister Dr Zulfikar Mirza has directed the provincial police to implement the ban imposed on the entry of 99 clerics, belonging to different schools of thought, into the province during Muharram.

Mirza has directed the concerned authorities to devise a foolproof strategy in consultation with religious scholars during Muharram, and install scanners, secret cameras and walk-through gates outside mosques, Imambargahs and on the procession routes in sensitive areas, the Dawn reports.

A surveillance system should be arranged for monitoring of the central procession in order to avert any untoward incident, he said, adding that a bomb disposal squad should ensure the clearance of the procession routes.

He said DIGs of all zones would remain in contact with the Central Control Room established in the police headquarters for monitoring of the security arrangements, adding that they would also prepare reports on processions organizers, number of participants in processions and names of clerics leading the processions. He also said a list of contact numbers of clerics should be compiled.

He further instructed that district police officers (DPOs) and town SPs remain in contact with the organisers of the processions, and extra contingents of police force be deployed on the procession routes.

The Sindh home department had recently issued a notification banning entry of 99 religious clerics- 49 from Punjab, 42 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and eight from Balochistan- into the province during Ashura.

These clerics include 26 of Fiqh-i-Jafria, one of Ahle-i-Hadith, while other 72 belong to Deobandi, Barelvi and other schools of thought. (ANI)