Staff Reporter
Punjab Law and Cooperatives Minister Raja Basharat on Tuesday said that Section 144 has been imposed for 9th and 10th of Muharram while pillion-riding has been banned and cellular phone service will be suspended as and where required to ensure peace on Ashura.
Punjab Law and Cooperatives Minister Raja Basharat was briefing the media on security arrangements made for Muharram.
He said that on the directives of Punjab Chief Minister Usman Bazdar, the Provincial Cabinet Committee on Law and Order held separate meetings of each division while consultations with religious scholars were also made in the meeting of Majlis-e-Ittehad-e-Muslimeen.
He further said that 36,686 Majaalis and 9,318 processions would be held in the province for the protection of which 410,000 police personnel, 35 Rangers and 66 Army companies have been deployed.
He further informed that exemplary cooperation from Ulema of all sects is going on, adding that with their consultation, orders for gagging of 900 scholars and 1,315 zakeers has been issued.
Raja Basharat claimed that due to special arrangements, Muharram gatherings and processions were not affected by the Independence Day celebrations.
He said that so far strict action had been taken against several persons for spreading religious hatred on social media while clear instructions have been issued to the municipal services for removal of encroachments and garbage from routes of processions during Muharram. He directed the Home Department to immediately fix faulty cameras of the Safe City Authority.
He said that strict instructions have been issued to the administration across the province for implementation of Corona SOPs. He said that the CTD department has been conducting continuous operations for the last one month.
“Even today, two terrorists have been arrested from Lahore who wanted to target rallies and processions,” he added. Raja Basharat said that the entire government would remain alert on the ninth and tenth of Muharram.
He said that he himself, the Chief Minister and all ministers are going to monitor the security arrangements across the province and would visit and inspect the arrangements on the spot.
