RAWALPINDI: District Coordination Officer (DCO) Talat Mehmood Gondal has declared Monday, Nov, 21, a public holiday in Rawalpindi city due to security arrangements for the Chehlum procession of Imam Husain and his companions in Karbala.

All government and private educational institutions and markets in the downtown area have been directed to close on Monday. The holiday has only been declared within the limits of the city areas, specifically for the 46 union councils of Rawal Town.

The local administration and law enforcement will close off the eight kilometre procession route on Sunday night. Containers will be placed at Ganjmandi, Kashmiri Bazaar, City Saddar Road, Gawalmandi, Committee Chowk, Asghar Mall Road, Kohati Bazaar and Liaquat Bagh.

The Taleemul Quran seminary in Raja Bazaar, which was torched after violence broke out on Ashura in November 2013, has also announced a holiday on Nov 21.

The administrator of the seminary, Maulana Ashraf Ali, told Dawn a holiday was announced due to security arrangements. The seminary is on the procession route, and intelligence agencies have declared the area to be sensitive to sectarian violence.

Based on intelligence reports, the local administration pointed out six to seven points of trouble on the procession route. “Law enforcement agencies were asked to make special arrangements o avoid any sectarian clash and terrorist activity in the city,” a senior City District Government Rawalpindi (CDGR) official said.

Published in Dawn November 20th, 2016