KARACHI: The Sindh government has imposed a province-wide ban on pillion riding on account of chehlum of Imam Hussain on Tuesday.

It also asked the federal government to suspend cellular and internet services in the metropolis and other major cities of the province along the routes of main processions at a particular time.

“The Sindh government in exercise of powers conferred under Section 144 (6) of the criminal procedure code imposes a ban on the pillion riding of motorcycle/scooter during the chehlum on Oct 30 and up to Nov 2 in the province,” said a home department notification.

The pillion riding has been banned in Karachi for only one day i.e. on Oct 30.

However, in other divisions of Sindh — Hyderabad, Shaheed Benazirabad, Mirpurkkhas, Sukkur and Larkana — the pillion-riding ban would start from Monday (today) and remain in place till Nov 2.

According to the notification, the ban shall not be applicable on women, children below the age of 12, senior citizens, journalists, law enforcement agencies personnel in uniforms and employees of essential services.

The ban was imposed in the light of recommendations of Inspector General of Police Dr Syed Kaleem Imam.

Meanwhile, 5,311 policemen would be deployed for the security of main chehlum processions in Karachi.

All DIGs were directed to take extraordinary security measures to maintain law and order in coordination with Rangers and other law enforcement agencies.

Suspension of mobile, internet services sought

The Sindh home department has approached the interior ministry and the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority for suspension of mobile and internet services in all divisions of Sindh, including Karachi, during the chehlum.

For Karachi, it has been recommended that the mobile services be suspended on Oct 30 (tomorrow) from 10am to 8pm along the routes of the main procession — from Nishter Park in Soldier Bazaar to Hussanian Iranian in Kharadar.

For Hyderabad district, the government recommended suspension of cellular services from 8am to 10pm along the route of the main procession — Hyderabad station road and Saddar area.

For Sukkur district, the suspension would be from 12pm to 12am along the route of the main procession — Fojdari Chowk to Kasai Mohalla Sukkur.

For Khairpur, cellular services would be suspended from 8am to 8pm from Kharipur city to Piryalo City; 8am to 10pm for Jacobabad district.

However, in Shikarpur, the cellular and internet services would be suspended from 8am to 10pm in the whole district.

The provincial government urged the Centre “to suspend all kind of cellular GPRS communication services/mobile services/internet in the areas as mentioned above in order to facilitate the police and law enforcement agencies to maintain law and order”.

However, in case of any incident/emergency, cell phone companies may be directed to restore the facility immediately on request of the home department.

Published in Dawn, October 29th , 2018

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