LAHORE, Feb 12: Ulema belonging to all schools of thought assured the City District Government of their cooperation for maintaining peace and harmony during Muharram at a District Peace Committee meeting held at the Nazim House here on Saturday.

Nazim Mian Amer Mahmood said on the occasion all arrangements for maintaining law and order were in place. A control room had been set up in his office for monitoring security and police had been deployed at the venues of Majalis-i-Aza. Encroachments along the routes of Zuljinnah processions had been removed and arrangements made for parking of vehicles.

He said all the roads to be used by the Zuljinnah processions had been repaired and streetlights lit. Generators had been provided for keeping the streetlights functioning in case of power failures. Ambulances with complete first aid kits would also stationed at different places.

He said the CDG would also take steps for checking the misuse of loudspeakers. No untoward incident had taken place in Muharram in the city since the elected representatives had taken over the administrative duty three and a half years ago.

Referring to the demand for installation of gates for screening the visitors entering the mosques and imambargahs, Mian Amer said he had offered to bear 80 per cent of the costs if religious organizations formed citizen community boards and shared the remaining 20 per cent costs last year. Not even a single body had, however, approached the CDG for the purpose as they were not ready to share the costs.

SPECIAL CELL: The Punjab government has set up a special cell for maintaining peace and harmony in the province during Muharram.

The cell is headed by adviser on religious harmony Hafiz Tahir Mahmood Ashrafi and has been established at his office at the Board of Revenue office on Lake Road. The cell would take immediate action on complaints or incidents related to spreading sectarianism in any part of the province.

People have been advised to contact the cell on telephone Nos 9210980 and 9212248 for the redressal of their grievances and lodging their complaint.