PESHAWAR, Nov 14: People of different areas located along the routes of Muharram processions and the prayer leaders would be issued special identification cards to spare them from the inconvenience of security checks.
This was decided at a meeting of the district administration and Peshawar police on Monday at the Khan Raziq police station chaired by District Coordination Officer Siraj Ahmed. The meeting was also attended by Peshawar SSP (operations) Tahir Ayub, SP City Imtiaz Khan and prayer leaders of about 100 mosques.
The participants said the area people had faced great hardships last year due to ban on movement of the irrelevant people in the areas of processions.
The ulema said owing to the restrictions last year they could not offer prayers in the mosques and had to stay away from the worship places and stressed the need that the practice of previous year should not be repeated.
The members of Muttahida Amn Committee appreciated the administration and police for taking the people into confidence in preparations for the sensitive occasion and assured their full cooperation.
They said that the situation in Muharram remained very peaceful due to mutual cooperation between the administration, police and representatives of the religious organisations.
The DCO informed that administration had finalised preparations for the purpose and expressed the hope that the law and order situation would remain peaceful. He appealed to the people of all walks of life to extend cooperation to the law enforcement agencies in maintenance of peace. He said any decision regarding movement of the Afghan refugees in the area would be taken a few days before the Muharram. The restaurants, shops and hotels would also remain closed for five days during Muharram to check movement of the suspected people in the areas.
The SSP Peshawar urged the prayer leaders to exhort the public in their sermons to maintain peace in their respective localities and discourage the anti-state and anti-social elements.
Meanwhile, the administration continued action against encroachments in different areas. A special anti-encroachment squad demolished illegal structures at Gur Mandi, old Sabzi Mandi, Hashtnagri and adjacent areas and removed the cabins.
KOHAT: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa IGP Akbar Khan Hoti on Monday stressed that cooperation of both Shia and Sunni sects with the government was essential for maintaining peace in Muharram in the most sensitive Kohat region.
Talking to elders who had come from Hangu, Karak and Kohat at police lines on Monday the IGP urged them to discourage the enemies of Islam and Pakistan.
The IGP said mutual support between people and the government was indispensable for discouraging terrorists.
He asked the police to do their job with honesty and not indulge in corruption, adding police were the servants of the people as their salaries came from taxes paid by the people.He also announced construction of a separate colony for policewomen. He was presented a shield by the officials of local administration.