RAWALPINDI, Nov 23: Despite directives from the Punjab home department, the city district government Rawalpindi has failed to put in place a system for checking Niaz (charity food) and sabeel during Ashura and mourning processions for the threats of poisoning.

Niaz and sabeel stalls are set up along the traditional routes of the main processions. People also distributed haleem, rice and drinking water and sharbat among the participants.

In the absence of any equipment, the only option with the local health department is to collect samples of niaz and sabeel and dispatch them to Lahore for laboratory test. The result of the test comes in a week.

Food inspectors of the health department admitted that they had received instructions from the home department and the city government to check the niaz and sabeel before distribution among the participants of the processions. “We have no equipment to check whether the food is poisonous,” said Malik Usman, a food inspector, while talking to Dawn.

He said the health department would create awareness among the organisers of the processions. The organisers would be asked to cook the food and make drinks in the presence of responsible persons.

He said the department would also have to form teams and create awareness among the people in every union council to not leave the utensils unattended while preparing the food and drinks.

Ali Safdar, an organiser of the processions at Shah Chan Chiragh Purana Qila, told Dawn that Niaz and Sabeels were mostly distributed by the local residents.

He said people mostly cooked food with religious devotion and distributed it among the participants of the processions. He said it was the responsibility of the local administration to purchase equipment to check the food.

Over 6,000 security men to be deployed

As over 6,000 police and other security personnel are being deployed in the garrison city to improve security, five more firebrand ulema have been banned from delivering speeches/sermons at religious gatherings.

Of the five ulema, four are from the Sunni community. The district administration has already banned 28 ulema of the Deobandi and Barelvi sects from delivering speeches/sermons at religious gatherings during Muharram. And 24 other ulema - 14 from Sunni and 10 from Shia sects - have been directed not to enter the Rawalpindi district for about two months.

Among the 24 ulema is Maulana Mohammad Ilyas Chinioti who is a PML-N member of the Punjab assembly.

On Muharram 9, as many as 190 majalis and 102 processions will be held in the Rawalpindi district. Of these, 21 have been put in category ‘A’ with a high-level terror threat perception by the police; 26 put in the category ‘B’ while 143 majalis are in the category ‘C’, a low terror threat perception based on low attendance.

On Muharram 10, about 119 majalis and 64 processions will be held in the district. Of these, 14 majalis have been put in category ‘A’, 18 in category ‘B’ and 87 in category ‘C’. Of the 64 Muharram processions, 19 have been placed in category ‘A’, 10 in category ‘B’ and 35 in category ‘C’.

A senior police official said though the local police had already been deployed on security duties, extra personnel coming from the Punjab Constabulary etc., would reach the city on Saturday. The deployment of the additional personnel in sensitive areas and near the places of worship will be made in the wee hours of Muharram 10 before the main Zuljinnah procession starts from Imambargah Teli Muhallah.

Technical sweeping of the procession routes and immambargahs to check the possibility of explosives will be carried out well before the main procession starts. All the processions and majalis will be audio and video recorded.

The home department has asked the police to ensure the smooth flow of traffic in the city as blockades and bottlenecks could be soft targets for terrorists.

Police vehicles deployed on security duty must be equipped with searchlights which could be used in case of loadshedding, especially around majalis and along procession routes.

The district police and administration have been directed to ensure the installation of requisite standby generators/UPS for coverage of all processions/majalis and related events.