CHAKWAL: The district administration has barred 32 firebrands from entering Chakwal district besides gagging ten local clerics aimed at ensuring peace during Muharram and Safar.

The step has been taken on the reports of intelligence agencies and local police officials who feared that these 42 clerics might deliver inflammatory speeches.

According to an official notification, the following clerics have been banned from entering Chakwal district:

Maulana Mohammad Hussain of Chiniot, Maulana Qari Sher Mohammad of Lahore, Maulana Abdul Haq Bashir of Gujrat, Maulana Azizur Rehman Hazarvi and Maulana Abdul Hameed Hazarvi both of Rawalpindi, Maulana Mohammad Hussain, Maulana Shahid Masood, Maulana Attaullah Bandialvi, Maulana Mohammad Iliyas Ghumman from Sargodha, Maulana Ahmed Ludhianvi of Kamalia, Maulana Abdul Ghafar Taunsvi of Taunsa Sharif, Maulana Masoodul Rehman Usmani of Islamabad, Maulana Mauvia Azam Tariq of Jhang, Maulana Shabbir Ahmed Usmani of Taxila, Maulana Sajid Ali Naqvi and Syed Hamid Ali Moosvi of Rawalpindi, Syed Sajjad Haider of Mandi Bahauddin, Maulana Syed Iftikhar Hussain Naqvi of Mianwali, Syed Sibtain Hussain Kazmi and Maulvi Mohammad Hussain Dhakku, Malik Nazir Hussain Qutbi all three belonging to Sargodha, Maulana Ghazanfar Abbas Taunsvi of Bahawalpur, Qari Sakhawat Hussain of Sialkot, Maulana Azhar Abbas Haidri of Gujranwala, Zakir Jaffar Jatoi of Muzaffargarh, Maulana Mohammad Saeed Ahmed of Faisalabad, Maulana Mohammad Yousaf Rizvi of Sargodha, Maulana Mohammad Hanif Qureshi of Rawalpindi, Maulana Abid Jalali of Lahore, Maulana Syed Arfan Shah of Mandi Bahauddin, Maulana Peer Sultan Muhammad of Sakhi Sultan Bahu Shrine and Maulana Ibrahim Shah both belonging to Jhang.

The ten local clerics who have been barred from making speeches are: Maulana Abdullah Mukhlas, Nadeem Yaqub, Maulana Baz Khan, Mumtaz Hussain Siddiqui, Qari Fiaz Hussain, Qari Asad Irfan and Qari Ubaidur Rehman, Abdullah Nisar, Ghufran Mehmood and Syed Qalabe Abbas.

Meanwhile, major procession which is most sensitive in the district would be taken out in Chakwal city today (Saturday). The procession, which had reached Markazi Imambargah Sarpak from Imambargah Mahajrin Sadaat yesterday (Friday), would be taken out from Markazi Imambargah today (Saturday) and would reach Imambargah Mahajrin Sadaat in the evening.

“Foolproof security measures have been put in place,” District Police Officer Adil Memon told Dawn.

He said a company of army would be on a standby to assist the police while as many as 7,000 police personnel would perform their duty during Muharram and Saffar in the district.

“CCTV cameras have been installed on the routes of procession and on the premises of Imambargahs while all entry points leading to procession routes and majalis have been barricaded,” the DPO said.

He added that majalis would be filmed and would also be monitored. “Three-layer security measures have been put in place at the routes of sensitive processions,” DPO Adil Memon maintained.

Besides, the district administration has put 17 processions in Category A which have been declared as sensitive ones, while 14 processions in Category B and 216 in Category C.

Similarly, four Majalis are in Category A, one in Category B and 827 of Category C.

Published in Dawn, September 7th, 2019