RAWALPINDI, Jan 7: The Markazi Anjuman-i-Tajiran Rawalpindi has announced to suspend business activities in the city on Thursday as part of security measures and in respect for Ashura.

The Anjuman office-bearers met in Rawalpindi on Wednesday and decided to close markets falling on the route of Muharram processions and not to allow any person on the rooftops.

Markets that will remain closed are College Road, Bohar Bazaar, Iqbal Road, Trunk Bazaar, Bara Chowk, Liaquat Market, Raja Bazaar, Dingikhui, Kalan Bazaar, Purana Qila, Jamia Masjid Road, Pul Shahnazar and Imambara Road.

According to President of Anjuman-i-Tajiran Shaikh Mohammad Siddiq, maximum cooperation will be extended to the district administration for the provision of drinking water facilities and medical camps along procession routes.

Office-bearers of the Anjuman will remain with the processions to oversee arrangements, a press release stated.

PPI ADDS: Yaum-i-Ashur is being observed on Thursday with reverence, solemnity and religious fervour throughout the country, including Rawalpindi, amid tight security.

In Rawalpindi, the main procession will be taken out from Imambargah Col Maqbool Hussain, College Road, and from Imambargah Hifazat Ali Shah, Bohar Bazaar. Zuljinnah procession will be brought out from Imambargah Ashiq Hussain, Teli Mohallah.

The participants of these processions will flagellate themselves at Bohar Bazaar Chowk, Habib Chowk and Trunk Bazaar. Various speakers will address the participants of the procession at Fowara Chowk.

Mukhtar Students Organisation (MSO) will organise a camp at Fowara Chowk.

Eminent scholars and office-bearers of the Muharram Committee of Tehrik-i-Nifaz-i-Fiqh Jafaria (TNFJ) from Rawalpindi will also accompany the procession.

Pak Haideri Scouts, Mukhtar Force, Mukhtar Students Organisation, Mukhtar Generation and other religious, political and social organisations will set up Sabeels and food stalls along the designated routes of the Ashura procession.

The mourners would offer Zohrain prayers on Benazir Bhutto Shaheed Road.

The procession will culminate at Qadeemi Imambargah after passing through Benazir Bhutto Shaheed Road, Eidgah, Asghar Mall Road, Raja Bazaar and Jamia Masjid Road.

The district administration and police have adopted foolproof security measures to ensure law and order on Ashura. As many as 6,000 police personnel would be deployed on the procession route.

Personnel of Rescue 15, Rescue 1122, bomb disposal squad, law enforcement agencies and army would be deployed to ensure law and order situation.

All roads, lanes and streets leading to the main routes of the procession would remain sealed to prevent the entry of any irrelevant person or miscreant in the procession.

Secret security cameras have been installed at various places on the main routes of Ashura procession and other sensitive places to keep vigil and monitor the procession in the city.

Tazia, Alam and Zuljinnah processions would also be taken out from various localities of the metropolis, which after passing through their traditional routes, will join the main procession.

In Muzaffarabad, the main procession would be taken out from Markazi Imambargah Pir Ilam Shah. It would pass through its traditional routes and culminate at the Imambargah in the evening.

Meanwhile, to facilitate the mourners, TNFJ has set up control rooms in Rawalpindi and Islamabad as well as the four provinces, including Azad Kashmir and Northern Areas, to facilitate mourners.