Imam Hussain’s chehlam to be observed today

Lahore: Chehlam of Hazrat Imam Hussain—the grandson of Holy Prophet (PBUH)—will be celebrated today (Thursday) with religious devotion and respect throughout the country.

According to the details, traditional processions and prayers would be carried out in cities including Lahore, Karachi, Islamabad, Peshawar and Quetta to observe the chehlum of Imam Hussain. The security will be on high alert by the relevant authorities.

The main procession of Hazrat Hussain chelum in Karachi will take off from Nishtar Park today and will pass through traditional routes and end at Imam Bargah Hussainiya Iraniyan.

The passageways of the procession have been sealed with containers. More than 6,000 police personnel will be deployed for the security of the procession, and Rangers personnel will also be deployed along with them. Besides this, the procession will be closely monitored with the help of CCTV.

On the other hand, Section 144 has been implemented across the city on the occasion of chehlam, according to the notification issued by Sindh Home Department, there will be a ban on flying helicopters during the procession.

Apart from this, after the procession in Karachi, people will be sent to alternate routes. All types of small and big vehicles will not be allowed to proceed from Guru Mandir. The traffic from Guru Mandir will be diverted towards Bahadiri Rajing Road, Soldier Bazar.

According to the spokesperson of Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Traffic Karachi, Uncle Saria Chowk will be used for traffic from Jubilee or Nishtar Road.

The traffic coming from Nazimabad will be diverted towards Garden from Lasbela Chowk.

Traffic coming from Liaquatabad will be allowed to go to Jail Road from Teen Hatti Chowk.

According to the spokesperson, the traffic coming from Stadium Road will be diverted towards New MA Jinnah Road. They will be able to go to Shahrah-e-Quaidin via Kashmir Road and Society Signal.

And the traffic coming from Super Highway will be diverted from Liquatabad No. 10 towards Nazimabad.

In Lahore, the main procession of Hazrat Imam Hussain chehlam will start from Haveli Alf Shah and pass through the main roads and end at Gamay Shah.

According to DIG Operations Ali Rizvi, more than 1000 police officers and personnel will be on duty during the main procession. Volunteers along with policemen will also perform checking duties.

The main funeral procession will be provided security based on three levels of safety fencing. The use of metal detectors and walk-through gates will be ensured for checking, while 193 female police personnel will also be deployed for checking women.

DIG Operations Ali Rizvi said that snipers will be deployed on the roofs of the buildings coming along the route of the Imambargah and Azadari procession.

The main funeral procession will be monitored through CCTV cameras. Double riding and drone flying will be prohibited on the main procession route and sides.

Meanwhile, a special strategy has been prepared to ensure fool-proof security on the occasion of Hazrat Imam Hussain's chehlam in the federal capital Islamabad.

More than 2500 officers and personnel of Islamabad Police and other law enforcement agencies will be on security duty for the day.

The route of the procession will be cleared by the bomb disposal squad, and the procession will be video recorded by drone cameras.