LAHORE: The Punjab government has imposed Section 144 across the province from Muharram 1 to 10 to ensure peace and religious harmony.
Section 144 is a legal provision of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) that empowers district administrations to prohibit an assembly of four or more people in an area for a limited period.
A Punjab Home Department order issued on Friday, a copy of which is available with Dawn.com, stated that the section was imposed to prevent “disruption of public peace and instability”, along with ensuring the public’s “safety and security of lives and property”.
The notification cited “potential threat to the public peace and tranquillity, religious harmony, and general law and order situation in the province from miscreants, violent extremists, and antisocial elements”.
For the first 10 days of Muharram, which is likely to begin on June 27 or 28 in Pakistan, the government has prohibited “innovations of Muharram processions [and] majalis”.
It has also banned carrying any article that may be used as a weapon of offence — including bamboo sticks (batons), knives, daggers and spears — as well as combustible material at public places without a competent authority’s permission.
There will also be a complete ban on slogans and gestures “that may incite public sentiments, or directly or indirectly hit the belief of any sect, community or group”.
Dissemination of information or making “abusive or derogatory remarks through any information system or device” that provoke or are likely to provoke interfaith, sectarian or racial hatred will be prohibited as well.
Spectators will be barred from the rooftops of buildings on the routes and in front of shops located along the routes during processions, the order added. It further banned the construction of morchas (firing bays) on rooftops of such buildings and the collection of stones, bricks, bottles or garbage along the procession routes.
On Muharram 9 and 10, pillion riding will also be prohibited except for senior citizens, women and law enforcement personnel, the order added.
Mobile jamming, ban on ‘firebrand’ orators sought
The Punjab home department has started taking measures, including deployment of armed forces where required, to ensure peace in the province during Muharram.
It has sought each district’s need for army and Rangers troops, along with requirements for mobile jamming, with specific location and duration. It has also stated that a ban on loudspeakers should be fully enforced under the Punjab Sound Systems (Regulation) Act 2015 during Muharram.
Deputy commissioners have been asked to discuss and develop contingency plans, update lists of firebrand orators to be gagged or banned, and prevent misuse of loudspeakers during the month.
The DCs have also been informed about the guidelines for setting up sabeels.
In Rawalpindi, five companies of the Pakistan Army and six companies of Rangers will be deployed to help the administration and police maintain law and order.
The district administration has banned the entry of 169 religious leaders and zakireen in the district and also issued gagging orders for 89 clerics during Muharram. As many as 184 people have been placed in the Fourth Schedule.
Section 144 was also imposed during Muharram in Punjab last year, with the Pakistan Army and Rangers being deployed across the country after requests from all provincial governments.
While the Punjab government had also requested the interior ministry to shut down social media apps from Muharram 6 to 11 in a bid to avoid sectarian violence, the ministry had deferred the decision. However, Facebook was reportedly restricted across Pakistan on Muharram 10, Yaum-i-Ashura.
In the past, militants have targeted Muharram processions several times, including a bomb blast that killed more than 40 people attending the main Ashura procession on Karachi’s MA Jinnah Road in December 2009.
