Indian Police Violence at Ashura in J&K
SRINAGAR: Violence marred Muharram in Kashmir where police baton-charged mourners in Srinagar who assembled to mourn in connection with Yaum-e-Ashur and used tear gas in the old city area to disperse the unarmed mourners.
The police said at least one lakh people participated in the main Ashura procession at Zadibal in Srinagar’s old city area.
In Srinagar’s Lal Chowk, police quelled a group of Shia mourners who tried to take out a procession in the city centre without permission. The mourners clashed with the police who chased them with lathis and detained some youths for taking out a procession at Lal Chowk. Several people were injured.
The police had made elaborate arrangements in preventing sectarian clashes at several places in the old city area, but they threw tear gas shells to disperse the gatherings.
The protesters pelted police vans with stones.
Several big processions, though, marched peacefully. The processions in Leh and Kargil, too, were peaceful.
It should be mentioned that the Indian government has imposed a ban on the taking out the processions of Muharramul Haram since 1989.
Indian Police Violence at Ashura in J&K was first posted on December 29, 2009 at 12:42 pm.
Indian Police Violence at Ashura in J&K
SRINAGAR: Violence marred Muharram in Kashmir where police baton-charged mourners in Srinagar who assembled to mourn in connection with Yaum-e-Ashur and used tear gas in the old city area to disperse the unarmed mourners.
The police said at least one lakh people participated in the main Ashura procession at Zadibal in Srinagar’s old city area.
In Srinagar’s Lal Chowk, police quelled a group of Shia mourners who tried to take out a procession in the city centre without permission. The mourners clashed with the police who chased them with lathis and detained some youths for taking out a procession at Lal Chowk. Several people were injured.
The police had made elaborate arrangements in preventing sectarian clashes at several places in the old city area, but they threw tear gas shells to disperse the gatherings.
The protesters pelted police vans with stones.
Several big processions, though, marched peacefully. The processions in Leh and Kargil, too, were peaceful.
It should be mentioned that the Indian government has imposed a ban on the taking out the processions of Muharramul Haram since 1989.
Indian Police Violence at Ashura in J&K was first posted on December 29, 2009 at 12:42 pm.
Country on High Alert for Ashura
Country on High Alert for Ashura
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan News: Pakistan went on high alert Monday, fearing sectarian clashes and militant attacks as millions of Shiites commemorated Ashura across the country.
Tens of thousands of police and paramilitary forces deployed in the capital Islamabad and major cities, with soldiers on standby and hundreds of ambulances accompanying Shiite processions, it was reproted.
Ashura rituals, which end today in Pakistan, see faithful in black march through the streets, flailing themselves with chains to commemorate the killing of Imam Hussein by armies of Yazid in 680.
“Security in Islamabad has been put on high alert,” police spokesman Naeem Iqbal told a news agency.
“Processions will be covered with security cameras and scanners have already been installed at the main gates of (Shiite mosque) Imambargah,” he added.
“Paramilitary personal have also been deployed and the army will remain on standby,” he added.
In Lahore, Pakistan’s most liberal city hit by a rising number of suicide and gun attacks, police patrolled roads and guarded roof tops.
“More than 25,000 policemen and officers have been deputed. No vehicle will be allowed to park near the Imambargah or the processions,” city police chief Pervez Rathore told AFP.
In northwest metropolis Peshawar, where 18 bomb attacks linked to the Taliban have struck in three months, 11,000 police and paramilitary personnel were on guard to protect processions, police said.
“Security is on high alert. The army is on standby if we need them,” Sahibzada Mohammad Anis, the city’s top administrative official told the media men.
In financial capital Karachi another 20,000 policemen and paramilitary Rangers were deployed, police said.
Militant attacks have killed more than 2,700 people since July 2007 and Washington is pressuring Pakistan to do more to crack down on Al-Qaeda and stop insurgents crossing the border to attack Western troops in Afghanistan.
Country on High Alert for Ashura was first posted on December 28, 2009 at 10:49 am.
