ISLAMABAD: Around 63 worship places and 33 ulema in the federal capital are being monitored by the police and its special branch to maintain peace in the wake of the Ashura violence in Rawalpindi.
Sources in the police and the capital administration said 48 of the worship places operated seminaries on their premises. Personnel of the special branch and policemen in plain clothes have been deployed in and around the premises.
There are over 600 worship places and 305 religious seminaries in the city’s urban and rural areas. The sources said 89 seminaries were operated by the Barelvi school of thought, 199 by the Deobandis, 10 by Ahle Hadith and seven by the Shia community. The sources said 843 teachers and 29,380 students of the seminaries hailed from Fata, AJK, KP and southern Punjab.
The collection of details about the seminaries has always been an issue as their administrations never shared any detail with the police.
The sources added that the 33 religious figures residing in the city were also being monitored. The names of 23 of the ulema were already in the watch list under the fourth schedule of the Anti-Terrorism Act. Besides, 10 ulema, who may create a situation which can lead to a sectarian tension, were also being monitored.
The sources, however, said some of the ulema had either shifted to Rawalpindi or started residing in the seminaries in the capital to avoid being watched.
“For the last about 10 to 13 years, the sectarian issue was almost dead and there was no concern among the police, administration and other concerned departments in this regard,” the sources said. But the recent clashes in the Rawalpindi city have forced the police to remain alert to avoid any sectarian tension in the capital.
The sources said on Sunday some ulema gathered at a worship place in G-6 sector for holding a protest rally to the Red Zone.
However, the administration and police officials persuaded them not to go ahead with their protest plan. A large number of containers had also been brought to the city and put on the roads leading to the Red Zone and at the entry points of the capital. But later the sealing of the Red Zone and the roads joining the capital with Rawalpindi was postponed.
In the evening, the police asked the owners to take away their containers except a few which were still lying in the high security zone.
The capital administration is still in contact with the ulema of both the sects to maintain peace in the city. However, the administration was facing difficulties to bring the ulema under one umbrella.
Meanwhile, a man entered a worship place near Kashmir Highway at the time of Isha prayers on Monday and using its loudspeaker warned the members of the other community, the police sources said.
He threatened the members of the other community with dire consequences and left the mosque.
The sources said the man hailed from Narowal and was currently living at Mehrabadi.
A raid was conducted at his house but its door was found locked. The police confiscated his national identity card and were hunting for him.