LAHORE: Pakistan Railways police is all set to provide foolproof security to Sikh pilgrims who will be arriving in Pakistan on Tuesday to celebrate Vaisakhi festival.
The scheduled stay of pilgrims is six days (12-17). Pakistan Railways has also decided to run three special trains for the facility of Sikhs.
However, each train will be escorted by a senior police inspector along with other personnel.
On the special directions by IG Railways police Faisal Shahkar, DIG North has devised a comprehensive security plan and circulated to concerned SPs for implementation.
According to the circular, “Keeping in view the present law and order situation of country, about 400 cops has been deployed to provide security to the Sikh pilgrims, starting from Wahga station to Nankana-Sahib”.
As per circular, DIG North has directed the officers concerned to remain in complete liaison and coordination with other law enforcement agencies to successfully implement on all the security arrangements.
Special teams have been prepared to conduct round the clock track patrolling in between the route of pilgrims. Special commandos and snipers will also be deployed at each railway station especially Wahga, Lahore, Hassan-Abdal and Nankana-Sahib.
The windows and doors of special trains will remain close, and the area of stoppage of trains will be declared as ‘No Zone Area’. Train escorting personnel are tasked with maintaining the racks of carriages empty.
The bomb disposal staff will intermittently sweep and check the sensitive areas of trains and stations.
Owing to security concerns, none of Sikh pilgrims will be allowed to interact with general public or to leave their specified area of stay, and they would not be allowed to carry inflammable utensils in train.
A control room is also established at railways station Wahga for the purpose to pass on timely information about movement of trains. Snipers will be deputed on roof top of stations to keep hawk eye on miscreants.
The presence of Rescue 1122 and Fire Brigade staff be ensured at main stations and trains to deal with any unavoidable situation.
Superintendent of Railways Police (SRP) Lahore Wazir Ali and Divisional Traffic Officer Nasir Nazir are made focal persons to correspond on behalf of police and railways, respectively.
Search and sweep operations will be conducted on daily time to time basis at the stations and trains.
The intention of comprehensive security plan is to provide safe and peaceful atmosphere for the visiting Sikh pilgrims. Round the clock monitoring will take place of the movement of pilgrims.
It is pertinent to mention here that, Vaisakhi is an ancient spring harvest festival. It became closely associated with Sikhism at the end of 17th century, when Guru Gobind Singh, leader of the Sikhs, chose the date of the festival. Thus, many Sikhs mark the event that took place on Vaisakhi by making pilgrimages to holy sites.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022