Security tightened for Moharram

Security was beefed up in cities all over Pakistan on Thursday as Shi’ah Muslims observed Moharram, an annual day of mourning to commemorate the martyrdom of Prophet Mohammad’s grandson, Hazrat Imam Hosayn, killed in the battle of Karbala some 1,400 years ago. According to a BBC report, Moharram marks the climax of 10 days of mourning for the Shi’ah Muslims in Pakistan and elsewhere in the Islamic world. Traditionally, crowds of Shi’ah men march through the streets in an annual ritual of self-flagellation, sometimes using chains and whips, to mark the occasion. Shi’ah Muslims believe Imam Hosayn is the true leader of Islam following the Prophet’s death, while Sunni Muslims disagree. The contention has often sparked sectarian clashes between the two groups. Thousands of troops are being used this year to keep the peace in the wake of the execution of a hardline Sunni activist who was executed in February for the murder of an Iranian diplomat 10 years ago. Violent clashes followed the execution and more than two dozen people were killed in and around the provincial capital of Lahore in Pakistan’s western Punjab Province.