Devotees scuffled with police officials to offer Jumatul Wida (last Friday of holy month of Ramadan) at Faisal Mosque, as they were barred from entering the mosque due to the arrival of Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani there. Thousands of devotees were restricted from not only entering the main hall, but were also deprived of going near the mosque, well ahead of the PM’s arrival.
According to eyewitnesses, the arrival of the PM deprived hundreds of fasting devotees, who had braved the hot and humid weather from offering prayers. General transport was stopped from Zero point and people were left with no option but to cover the distance from Faisal Chowk to Faisal Mosque on foot. Criticising the PM, people said they had wanted to see off Ramadan by offering Friday prayers at Faisal Mosque, but their intentions were spoiled by the PM’s arrival.
“Hundreds of people could not make their way to other mosques situated in the suburbs of Sector E/8 either, because that is where Faisal Mosque is situated,” they said. One aged devotee who came from Rawalpindi said he had also been barred from entering a mosque. “I tried to go inside a mosque situated on a green belt of Margalla Road, but security officials did not allow me to go inside,” he said.
Tight security measures were taken around all mosques in the twin cities. Police installed walkthrough gates outside all mosques to avoid any untoward incident. People were thoroughly checked before being allowed to enter mosques and vendors were not allowed to stand outside mosques at the time of prayers. Long queues of vehicles from Zero Point to Faisal Mosque were observed, while the ITP administration’s special traffic arrangement of diverting routes put people to further trouble.
Moreover, barricades were put up at Faisal Chowk to stop vehicles going towards the mosque when the PM arrived. A large number of people offered prayers at roadsides as entry gates were closed because of the PM’s arrival. According to an estimate, over 40,000 people managed to offer prayers at Faisal Mosque. However, nearly 10,000 people were deprived of this right because of the PM’s visit.
Many people parked their vehicles on empty spaces along the road and forcefully managed to make their way towards the mosque. Upon the PM’s departure, people chanted slogans against him while a few hurled shoes at the PM as he was leaving the premises. However, no untoward incident took place. Inside the mosque, people offered Jumatul Wida prayers with great religious solemnity and fervour.
A large number of people, many of them accompanied by their parents and children, started arriving at the mosque well before time. Women also offered prayers in a separate portion allocated for them at Faisal Mosque. Some women were seen offering prayers in the compounds of the mosque. Mosque committees had made special arrangements to accommodate a maximum number of people for Friday prayers.
In the wake of increasing incidents of terrorism in the country, special prayers were offered on the occasion. Dawaah Academy of International Islamic University Director General Sajidur Rehman led the Jummatul Wida prayers offered at half-past-one in the afternoon.
