PAKISTAN-PROCESSION Pakistan Shi'ite Muslims mark the death of Imam Ali

Record ID: 147565

  • Title: PAKISTAN-PROCESSION Pakistan Shi'ite Muslims mark the death of Imam Ali
  • Date: 9th July 2015
  • Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (Urdu) SHI'ITE CLERIC, ZUHAIR ABIDI, SAYING: "I think the government has made very good security arrangements for this day. Police and rangers have been deployed everywhere. They have cordoned off and covered everything."
  • Embargoed: 24th July 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Pakistan
  • Country: Pakistan
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVAAK6Y8WOPFGGMCQ2VU0MNM3K25
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Amidst tight security, thousands of Shi'ite Muslims took part in a mourning procession on Thursday (July 9) to mark the death of Imam Ali.
    Thousands of people congregated in the southern city of Karachi with similar processions taking place in other parts of the country.
    Hazrat Ali Ibne-Abi Talib, was the cousin, son-in-law, and a close associate and advisor of Prophet Mohammed.
    He was the fourth Islamic caliph, and died on 21st of Ramadan in the seventh century after he was attacked by an assassin who mortally wounded him with a poisoned sword in the Mosque in the Iraqi city of Kufa during morning prayers on the 19th of Ramadan.
    Beating and hammering their chests the mourners walked through the main street in Karachi.
    Police and paramilitary troops were deployed to ensure safety during the procession.
    "I think the government has made very good security arrangements for this day. Police and rangers have been deployed everywhere. They have cordoned off and covered everything," said one Shi'ite cleric participating in the procession.
    Shi'ites make up about 15 percent of Pakistan's 160 million people.
    Tensions between Shi'ite Muslims and Pakistan's majority Sunnis have risen in past years, with radical Sunni Islamist groups frequently attacking Shi'ites whom they see as heretics.
    In May, gunmen on motorcycles killed dozens of Ismaili Muslims in a bus attack in Karachi.
    In January, 60 people were killed when militant group Jundullah bombed a Shi'ite mosque in the southern province of Sindh. The Taliban bombed another Shi'ite mosque in the northwest city of Peshawar weeks later.
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