Pakistan: Police deployed at Luari Sharif shrine following sectarian tension

According to reports, a strong contingent stood guard around the shrine of Hazrat Khwaja Mohammad Zaman, better known as Sultanul Aulia.

The clash happened between two groups of disciples.

While one group was supported by ulema of a particular school of thought and the other one subscribing to the rituals followed by their ancestors.

Differences between the two groups had cropped up decades ago but the bone of contention was custodianship of the shrine. The shrine was sealed 37 years ago after a clash between them had left many people dead and injured. Sporadic clashes were reported after every four to five years but none of them resulted in heavy casualties.

The Sindh government made two attempts to reopen the shrine since then but had to seal it off again after a few hours or a few days due to tension between the two groups, reports Dawn News.

A couple of days back, the home department on the recommendation of Badin district administration, imposed Section 144 in the town fearing violence amid reports that an unknown group of disciples was contemplating to “perform Haj” at the shrine on the 9th of Zilhaj (Tuesday) and a rival group was out to foil any such attempt. Such “pilgrimage” had allegedly been performed in the 1950s or 1960s, according to local residents, the Pakistani newspaper reported.

Badin SSP Shabbir Ahmed Sethar had sensed trouble and deployed 150 police personnel under the command of two DSPs at the shrine and all sensitive points of the town to maintain law and order and prevent any eventuality.

Speaking to local reporters, he was quoted as saying by Dawn News that maintaining law and order was his prime responsibility, adding that he was personally monitoring the situation.