Mourning processions were taken out and religious gatherings were held in all big or small cities and towns of the country to pay homage to the great sacrifice rendered by Hazrat Imam Hossein (AS) and his companions in Karbala.
Arbaeen marks the culmination of a 40-day mourning period after the 10th of Muharram, the martyrdom date of Hazrat Imam Hossein (AS) and his 72 faithful companions on 680 A.D.
The battle was fought on the plains outside Karbala, a city in modern Iraq that’s home to the Imam's shrine which is a sacred sanctuary for Shia Muslims.
Imam Hossein's (AS) uprising in Karbala is regarded as the symbol of resistance against oppressors by Muslims, as the grandson of Islam's Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) with a small troop and his relatives stood up against injustice.
Strict security arrangements were in place at sensitive areas across Pakistan to allow the processions to pass peacefully through their respective traditional routes.
Walkthrough gates were installed at several entry points of the Chehlum processions, and the monitoring of the procession would be done through CCTV cameras.
Extra contingents of paramilitary Rangers, police and police commandos were deployed along the routes of the processions and Imambargahs in different cities.
Meanwhile, mobile services remained suspended in Karachi, Lahore, Rawalpindi, Peshawar, and Quetta among other cities, during the course of the processions.
In Islamabad, Arbaeen procession was taken out on Thursday. The main procession came out from Imambargah Asna Ashri.
The Islamabad police had chalked out an elaborate security plan and continued strict patrolling around the procession route.
The religious scholars in their speeches on the occasion highlighted the teachings of Hazrat Imam Hossein (AS) and various aspects of Karbala tragedy.
Thousands of people distributed ‘niaz’ (food, milk, soft drinks and water) to participants of the mourning processions.
Hundreds of thousands of pilgrims from Pakistan also went to the holy city of Karbala and Iran, to mark Arbaeen.
Each year, Muslim pilgrims from across the world flock to Iraq in the weeks leading to Arbaeen and walk toward Karbala on foot.
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