Peaceful Ashora in Hangu Fills the Air with Hope

A peaceful observance of Ashora day (10th Moharram) on December 28, 2009, has filled the residents of Hangu (NWFP) with hope for long-term peace between the two major sects of the town’s population. After four consecutive years of violence on Ashora, this year’s Ashora day remained completely peaceful with no unpleasant incident in any part of the district, accompanying a generally peaceful Ashora day throughout the NWFP province.

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In Hangu, the elders of the two major sects – Shias and Sunnis – held a number of meetings, starting a week before Ashora, on preventing violence during the observance of public mourning in the form of processions led out across the streets. Both sides showed an appreciable level of flexibility and agreed to avoid conflict as well as not to engage in any kind of violence – physical or verbal – during the sacred days of Moharram, especially on 10th Moharram. It was agreed that the Shia community would lead their processions along the streets connecting within their neighborhoods, bypassing the main market area (where they had been attacked previously by snipers and suicide bombers).

A military curfew was enforced on 10th Moharram, which complemented the avoidance-of-conflict agreement between the sects. Mobile phone communication was disabled for nearly three days, starting December 27, so as to minimize the risk of planning or plotting for mischief/violence by evil elements in and outside the town. After peaceful observance of Ashora, mobile phone signals were restored on Tuesday evening, December 29, 2009. There is a general feeling of relief as well as hope in the air of the restive town. After a long time, the elders of the communities in Hangu have proved that they care about their native land and those who live there. Both sides truly deserve great credit for this achievement.