Iranian President’s visit: Public holiday in Lahore, Karachi

ISLAMABAD: Provincial governments of Punjab and Sindh have announced a public holiday today (Tuesday) in Lahore and Karachi to avoid inconvenience to the public ahead of the visit of Iranian President Dr Ebrahim Raisi along with his wife to the metropolitan cities.

The Iranian president is currently in Pakistan on an official trip from April 22 to April 24 (Wednesday). The Foreign Office had said that he would also visit Lahore and Karachi and meet the provincial leadership.

The Sindh government had announced a public holiday a day ago for Tuesday in the Karachi division.

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A notification from the Punjab government issued said that April 23 was declared a local holiday for Lahore district considering the scheduled visit of the foreign officials and to “avoid the consequent inconvenience to the general public”.

“This holiday will be observed only in the Lahore district and its subordinate offices,” it said, adding that the holiday would not apply to the Punjab Civil Secretariat, its attached departments and regional offices.

All the schools and universities have been closed in Lahore and board papers in Lahore district have also been cancelled.

Strict security measures are in place in Lahore and armed forces have also been deployed in several places.

A luncheon will also be given in the honour of the Iranian president at the Governor House.

ROADS CLOSED IN KARACHI

The Karachi administration has started blocking roads for security purpose ahead of Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi’s visit to Karachi on Tuesday (today).

Banners with welcome messages by President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif for the Iranian president are also put up on the city’s main artery Sharea Faisal.

Some of the main arteries included in the traffic plan have been closed. MA Jinnah road has been blocked from Guru Mandir by placing containers on the road and streets.

The road leading to Numaish from Shahra-e-Quaideen has been closed. Containers have been placed around the Peoples Secretariat as well.

Police units have been deployed at various sites.

Meanwhile the city administration in Karachi has banned the flying of all kinds of camera drones in the city under Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) for at least seven days as part of security measures ahead of the visit of an Iranian delegation led by President Ebrahim Raisi.

The ban has been imposed at the request of the police and will remain in effect till April 28, as per an official statement.