Urs duration curtailed to 15 days- Security at Sakhi Sarwar shrine beefed up

First time in the history ,the annual Urs of Syed Ahmad Sultan commonly known as Sakhi Sarwar (RA) in Dera Ghazi Khan district will be concluded on March 15, instead of April 30 due to security threats. 
Despite deployment of a large number of security personal including private security guards, Punjab Police and Border Military Police Force, the district police seem fearful to conduct the Urs like old traditions. Police have registered a case in Police Station Civil Line DG Khan against 25 peaceful protesters including journalists who were protesting in front of RPO Office DG Khan against curtailment of Urs duration from 75 days to 15 days. 
On the request of District Police, District Government has also written a letter to Punjab Home Department to impose the section 144 CrPC for 45 days from March 16 to April 30, 2018 at Sakhi Sarwar town to ban any protest / road block regarding curtailments duration of the Urs of Syed Ahmad Sultan. 
As per an official report, the DG Khan DPO reported that in available resources, it is not possible for the police to make adequate security arrangements for a long period of Urs of Sakhi Sarwar. Most of the devotees stay at different houses for days and week, engage themselves in Dhamal at residences of the hereditary administrator for the whole night and use of drugs/narcotics is also very common during the Urs days. 
Northern part of Sakhi Sarwar town falls in the jurisdiction of tribal area from where many traditional routes lead to the Darbar. 
Talking to this scribe, Caretaker of the shrine Malik Ramzan Qadir said that the curtailment of Urs duration will cut down earning of thousands of people, who are engaged with the Urs day’s festivals for many years. 
Ramazan said that in other words, the government had surrendered before the terrorists who already want the closure of all the shrines in Pakistan. Every year, police point out a years old a suicide attack in the name of threat; in fact it is a lame excuse of failure, he said.
Meanwhile, police have blocked all roads leading to the shrine while the parking has been established five kilometre away from the shrine. The visitors are dissatisfied with the extraordinary security arrangements in the name of threats. Due to all these factors, collection of cash boxes is being reduced.
When contacted, Zonal Administrator Auqaf Syed Shamsul Haq said that charity funds would be collected less as compared to the last year due to less number of devotees. A sum of Rs5,881,505 was collected in 2017 and Rs10,535,644 in 2016 while Rs556,859 has been collected this year so far, he said.
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