Chinks in the security plan of a popular Shia mosque in Lucknow

The recent suicide attacks on Shia mosques in Dhaka and Saudi Arabia have forced law-enforcers across the country to tighten security at installations significant to the sect, but the supposedly pro-Muslim Uttar Pradesh government seems to have done the least in this regard.

The recent suicide attacks on Shia mosques in Dhaka and Saudi Arabia have forced law-enforcers across the country to tighten security at installations significant to the sect, but the supposedly pro-Muslim Uttar Pradesh government seems to have done the least in this regard.

In a short but grueling drill conducted on July 10, an HT team accompanied by a security expert visited Lucknow’s Bara Imam Bara to assess the security arrangements at the Asafi Masjid, one of India’s most popular Shia mosques, as well as its adjoining structures. The findings were disturbing, to say the least.

Built by NawabAsaf-ud-Daula in 1784, Bara Imambara is the grandest monument of the nawabi era in the state capital. As many as 10,000 people gather at the site on Fridays, and the number grows to 50,000 on special occasions like Muharram and Eid.