Muharram, the month of mourning, is here once again. It is the first and one of the most sacred months in the Islamic calendar. Muharram is a month of remembrance that is often considered synonymous with the event of Ashura. Ashura, which literally means the "tenth" in Arabic, refers to the tenth day of Muharram.

Ashura is well-known because of historical significance and mourning for the martyrdom and sacrifice of Hussein ibn Ali (AS), the grandson of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) for the sake of protecting Islam. Muslims, particularly the Shiites start the mourning from the 1st night of Muharram and continue until Ashura.

The first ten days of Muharram are the most important since these were the days when Hussein (AS), his family and followers (consisting of 72 people, including women, children and aged people) were killed by army of Yazid at the Battle of Karbala on his orders.

As the Afghan people prepare to for the Ashura day, threats of insurgent attacks must not be taken lightly. In 2011, on the same day, about 80 people were killed and hundreds were injured in a series of terror attacks in Kabul, Mazar e Sharif and Kandahar cities of Afghanistan. Attack in Kabul was the bloodiest as it took lives of 80 people including women and children. The same is feared to repeat, if proper security measures are not taken by government with support from the people.

In a meeting with clerics on Tuesday, President Hamid Karzai insisted over strict security arrangements before and on the day of Ashura. A joint commission of religious leaders and security officials has been formed to oversee security arrangements for allowing people to observe Ashura with full religious zeal and spirit.  

Insurgents, who consider themselves as soldiers of Islam, never give up attacking innocent people while they worship in mosques or gather to observe a religiously important day such as Ashura. However, the insurgents have terribly failed to stop people from celebrating and commemorating their religious events.

Afghan National Security Force (ANSF) must remain on high alert. ANSF must take all measures necessary to allow people remember the sacrifice of the protector of Islam, Imam Hussein (AS), in a peaceful and secure environment. At the same time, the people are also required to remain vigilant and cooperate with security forces.