Adil Najam
As the mosque formerly known as Lal Masjid was opened for Friday prayers again, things moved back towards mayhem. A major blast – possibly a suicide attack – rocked Islamabad right near the mosque, protesters went wild triggering police response, multiple people have been killed and the attempt to bring the Capital back to normalcy was again scuttled by extremists.
New reports suggest that as many as 12 15 have already died and the number is expected to rise. According to a recent AP report:
Hundreds of religious students clashed with police and occupied Islamabad’s Red Mosque during its reopening Friday, demanding the return of a pro-Taliban cleric two weeks after an army raid to oust Islamic militants from the complex left more than 100 people dead. Pakistani religious students watch as a colleague paints a wall of the Red Mosque in Islamabad.
A large explosion went off in a market area about a quarter-mile from the mosque, and local media reported several people had died. Police say four people were killed and 30 wounded. On a road outside the mosque, protesters threw stones at an armored personnel carrier and dozens of police in riot gear. After the demonstrators disregarded calls to disperse peacefully, police fired tear gas, scattering the crowd. Earlier, security forces stood by as protesters clambered onto the roof of the mosque and daubed red paint on the walls after forcing a government-appointed cleric assigned to lead prayers to retreat.
The protesters demanded the return of the mosque’s pro-Taliban former chief cleric, Abdul Aziz — who is being detained by the government — and shouted slogans against President Gen. Pervez Musharraf. Later, a cleric from a seminary associated with the mosque led the prayers. “Musharraf is a dog! He is worse than a dog! He should resign!” students shouted. Some lingered over the ruins of a neighboring girls’ seminary that was demolished by authorities this week. Militants had used the seminary to resist government forces involved in the siege.
Friday’s reopening was meant to help cool anger over the siege, which triggered a flare-up in militant attacks on security forces across Pakistan. Public skepticism still runs high over the government’s accounting of how many people died in the siege, with many still claiming a large number of children and religious students were among the dead. The government says the overwhelming majority were militants. The mosque’s clerics had used thousands of its students in an aggressive campaign to impose Taliban-style Islamic law in the capital. The campaign, which included kidnapping alleged Chinese prostitutes and threatening suicide attacks to defend the fortified mosque, raised concern about the spread of Islamic extremism in Pakistan.
Militants holed up in the mosque compound for a week before government troops launched their assault on July 10, leaving it pocked with bullet holes and damaged by explosions. At least 102 people were killed in the violence. In an act of defiance to authorities’ repainting of the mosque this week in pale yellow, protesters wrote “Lal Masjid” or “Red Mosque” in large Urdu script on the dome of the mosque. They also hoisted a black flag with two crossed swords — meant to symbolize jihad, or holy war.
The crowd shouted support for the mosque’s former deputy cleric, Abdul Rashid Ghazi, who led the siege until he was shot and killed by security forces after refusing to surrender. Ghazi was the public face of a vigilante, Islamic anti-vice campaign that had challenged the government’s writ in the Pakistani capital. “Ghazi, your blood will lead to a revolution,” the protesters chanted. Police stood by on the street outside the mosque, but did not enter the courtyard where the demonstration was taking place.
Islamabad commissioner Khalid Pervez said police forces did not want to go inside the mosque in case it led to a clash with protesters, but maintained the situation was under control. He said the reaction of Aziz’s supporters was understandable and predicted things would calm down. Over mosque loudspeakers, protesters vowed to “take revenge for the blood of martyrs.” In a speech at the mosque’s main entrance, Liaqat Baloch, deputy leader of a coalition of hard-line religious parties, the Mutahida Majlis-e-Amal, condemned Musharraf as a “killer” and declared there would be an Islamic revolution in Pakistan.
“Maulana Abdul Aziz is still the prayer leader of the mosque. The blood of martyrs will bear fruit. This struggle will reach its destination of an Islamic revolution. Musharraf is a killer of the constitution. He’s a killer of male and female students. The entire world will see him hang,” Baloch said. Pakistan’s Geo television showed scenes of pandemonium inside the mosque, with dozens of young men in traditional Islamic clothing and prayers caps shouting angrily and punching the air with their hands. Officials were pushed and shoved by men in the crowd. One man picked up shoes left outside the mosque door and hurled them at news crews recording the scene.
Maulana Ashfaq Ahmed, a senior cleric from another mosque in the city who was assigned by the government to lead the prayers, was quickly escorted from the complex, as protesters waved angry gestures at him. Wahajat Aziz, a government worker who was among the protesters, said officials were too hasty in reopening the mosque. “They brought an imam that people had opposed in the past,” he said. “This created tension in the environment. People’s emotions have not cooled down yet.” Security was tightened in Islamabad ahead of the mosque’s reopening, with extra police taking up posts around the city and airport-style metal detectors put in place at the mosque entrance used to screen worshipers for weapons.
Pictures from BBC.
“When they take a step, they do it within the confines of international law, follow the international conventions and take responsibility for the consequences. If they don
I like Shirin Mazari’s suggestion that Mosques should be under the control of the people of the neighbourhood. Some respected person among them can lead the prayers, or if they want, they may appoint someone as Imam. There should be no need for the government or other religious outfits to get involved in this process. The locals will also have an interest in ensuring that the Mosque remains a peaceful place rather than turning into a lal masjid.
I can only wonder at whose cause are these people serving. Mosque is a symbol of peace and tranquility and it does not belong to one person or sect. it should not be used to do politics. It is a property of all muslims. it does not matter who leads the prayers as long as he is capable of leading it.
May God guide us all
I feel the the cause of this and so many other problems is far more basic than Musharraf, Maulana Ghazi, or the extremists among us. It is illiteracy, inscurity, and poverty. Educate the awaam, and give them some hope and see how the extremists automatically disappear. We can imprison and kill all the “terrorists” we want but NOTHING will change until the most basic problems in this nation are solved.
If you go deeper another level, the root cause of illiteracy, inscurity, and poverty seems to be selfishness and dishonesty. Whether it’s our highest officials behind dishonest and greedy, or the your local DSP who can’t go a day without taking bribes. Is something inheritantly wrong with us?
Akif Nizam first I think there are two kind of terrorist we have.
The first one like we have are “brain dead” ppl like taliban or ppl fighting in Iraq who have very limited view of world and hate of “kafirs” alone motivate them to commit atrocities against innocents.
The second group includes ppl like who commited 7/11 in U.K. These are guys who are brought up or exposed to west and do atrocities and anger play an aimportant role in their acts . We all feel some anger toward western atrocities but these ppl take it to extreme. I am not saying that it is morally justified. The problem is west is strong and muslim world is weak and muslim countries are not capable of taking stand. I remember onec I have a debate with a friend in office. He said that we also have extreme why not our extremes are using violence. I replied because “their freinds are sitting in the white house”. I meant that white house or 10th downing street do take some care of interest of these ppl.
Western and muslim civilzation were enemies from 1200-1900 and western minds(policy makers) still think muslim civilization as enemy deep inside their minds. Opposition of Turkey in western union is an example. Creation of “Isreal” took place because west did not wanted to accept an emerging Arab super power.
Anyhow pragmitically speaking we have no choice but to join western civilization while keeping our identity instead of fighting with them. The biggest issue i see with “suicide” bombing (other then moral)is that we are just getting bad name and not getting anything back.
As per Iraq, I think those were orignal words as I have seen the interview. From 1995-2001 , rest of world wanted to shift the embargo but USA and U.K were in the way to lift embargo. Hundred of thousand children died because of shortage of medicine. Even now USA did a very poor job(Rumsfield) in securing Iraq border after 2003 and they are indirectly responsible for death of shias.
We have no control over USA but we do need to cure cancer(religious extremism) on our side.