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.
The worst part is that as of now I have no idea how I can help. I dont know.
Islam in non-muslim countries is basically due to the influence of Sufism alone. It teaches love and peace. I think those who think otherwise are ignorant of the great service these sufis have done in spreading Islam all over the world
But not THAT sufism which Mr. PMA simply exposed by writing in a post:
here again,,,,,,,,,
I forgot to end my earlier comment with the appeal to the public at large and the government to let some Sufis tackle the problem in the capital city to eradicate ‘extremism” and ‘intolerance” which seems to have become the hallmark of both the confronting parties. I am sure the sufis teachings will do better in saving the situation rather than use of violence by one faction and the use of brutal force against them by the other.
A great lot of conversions to Islam in non-muslim countries is basically due to the influence of Sufism alone. It teaches love and peace. I think those who think otherwise are ignorant of the great service these sufis have done in spreading Islam all over the world. If you see Islam blooming as far as the South and Far East , China, Central Asia, Europe, Russia, America and where not- it’s all due to the teachings of the great Sufis. Wild nations such as the Mongols, the Huns and idol-worshippers of India,,, all owe their conversion to Islam due to these sufis alone and to undermine their position, as has been attempted by some people such as iqbal, have proved nothing more than a self-opinionated burlesque quite away from reality and truth.
IC: Can’t believe, even after lal masjid incident you claim there is no extremism in our religion. In fact these events are very similar to those in other religions when they reached this stage in their progress. Christianity for one had exactly similar satiation with witch-hunting and burning on stakes and all that for those who disagreed with fundis. Then the moderates had clash fundamentalists and moderates won.
In our country there have been plenty of fatwa-e-kufr, death edicts, religious killing and attacks on mosques, churches, imama baras. Blasphemy law is misused amounting to witch-hunting. People accused of blasphemy are often murdered on streets (burning on stake). So hopefully in this clash of moderates vs. fundamentals, the moderates would win too, for the sake of country and Islam. Of course some opportunists like Musharaf and Benazir would try to take advantage but that should not deter us from achieving moderation for our own benefit.
Less conspiracy theories and more reality please.