The Battle for Lal Masjid Constinues: Another Blast in Islamabad, 12 Killed

Posted on July 27, 2007
Filed Under >Adil Najam, Law & Justice
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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.

Picture from BBCPicture from BBCPicture from BBC
Picture from BBC
Picture from BBC
Picture from BBCPicture from BBC



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.

89 responses to “The Battle for Lal Masjid Constinues: Another Blast in Islamabad, 12 Killed”

  1. D_a_n says:

    I ask why mindless Mullahs deem fit to dispatch innocent Muslims to Gory death by explosions and you call that whining??..Im a Facist for asking the Mullah NOT to blow up anyone they feel is unworthy in whatever way??….

    Im afraid the Mullah has no moral compass left…

    but I guess this is typical of the man who could not bring himself to condemn the mad mullah who shot Zille Huma in cold blood..

  2. Sohail says:

    http://thenews.jang.com.pk/arc_news.asp?id=9

    Shireen Mazari in ‘The News’ opinion section July 25.

    http://thenews.jang.com.pk/arc_news.asp?id=9

    Mir Jamilur Rahman in ‘The News’ opinion section July 28.

  3. I am not some fan of Hamid Mir but I do agree with him on few points which he mentioned in his latest article, “Liberal Fascism”

    tinyurl.com/2wvyw4

    the whiners he discussed in his column exist on this forum as well who always claim ,”we are innocent, why do they hate us?”

  4. D_a_n says:

    @ JayJay…

    Been a long hard day at work..and I feel like rambling :)

    just a few Observations on what you wrote…
    In my personal Opinion (feel free to correct me) …VS Naipul is heavily influenced by his sympathy for those hateful RSS chaps…whose very reason for existance is in opposition to Muslim…
    so I would be vary of putting too much credence into what he writes…
    he lens is a a bit too jaundiced to say the least…
    and in my opinion…these comments from the RSS type Hindus are motivated by frustration that the Muslims have not been ‘abosrbed’ (read subjugated) into the greater Fascist Agenda for India….you may not agree but that is the way I see it…

    Also…you are correct in the statement that our historical context starts from 712 onwards and nothing is mentioned of the immense and rich history before us…that plays itself out in many ways..chief among that is the lack of awareness of the rich heritage which we carry…
    it is natural to feel a very close affinity to the Arab roots of Islam and to feel pride in that is also not an issue…

    however…to be holier than the pope…in my opinin again is not as much influnenced by the lack of historical perspective as much as it is a result of Ziaz pseudo Islamization and the red meat thrown to appease the Mullah in the late 70’s right to the present day…and again…the history taught at school is so terribly out of context that is boggles the mind…
    consider the case of Mahmood Ghaznavi…he is presented as this great Islamic Hero for raiding the great temple at Somnaath….
    conveniently ignoring that his only purpose was to loot and plunder and to maintain his army….there wasnt much to go around in Ghazni..just that fact that he made war on the Hindu is good enough! :)

    same is the case with naming kids Sikander in Pakistan…he was a idol worshipping heathen for sure…but again…he made the Hindu pay is good enough for us…such is the mental break that we have with out indeginous past….

    but having said that…I feel that there is nothing wrong in the Arabization of our names…
    I gave my new born son a nice Arab name …and aknowledging that part of our religious heritage is only natural for us….I love Islamic History, Art and poetry….its is rich beyond measure…

    but yes…I see agree with your point that this Arabization of our Islam has given us mixed results at best..

    a good example are Indonesian and Malaysian Muslims…very and Arabic names…but they are not Arabized and do not suffer from this constant need to out do the Arabs…(although this might be changing as the Mullah is hard at work there as well)…I work and have had the pleasure of working with them so I have a fair idea of this…I often wish we could be like that

    These remarks are not very coherent or structured I know but just ramblings..been a looooong day at work :)

  5. omar r. quraishi says:

    Editorial, The News, July 29, 2007

    Lal Masjid redux
    The government has a lot of explaining to do after the takeover of Lal Masjid on Friday and the tragic suicide attack that killed at least 15 people in nearby Aabpara Market. Before one gets into asking the questions that need asking, it would be instructive to closely examine the press conference of the interior ministry

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