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Lal Masjid: rewarding an insurrection - 21 May 2012
Rewarding an insurrection - 21 May 2012
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The Lal Masjid affair
There are so many questions that remain unanswered about the Lal Masjid and the 2007 operation.
The writer is an independent social scientist and author of Military Inc
In his article of May 21 titled “Lal Masjid: rewarding insurrection”, renowned physicist and columnist Dr Pervez Hoodbhoy seemed upset over Pakistan’s Chief Justice’s instructions to the Islamabad administration to expedite work on the restoration of the Jamia Hafsa, a seminary attached with the notorious Lal masjid. The consternation was caused due to the memory of how the Lal Masjid leadership had held the peace and quiet of the capital and indeed the stability of the whole country hostage in 2007. The entire world watched the gun battle between the army and the Lal Masjid brigade, the casualties of which remain a secret. Hearing the interview of Umme Hassan, the wife of Maulana Abdul Aziz, it is clear that the masjid was being used for more than praying.
Some may even argue that jihadis were collected from all over the country in self-defence but then does any civil servant, which is legally the status of the khateeb of any government mosque, have the right to take up arms against the state and get away with murder? A friend’s father, a retired bureaucrat, recently asked me how come he was constantly under the threat of being reprimanded while Maulana Aziz, who was a government employee and who challenged the state violently, remains untouched.
But why blame the CJ when all he may be doing is following the law. How can he punish Maulana Abdul Aziz when no evidence was actually brought against him by the very government that launched the military operation to clear the mosque of violent miscreants? The fact of the matter is that while Umme Hassan and the entire Hafsa crew talk about hundreds of deaths of innocent young girls and boys, the army which launched the operation did not bring forward any case for the killing of its over a dozen innocent soldiers. Ultimately, it was the Chinese national, who was harassed by the Hafsa-Lal Masjid brigade, who registered the only police case. Perhaps, a suo-motu action may help probe why the then DG ISI chose not to pursue the case, or was it due to the friction between his agency and the MI, which was handling the operation? They say the law is blind so minus an FIR and supporting evidence from the Lal Masjid clerics would appear innocent to the Supreme Court. For those who argue that the judges must create an enabling environment for the presentation of evidence, this can only be done in cases where the sovereignty of the state is threatened such as in the memogate case.
Reminiscing about the military operation in 2007, perhaps, there was never any real friction between the Lal Masjid clerics and the state. Subsequently, Maulana Abdul Aziz was accommodated by the present government using the good offices of the real estate tycoon Malik Riaz, who not only helped rebuild the mosque with a donation of Rs15 million, but also provided shelter to the Madrassa Hafsa which was relocated to Bahria Town Rawalpindi. He has also assisted over 30 madrassas in and around Islamabad, many of which were linked with the Lal Masjid clerics. It is worth reminding that Abdul Aziz’s father followed by his brother Abdul Rasheed Ghazi (who died in the operation) and Aziz himself have worked as assets of the state.
There are so many questions that remain unanswered about the Lal Masjid and the 2007 operation. For instance, why didn’t anyone think of harnessing the maulanas before things had become out of hand? Surely, the armed escort from the Ministry of Interior, which is provided to Abdul Aziz today, could have also been provided then. Or why weren’t the brothers and their team relocated to Rawalpindi or even further? More important, if the Maulana is being rehabilitated in the same place, then was the blood of innocent soldiers and civilians spilled for nothing?
And until we get the answers one can only advise Professor Hoodbhoy to change his route — see no evil, hear no evil.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 23rd, 2012.
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Reader Comments (47)
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It wasn’t necessary, but I think it was justified. If they were innocent people, how come they had so many weapons inside? And please, conspiracy theories are not always true.
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This is a country where Prime Ministers are punished (sometimes even sentenced to death), murderers are showered with rose petals, non-state actors are shielded by the government and anti-national elements are rewarded with prime property. Civil society protests in outrage when 24 soldiers die in friendly fire and remains silent when 1000 times that number die in terrorist attacks, sectarian violence, gang-wars, and political kidnappings. Whatever everyone is smoking, it is pretty heady stuff.
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Nothing far from truth and the questions that author is raising are genuine. Can someone in the government including CJ and DG ISI answer these questions?
I also wish the Pakistan Supreme Court would have looked at decisions from around the world. Here is a decision from the U.S. Supreme Court , Lemon v. Kurtzman 1971popularly referred as Lemon Test or Doctrine.
The government’s action must have a secular legislative purpose;
The government’s action must not have the primary effect of either advancing or inhibiting religion;
The government’s action must not result in an “excessive government entanglement” with religion.
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Beutifully elucidated!!.
Ironic how judiciary was criticized and executive/Governemnt was not even mentioned in the last Article.
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Mosques are supposed to be places of worship, where a man can be one with God, well not if they are Saudi funded, and we all know Saudis are godfathers for our politicians and establishment, that’s why there is no coherent strategy thus decisive action against Saudi funded terror. Our establishment should know how many countries Saudia has destroyed, Somalia, Yemen are just tip of iceberg.
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The article is itself full of conspiracy theories. Answering your question, it’s well known the Chinese run prostitution rackets in Islamabad which Ghazi opposed. But Musharraf, under Chinese pressure ordered the massacre of innocent women & children, just like He jumped into WoT under US pressure.
Now, the Army / ISI realized the mistake. Let’s leave the shaheed Ghazi saheb in peace!
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Mosques are supposed to be places of worship, where a man can be one with God, well not if they are Saudi funded, and we all know Saudis are godfathers for our politicians and establishment, that’s why there is no coherent strategy thus decisive action against Saudi funded terror. Our establishment should know how many countries Saudia has destroyed, Somalia, Yemen are just tip of iceberg.Recommend
Excellent. You have said a lot without saying too much.
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Easily the worst article I have read in some time. Please read up with more facts, this is a national paper, not a polemic where one-off Military Inc. writers can come and sprout the usual USAID-sponsored nonsense. This country needs actual insight.
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Good article. It has a much neutral tone and raises good questions on failures at multiple levels. Its unfortunate that since PM’s conviction, the guns have been turned against judiciary without holding the executive and other organs of the state accountable as well.
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Great article !
I read Hoodboy’s column and it was all one sided. The same can be said about the comments which seemed to be very xenophobic.
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Always right on the money! There is a perpetual establishment in Pakistan which is the true ruling elite. They have been playing double game from protecting OBL to Red Mosque. It is not surprising there are no cases against the terrorists there. The following statement says it all: “Maulana Aziz, who was a government employee and who challenged the state violently, remains untouched.” The only people who have constant immunity are mullah/generals and high judiciary. They have never been tried or punished.
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There are however two points to ponder from both angles;
1. Why Govt allowed the matters to go worse and let it unnoticed for until 6 months (especially when the the mosque was just about few hundred meters away from ISI HQ)? Why not someone questioned both brothers and associates
2. In such operations, typically agencies take care of innocent/hostages while making an attach but did someone has setup any investigation how come such ruthless operation was carried out? Did agencies tried their utmost to avoid any extra killings? We have seen often in past that while carrying out such operations, agencies try even to capture the terrorist alive let alone the innocent people stuck with them.
If we can find the answers of above questions , i am sure many of the responsible would be identified
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Ms. Saddiqa knows it was a stage managed affair. What three letter organization has a HQ a stone throw away? How were so many arms smuggled into Islamabad, which has the best security in the country. Were intelligence officer involved?. How did Lal masjid which has been close to the establishment since the Ayub era decided to start vigilante squads? What were motivating this new behavior, outside influence?
Why wasnt Law allowed to take its course and a FIR registered for their many vigilante activites? Why did Musharraf issue an ultimatum on Day 6, when negotiations were largely sucessful when most of the students left and Maulana Aziz already captured? Why then the operation was launched, when the same could be achieved by maintaining the siege? Why were Predator drones allowed to monitor the operation in restricted Pakistanis Airspce.Why were the paramilitaries and police removed from the cordon area and Commandoes sent? How many people died and who were they? Why were body parts dumped with the rubblw in a landfill? Why was the mosque later shut down and carefully scrubbed with no journalist allowed to document. Why werent cases registered? Why is Maulana Abdul Aziz going scot free?
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Neither those two brothers nor their mother or wife or daughter were innocent no matter how, far, you stretch your imagination and no matter how generous anyone wishes to be. They were organized leaders of a gang of terrorists who were misguided by their own sense of mission and designs against our way of life as we know and practice here in Pakistan. They challenged and raised arms against the state they provoked and threatened the state , they created and incited and lead an insurgency. Our government made a grave mistake and tolerated those idiots too long. They should have been wiped out in a clean sweep right in the beginning, period. Anyone who supports them and wishes to portray them as anything other than what they really were is not a friend of Pakistan and deserves our rejection and even our wrath. And I don’t care what is his title and where he sits because all this is the property of Pakistan and its people and anyone daring to stand against us and with, our enemies, people like those detestable charcters like the mullah Aziz & Rashid & Co. then s/he should announce her/his position and get out of the places where we, the people of Pakistan, have put them.
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I have a question ” was it important to listen to and provide support to people like aunty shamim??? “” How can you justify that. In country like Pakistan, it is not difficult for police and army to provide evidences…… They can even prove an innocent citizen of being a drug dealer etc. we people easily forget about what has happened in musharraf’s era, do you remember innocent people being declared as terrorists and handed over to US govt? later on when they got released from guatanamo Bay, the US govt said that they had nothing to do with terrorism….. we have been creating fake live shows…..accept it or be the part of that fool’s community.
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See no evil hear no evil. Why leave out speak no evil? Why have any press? Why this article? Always waiting for answers that never come. We are still waiting for who killed Liaquet Khan. What did really happen in 1965? There are so many answers to so many questions that we are waiting for in Pakistan.
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The “Red Mosque” has never been a mosque rather a command center fro afghan war. Why people shy to touch that aspect of the mosque and call it HQ of the mujahideens
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It is next to impossible to bring evidence against big ticket non-state actors in Pakistani courts. This is why Mr Hazeez Saeed is roaming free. This is why no one trusts Pakistan in anti-terror matters.
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Mullah Abdul Aziz is a Saudi funded person and therefore, he cannot be touched by our law enforcement agencies. Secondly, many of our soldiers and army officers are now part of this post-Zia mullah syndrome. Mullahs belonging to Wahabi-Salafi religious belief system are therefore the holy cows of this country.
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“But why blame the CJ when all he may be doing is following the law”. Are you being sarcastic?! Ego of this CJ is bigger than Pakistan and all he is interested is throwing his weight around rather than dispensing justice. Why we need to bury our heads in sand?! Let us not cost truth for being politically correct.
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The question is, why was Lal Masjid accumulating those arms, right under the nose of the agencies. If agencies could not detect this, what are they going to save anyoneWhat does a madrasah have to do with guns?
Secondly, why does there have to be a seminary in the middle of Islamabad, this is so in your face. the mosque should remain and the seminary should be moved out to Pindi..
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Why raise questions and not provide answers? What an incomplete piece of journalism. Whoever is looking for answers on the Lal Masjid issue should at least watch the tapes of all the TV coverage of the entire episode which lasted several days. The whole world watched it live. Why waste time and create mysteries out of everything that happens in this country? What a destructive approach. Whether its dengue fever or the lal masjid, or karachi’s target killings everything ends up in a mystery, because speaking the truth is no longer in vogue in this country.
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@Farid
I was about to write my comments but will second your 100%. You just nailed it buddy!!
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@Ali Wali:
Why, what’s wrong with the Saudis?
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Keeping all the facts aside which none of the public is actually aware of, I would rather say one thing only that no matter what Government should have never started the operation in a mosque which is a symbol of peace and a place to communicate with Allah. They could use other means to deal with the issue as have been used by Saudia in past and who so ever thinks that such ethics project unpatriotic approach must analyze aspect of humanity in themselves.
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A very objective reply to Hoodbhoy’s emotional article.
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@ Ali Wali
Whats wrong with the Saudis?
And also, was that Chinese massage parlor business legal? Did they have licensed therapists? Were they not offering other services as well?
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@Mustafa Moiz: Also Saudi family turned Ka’aba into parking lot of a skyscrapper, which in my view is an affront to decency.
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………….one thing which should hold overriding influence over our activities, thoughts and behaviour is never to forget the fact that we are part of a new world, which has been drastically changed by both globalization and techonology! any thing which conveys a poor image of ours to the outside world or tells them that we are not compatible with the modern world does exact an invisible cost upon our country, which we may not see or know of untill it is very late. therefore, we must get hold of our senses and affirm our being part of the world, which we can not run afoul with because we are not an oil rich kingdom!
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Thanks a lot Ayesha. Interestingly, when valid questions are raised, these are termed as conspiracy theories. When conspiracy theories are spread, these are accepted as divine truth.
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I think Lal Masjid affair was an orchestrated affair. Musharaf and establishment were the conductors, It was essential to tell the world that radical fundamentalist threat would sweep every one. Hence all this dirty play.
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This CJ is very selective about justice. It’s his mood and political alignment that moves him to take action on the matter of his liking and against the person whom he adores. He can stretch his authority from Economic to National security matters, he can assume the role of executive to investigator and adjudicator. But it all depends upon his mood. Hats off to you sir and your selectivity.
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Why go too far…simple fact is Lal Masjid was rouge (read pro-establishment), in the heat of the moment and international pressure they got bulldozed (i personally think they had to get bulldozed). This is what happens when curriculam imparts fairy tales (Tariq Bin Ziad, Musa Bin Naseer etc.) instead of rational strategic thinking. People remain uneducated and see the world in the paradigm of military power rather than economic prowess, and when these people become senior mullah they put a whole lot of followers in harms way.
Maulana Ghazi forgot that this type of vandalism might work in Swat but terrorizing the capital has reprecussion. He just couldnt take the reprecussions and his senior maulana bro had to run away in burqa.
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@Uza Syed:
Good comments. What else we can expect from ahmedis on this matter.
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Government : Army Corruption Bad, Government Corruption Good
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CJ has no problem trying to get evidence from Swiss authorities where he has no jurisdiction and he would go to any length to do so but he is unable or rather unwilling to get evidence from Islamabad Police who are under his jurisdiction and cannot deny his request? Apparently Mr Justice isn’t trying enough. One wonders why.
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@Ahmed HM:
Has any of it been proven in a court? How about handing Hafiz Saeed over to India just because India says so?
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What…? This is adding insult to injury. Our tax money is being spent to protect this man! Good to know now I’ll have to restrain the urge to punch him in the face if I see him on the street.
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@Ahmed HM: the version of Islam Saudi family is using to rule Saudi people and propagate in other countries as a foreign policy tool, is violent, intolerant, backward, promotes laziness and mindless bloodbaths. I can’t say anything about massage parlor fanatacies, if it wasn’t legal then CDA should have done something about that not a power hungry Mulla.
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How can the boys and girls at Lal Masjid be innocent if they had weapons in their hands and hate in their hearts? Please explain.
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@ashar:
I concur. Terrorists good. Ahmadis bad.
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They should have used heavy artillery and pulverized the whole lal compound. This would have saved the lives of 10 innocent elite soldiers including the commander a Lt Col who died in order to prevent injury to unarmed women and children. Civil rights and justice the we would still be fighting the case in the court of law with those armed mullah’s mocking the state.
Can anybody give some factual evidence as to how many women children died? Don’t base your arguments without verifying your sources. The elite unit was battle hardened and expelled in killing only armed militants. The easiest course of action was to pulverize the whole compound but that was not taken in order to save lives inside the compound. If you saw TV footage you would have seen 100s coming out with their hands in the air.
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@John:
Couldn’t agree more with you. This would have negated all the shenanigans now underfoot to make this cleric whole.
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@ashar: No, it seems you are mixing up my comments with someone else.
For God sake! No, I prefer and respect Ahmadis on such mullas like Aziz or Rashid or Hafiz Saeed or Omer or Zwahri, and all such ‘traders of the Faith’, anytime. Of course, I do expect better things from Ahmadis, a very decent people and very disciplined and focussed community, because they seem to believe in the philosophy of mutual co-existence ‘live and let live’. Believe me they truly portray Islam as it is and it ought to be, nice and peaceful and clean and co-operative. They do’nt appear to be dealing in self-riteous merchandise of whose faith is purer and whose God truer. I’m very very comfortable with them and by the way I’m a muslim of ‘Sunny’ sect and not ‘Ahmadi’. Recommend
@DevilHunterX:
Really she says Army corruption bad and civilian corruption / democratic is ok?
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@Tch tch:
In case of the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, the crime scene was similarly hosed down to wash all traces of evidence! This seems a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) in Pakistan!
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