The controversy of the Lal Masjid operation is alive again.
The top court of the country appointed a judge on Tuesday to further investigate the 2007 military operation conducted in the heart of the capital against the infamous seminary.
The one-man commission constituted by the Supreme Court will be headed by senior judge of the Federal Shariat Court, Shahzado Shaikh, and police have been ordered to hand him all documents relating to the case, Asad added.
Heading a three-judge bench, Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry observed that police have failed to satisfy the court despite numerous reminders and directions and ordered a judicial commission to independently probe the matter. The commission is due to conclude its findings within 45 days.
The court also laid down the terms of reference (TOR) of the commission. The TOR requires the commission to ascertain causes and facts surrounding the Lal Masjid operation, such as a breakdown of the number of people who lost their lives during the operations, whether bodies were identified and handed over to their legal heirs and whether any compensation had been paid to the heirs of victims by the state.
According to a report by Islamabad police, 103 people lost their lives during the operation, including 72 militants, 16 unidentified people, four passersby and 11 security agencies’ officials. The new commission will also determine as to whether any action has been taken under the law against the people found responsible by police and whether it is still possible to fix responsibility against the responsible individuals or institutions for this incident. The commission is also authorised by the court to give recommendations besides probing assigned queries.
Meanwhile, Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Tahir Alam told the court that there was no female among the deceased in the operation. The court, however, was not satisfied with this reply. Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed said, “The state should speak truth at least for time being,” rhetorically asking where Maulana Aziz’s mother had disappeared if there were no female casualties. Alam said that a case had been registered in this regard, but no other family members had contacted the police for recovery of their missing beloved ones.
Earlier, in September this year, an anti-terrorism court acquitted the former chief cleric of Lal Masjid, Maulana Abdul Aziz, and 16 other persons in a case involving the killing of a Rangers official.
‘Populist commission’
Critics said the move was a further sign of the Supreme Court meddling in politics and warned it could fan tensions between the state and Islamists.
Political analyst Hasan Askari said it was unclear what the commission could achieve other than to provide militant groups with a forum and reprimand the then government, given that Musharraf is no longer in power or in Pakistan.
“It’s their desire to be populist; they know they’ll get support on this from the Islamists, the right wing and it also goes against the army,” Askari told AFP.
“The army is already unhappy with the judiciary so the judiciary is hitting in all directions and it is causing political uncertainty in an already uncertain and confused political system,” he added.
Background
The army stormed Lal Masjid (Red Mosque) in Islamabad on July 10, 2007, after the then president, Gen Parvez Musharraf, ordered a military operation against the mosque for challenging the writ of the state. More than 100 people died during the operation and the army also demolished Jamia Hafsa, an adjacent girls’ seminary and hostel.
The former chief cleric of Lal Masjid was accused of using the mosque to instigate madrassa students to attack Pakistan Rangers, who were deployed outside the mosque in order to prevent Aziz and his associates from continuing their campaign of public intimidation.
Charges against Aziz include a kidnapping of Chinese massage therapists and hijacking a children’s library in June 2007 as part of his madrassa’s protest against the demolition of seven mosques in the federal capital. (With additional input from AFP)
Published in The Express Tribune, December 5th, 2012.
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PAK army killed women and children present in the madrassa, planted weapons after it was evacuated and were unable to find substantial evidence of any terrorist activities planned or executed from the place. Martyrs on both sides given but PAK army's hands are not clean either specially when they are lead by monsters like Mushsrraf.
The families of the Martyrs of Pakistan Army and rangers regret the observations of the court which denies the action of terrorists holed up in the mosque and blasphemic misuse the mosque premises for purpose of terrorism. The denial of the blood of Martyrs is an act of ingratitude and condemnable mindset. We the people of Pakistan stand with the armed forces of Pakistan and their families who are being made scapegoats in various cases.