Accuses former president of ordering military operation.
Lal Masjid’s chief cleric Maulana Abdul Aziz on Monday filed a petition in the Supreme Court (SC) requesting it to place former president Pervez Musharraf on the Exit Control List (ECL).
The petition, filed by Aziz’s lawyer Advocate Tariq Asad, maintained that the Lal Masjid operation was conducted on the orders of the former military ruler and that his name should be placed on the ECL, to prevent Musharraf from fleeing the country again.
“A judicial commission formed by the SC is currently probing the Lal Masjid operation and has already issued summons to the former president, who has refused to receive the summons,” stated Aziz.
Quoting the example of former ambassador Hussain Haqqani, who despite repeated summons had refused to return to Pakistan, Aziz urged the court to bar former president Musharraf from leaving the country.
The former president, who ended his self-exile on Sunday, is involved in a number of cases including the assassination of Pakistan Peoples Party leader Benazir Bhutto, the death of Baloch tribal chieftain Nawab Akbar Bugti and the Lal Masjid operation.
A probe into the Lal Masjid debacle by the commission is currently underway and as many as 400 witnesses have so far testified before Justice Shahzada Shaikh of the Federal Shariat Court.
PML-Q leader Chaudhry Shujaat, former religious affairs minister Ejazul Haq and Tariq Azeem, in their testimonies before the commission have suggested that Musharraf was responsible for ordering the armed operation against Lal Masjid management and Jamia Hafsa students.
Meanwhile, a writ petition was filed against former president Pervez Musharraf on Monday in the Peshawar High Court. The petition argued that the military dictator should be declared a traitor of the country.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 26th, 2013.
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Maulana Aziz is very lucky the politicians let him off the hook; he should be in jail for raising arms against the state. The Lal Masjid Operation was justified and sufficient time was given for the illegally armed occupants who were terrorizing local neighborhoods and businesses to lay down their arms. It's too easy to let reality get clouded by emotions in Pakistan.
Musharraf must be brought to justice not only for subverting the country and the Constitution but for defying the Government of the day like the Lal Masjid occupants.