The Lal Masjid saga represents the struggle that is undergoing in Pakistan between the extremists and the moderates and it is not going to be resolved anytime soon. ILLUSTRATION: ANAM HALEEM
At the same time, the report of the one-man commission avoids fixing responsibility and also why the civil administration failed to tackle the problem. The larger question whether peaceful negotiations were possible also remains unanswered. While the report says that then prime minster Shaukat Aziz and president General (retd) Pervez Musharraf gave the “final decision”, it falls short of apportioning clear responsibility and the logical action to be taken. It has become commonplace to blame General (retd) Musharraf for everything that happened during 2007 — from the Lal Masjid fiasco to the imposition of emergency and to the assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto. The truth of the matter is that the civilians — both in the political sphere as well as in the bureaucracy — were fully involved in the decision-making.
Former ministers Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and Ijazul Haq have also been blaming General (retd) Musharraf in a rather opportunistic style. The Aziz brothers of Lal Masjid had challenged the writ of the state, amassed weapons in a seminary and were out to impose their brand of Sharia in Islamabad and elsewhere. General (retd) Musharraf was mocked for not taking action and once he did, he received harsh criticism for his actions. The media’s role in this episode also requires a fresh look as some media persons became a party to the conflict as it unfolded. The role of negotiators and competing intelligence agencies required a deeper investigation. The Lal Masjid saga represents the struggle that is undergoing in Pakistan between the extremists and the moderates and it is not going to be resolved anytime soon. Sadly, the commission report raises more questions than it answers.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 29th, 2013.
COMMENTS (15)
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Evenif Ghazi brothers and their armed persons were culprits (it is debatable though), about 2000-3000 innocent children studying their were surely innocent, who were crucified there, and their bodies finds in Islamabad Nullahs (nalahs), girls and boys together. Our army with intelligence and commandos had the capabilities to catch the 100 militants there with much less bloodshed. I think objective was to show to US, EU and NATO what Musharraf and his close associates (including Ijaz-ul-Haque, Chaudhary brothers etc.) were prepared to do for them, to seek the support of US, EU and NATO to support them remain in power for yet another 5 years or So. Unfortunate for them, this went out of their control and all of them are now being humiliated, either by Courts, by public through pools in Pakistan Elections 2013 or by poor afghani gorilla forces in Afghanistan.
The responsibility lays with the Ghazi brothers and their fassadi henchmen armed with automatic weapons. Our Country is made up of hypocrites. The surviving Ghazi brother should have been sent to the gallows along with his militant supporters. The Musharraf government should have been praised for taking action against these anti-state traitors to set a precedence for other cowards like the TTP who attack innocents and hold them hostage to get more power by blackmail.
Yet our shameless media, print and electronic, is as guilty as the militants themselves. The media clouds the minds of the people with hypocrisy - first they called for action, when it happened, then they played to the militants music and condemned Musharraf and the Army and lied to the nation about dead women and girls when there was not more than one!
So why cry over this self-created situation? Pakistan is not too far from becoming another Somalia. Our media, right wing politicians and the militants are working hand in hand to ensure this. So I wish them the best and hope they enjoy the many coming decades of total anarchy and hypocrisy as it reigns supreme!
will there be a time that the Reports of different commissions would lay responsibility on Someone??????????
if its just raising more questions than answering the Real questions then what the fun in having inquiry commissions, its sheer wastage of resources. Pathetic to say the least.
So everybody is scared of TTP........??????
Finally a fair editorial on the Lal Masjid episode. Most of the media are either dishonest or scared of militants to openly call the operation as justified. But they forget that everyone was watching the incident unfold in front of their eyes and know the same media persons were critical of the gov't for not taking swift action in 2007. I mean, what do they think people will forget that it was the militants who terrorized Islamabad for months? Musharraf and the gov't was right in taking the action.
@Muneer: PPP did order the Swat operation and also South Waziristan operation but the Taseer incident and the reception given to Qadri by the Rawalpindi bar no less shook them and made them realize that the radicalization had spread far wider than they suspected.
That is why one should salute Indira Gandhi. She nipped the bud when she ordered Blue star. There is peace in Punjab now just because of her.
The way media and judciaryhas been portraynig Lal Masjid incident is shameful. Our 'Independent" media's behavior is so insidiuos that they from the day one have been claiming "shahadat" of innocent girls but have not produced even a single interview of the parents or relatives of these "shaheed" girls.
Media and judiciary neglect the acts of terrorism and challenging the writ of the state by so called "jihadis" of LM.
This lie is continuing even today and no journalist, anchorperson is raising the question of veracity of the claims by LM authorities.
On the other hand Ulemas and religious leaders are silent over voilance, sabotaging activities of LM jihadis. Were these terrorist not to be eliminated for spreading anarchism in the state according to sharia ?, rspected Ulemas please guide.
The Army should have taken out the Burka-clad Aziz right then...
A very apt and timely editorial which highlights the real and most dangerous issue confronting the country.The SC commission Lal Masjid report is incoherent,contradictory and imbalance to say the least.It adds fuel to the fire.The aim of TTP and its ideological and physical supporters is to enforce their ideology of Sharia by force and this they propagate openly.The commission's report encourages this trend by being extremely sympathetic to their cause.PML(N) and PTI are also too soft towards them.The reason of their softness may be ideological or stems from the fear of bomb blasts and suicide bombers.Both are forgetting that if they come to power and do not follow TTP agenda,It will force them to implement it by the tactics of violence.PPP though as per its declared policy was against them but its manifestation in practical terms and measures was intentionally very weak,ineffective and caused almost no damage to them.Until and unless political parties and the government stops this 'Appeasememt Policy', the portends are bleak and threatening.
Everyone knows that negotiations were given more than enough time. The 'innocent students' armed with sniper riffes, automatic weapons, gas masks are responsible for the murders of military personnel & creating law and order situation. The best option was exercised and these mass murderers were neutralized. Unfortunately, even today justice has not been served to 'Maulana Aziz' and he continues defaimng Islam and nourishing un-islamic barabrians. Gen Musharraf should now understood [though its too late] that Chaudary Brothers arent even loyal to each other, how could have they been loyal to him?
A very well written and unbalanced article.
Agreed
Lal Masjid commission reports indicates the growing dominance of the right wing mindset. Imagine what would have been the courts response, had it happened in a university by some activists of a left wing student union.
As usual there is a whole lot of nothing in the report and big waste of time and money of the poor nation.