Lal Masjid operation: Ghazi’s son files plea against police

Claims the police refused to file FIR against Musharraf despite court orders.

ISLAMABAD:

Son of former deputy cleric of Lal Masjid Abdul Rashid Ghazi, Haroonur Rashid Ghazi, filed a contempt application on Thursday against the police for non-compliance with the court’s orders to file an FIR against former president Pervez Musharraf for initiating the Lal Masjid operation.

Justice Noorul Haq N Qureshi on July 12, 2013 had ordered the police to book the former president, and if the Lal Masjid operation was a cognisable offence, a case be registered against Musharraf for the death of Ghazi and his associates. However, the police refused to register the FIR saying that it would do so after consulting with their legal branch.

The petitioner has cited Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Farooq Yasin, and Station House Officer (SHO) Aabpara Police Station, Qasim Niazi as respondents, in the contempt plea. The petitioner has contended that he approached the police station concerned after the court’s decision; however both the SHO and the SSP refused to register the case.

Earlier, Ghazi had recorded his statement before the Aabpara Police following the court’s directives.  In his written statement, submitted to the police, Ghazi said that the former president had made threatening statements on two occasions before the final military operation was launched in 2007.

He told the police that Musharraf had threatened the Lal Masjid students and its clerics with grave consequences, which indicated that he was already prepared to use force against his father and Lal Masjid students.

Registrar Islamabad High Court has yet to fix the date of the contempt case.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 19^th, 2013.