Helping hand: CDA facilitating Lal Masjid’s re-encroachment

Civic agency agrees to rebuild two of seven illegal mosques razed in 2006.

ISLAMABAD:

The Capital Development Authority has agreed to build a boundary wall around the amenity plot where the controversial Jamia Hafsa girls’ seminary once stood, facilitating Lal Masjid’s reoccupation of the plot.

The civic authority also assured the Lal Masjid administration that it would rebuild two of seven illegal mosques razed in 2006 as part of its campaign against illegal mosques and seminaries across Islamabad, a move which culminated in Operation Sunrise — the siege of Lal Masjid.

The mosque’s head, Abdul Aziz, held a meeting with CDA Chairman Maroof Afzal on Thursday at the authority’s headquarters. The meeting lasted for well over an hour and was also attended by CDA board members.

While asking not to be named, a senior CDA official who was present at the meeting confirmed that Aziz has been assured that construction work will be initiated “soon”.

“After consultation with board members, the CDA chairman assured Aziz that construction work will start within a week,” said Aziz’s assistant Abdur Rahman, who also attended the meeting.

‘Lal Masjid wants implementation of accord’

In 1992, Lal Masjid encroached upon a two-acre amenity plot adjacent to the mosque and built Jamia Hafsa on it. The plot was originally marked for a women’s library, a social club and a gymnasium. The seminary was razed immediately after the Lal Masjid operation in 2007.

Later, in October 2013, the Lal Masjid admin erected a four-foot high boundary wall around the plot to reclaim the land. The CDA tore down the wall after public outcry over the re-encroachment attempt.

The Lal Masjid administration claims the authority had promised to rebuild the wall at its own expense “later”.

At the time, the CDA, however, did not acknowledge any such verbal agreement, but on Thursday it assured Aziz otherwise.

Rebuilding demolished mosques

After federal government directions in 2006, the civic agency launched an operation against some 80 mosques and seminaries built on encroached land and razed seven of them. All of the razed mosques were, in one way or the other, affiliated with Lal Masjid. The demolition of illegal mosques was the beginning of the notorious vigilante ‘vice and virtue’ campaign ordered by the Lal Masjid administration.

“Five of the seven demolished mosques have already been rebuilt, while one in Sector G-11/4 and another in Orchard Scheme on Murree Road have yet to be reconstructed,” Rahman said. He claimed that the CDA chairman had assured them work on both projects will be initiated soon.

He threatened that the Lal Masjid administration will start construction work on its own if the CDA does not follow through.

‘Encroachment illegal, against Islam’

When asked about the justification for building a mosque on encroached land, Pakistan Ulema Council Chairman Tahir Ashrafi said there are none. “Religious scholars are unanimous that building mosques on encroached land is illegal and against the teachings of Islam,” he told The Express Tribune.

He said he did not know of any agreement between the authorities and Lal Masjid. “If there is any agreement with regard to reconstruction of Jamia Hafsa, the government should implement it at once and also make the details public,” Ashrafi said.

He said mosques built on encroached land such as green belts are a common sight in Islamabad. “The government should devise a comprehensive policy to deal with the issue of encroachments in the name of religion,” he added.

The CDA chairman was not available for comment.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 20^th, 2014.