Silent majority?: Citizens throng Lal Masjid, demand cleric’s arrest
Police intervene to prevent scene from getting out of hand, protesters vow to return every day till demand is met.
ISLAMABAD:
The city administration on Thursday averted a possible clash between protesting citizens and the Lal Masjid cleric and madrassa students of the mosque.
The civil society activists and common citizens had assembled right in front of Lal Masjid’s main entrance gate to hold a candlelight vigil in memory of the students and teachers who lost their lives in the Peshawar massacre.
On their part, the Islamabad Police not only restrained the organisers of the vigil from using the megaphones they were carrying, but also accepted on-the-spot an application filed by Abdur Rehman Muavia, Islamabad general secretary of Ahle Sunnat wal Jamaat (ASWJ), for ‘appropriate action’ against those gathered.
The application states, “Some representatives of ‘so-called’ civil society gathered in front of Lal Masjid and wrongly alleged that Lal Masjid chief cleric Abdul Aziz was responsible for the Peshawar mayhem…and their act hurt public sentiments.”
The application was received by the Islamabad Police City SP. However, he later informed The Express Tribune that the application was only accepted to “defuse the tension” on the scene.
Soon after the vigil began, the crowd began chanting slogans condemning Abdul Aziz for a recent appearance on a TV channel where he flatly refused to condemn the Peshawar attack and his open admission of mosque’s ‘ideological allegiance’ with terrorist groups including Al-Qaeda and Islamic State.
The protesters demanded that the police arrest Aziz by reopening old cases against him.
Baton-wielding police personnel were present at the gathering, while a handful of Lal Masjid students gathered outside the mosque, having a stare down with the protesters.
Later, when the sloganeering seemed to have degenerated into a shouting match between the protesters and madrassa students led by Muavia, the police called in reinforcements.
A police armoured personnel carrier and Rangers officials soon reached the site.
Magistrate Kamran Cheema and senior police officials then began efforts to persuade the organisers to call off their vigil.
SSP Asmatullah Junejo also addressed the gathering in a bid to peacefully clear the area, however, he cut short his speech after being drowned out by heckling and booing.
“Instead of lecturing us, arrest the terrorist sitting inside the mosque,” came shouts from the crowd. “Protect the general public and their children instead of protecting extremist,” yelled a group at the other end of the crowd.
While some were more democratic, shouting, “Protest is our constitutional right”, others bluntly referred to the Lal Masjid operation, saying “Abdul Aziz is a murderer, arrest him”.
Later, Junejo called the Islamabad deputy commissioner to inform him that the police might have to use force to disperse the gathering as people had started gathering at the mosque to offer Isha prayers.
They later dispersed peacefully while announcing that they will gather again at the same venue at 5pm on Friday. They later also said that they would protest every day till Aziz was put behind bars.
Earlier, the gathering observed two-minutes of silence for victims of the massacre.
They also wrote the names of the victims on a whiteboard. Some participants paid homage to the victims in short speeches.
Jabbar Khan, a civil society activist, said Aziz hurt countrymen by not condemning the incident. “Why is he openly propagating hate? He should be put behind bars,” Khan said.
Naeem Mirza said the Lal Masjid cleric openly supports groups such as the TTP, which claimed responsibility for the attack on the school.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 19th, 2014.
The city administration on Thursday averted a possible clash between protesting citizens and the Lal Masjid cleric and madrassa students of the mosque.
The civil society activists and common citizens had assembled right in front of Lal Masjid’s main entrance gate to hold a candlelight vigil in memory of the students and teachers who lost their lives in the Peshawar massacre.
On their part, the Islamabad Police not only restrained the organisers of the vigil from using the megaphones they were carrying, but also accepted on-the-spot an application filed by Abdur Rehman Muavia, Islamabad general secretary of Ahle Sunnat wal Jamaat (ASWJ), for ‘appropriate action’ against those gathered.
The application states, “Some representatives of ‘so-called’ civil society gathered in front of Lal Masjid and wrongly alleged that Lal Masjid chief cleric Abdul Aziz was responsible for the Peshawar mayhem…and their act hurt public sentiments.”
The application was received by the Islamabad Police City SP. However, he later informed The Express Tribune that the application was only accepted to “defuse the tension” on the scene.
Soon after the vigil began, the crowd began chanting slogans condemning Abdul Aziz for a recent appearance on a TV channel where he flatly refused to condemn the Peshawar attack and his open admission of mosque’s ‘ideological allegiance’ with terrorist groups including Al-Qaeda and Islamic State.
The protesters demanded that the police arrest Aziz by reopening old cases against him.
Baton-wielding police personnel were present at the gathering, while a handful of Lal Masjid students gathered outside the mosque, having a stare down with the protesters.
Later, when the sloganeering seemed to have degenerated into a shouting match between the protesters and madrassa students led by Muavia, the police called in reinforcements.
A police armoured personnel carrier and Rangers officials soon reached the site.
Magistrate Kamran Cheema and senior police officials then began efforts to persuade the organisers to call off their vigil.
SSP Asmatullah Junejo also addressed the gathering in a bid to peacefully clear the area, however, he cut short his speech after being drowned out by heckling and booing.
“Instead of lecturing us, arrest the terrorist sitting inside the mosque,” came shouts from the crowd. “Protect the general public and their children instead of protecting extremist,” yelled a group at the other end of the crowd.
While some were more democratic, shouting, “Protest is our constitutional right”, others bluntly referred to the Lal Masjid operation, saying “Abdul Aziz is a murderer, arrest him”.
Later, Junejo called the Islamabad deputy commissioner to inform him that the police might have to use force to disperse the gathering as people had started gathering at the mosque to offer Isha prayers.
They later dispersed peacefully while announcing that they will gather again at the same venue at 5pm on Friday. They later also said that they would protest every day till Aziz was put behind bars.
Earlier, the gathering observed two-minutes of silence for victims of the massacre.
They also wrote the names of the victims on a whiteboard. Some participants paid homage to the victims in short speeches.
Jabbar Khan, a civil society activist, said Aziz hurt countrymen by not condemning the incident. “Why is he openly propagating hate? He should be put behind bars,” Khan said.
Naeem Mirza said the Lal Masjid cleric openly supports groups such as the TTP, which claimed responsibility for the attack on the school.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 19th, 2014.