While watching the tragic incidents of the Lal Masjid unfold on television sitting thousands of miles away from Pakistan, my heart was full of grief and sorrow. What have the brothers of Lal Masjid and Jamia Hafsa done?
The Jamia Hafsa has apparently been built upon the foundations of hatred and abhorrence. But of what? Of the message of Quran and Dawah? They have done their best to destroy the message, teaching and understanding of the Holy Quran.
Where are those muftis who were delicately raising the issue of hijab? Haven't they seen the pictures of our sisters from the Jamia Hafsa out on the roads facing tear gas shelling, bullets and on the top of everything several thousands of camera. I cannot stop dwelling on the verses of the Quran about Masjid i Zarrar.
Hafiz Aziz ur Rehman
The Australian National University
Canberra
(2)
It has been three days since the Lal Masjid crisis began but it is still not completely over. Some people think this is a well written and drama unfolding in front of the whole world.
After the conclusion of this seemingly endless episode the government is requested in good faith handover Jamia Hafsa, which is one of the largest religious seminaries for females, to the wafaqul madaris or ministry of education to be used as a modern female religious educational institution.
Dr Abid Rauf Orakzai
Hangu
(3)
Former khateeb-e-azam Islamabad Maulana Abdullah was a revered religious scholar, widely respected and greatly honoured. The government had bestowed on him the highest civil award in recognition of his meritorious services for creating religious harmony and tranquillity. His murder by unknown assailants was part of religious extremism, which has so far claimed hundreds of ulema belonging to various schools of thought.
After the assassination of Maulana Abdullah, the government should have appointed some other scholar of the equal stature. But the government honoured his two sons, Maulana Abdul Aziz Ghazi and Maulana Abdur Rashid Ghazi, by appointing them as khateeb and naib khateeb respectively. The younger son had already been serving in a government ministry as a Grade-17 officer, thanks to his father's respectful stature. Unfortunately both the sons proved they were the wrong choice of these prestigious positions.
The Ghazi brothers cashed in on their father's repute and used his followers for their vested interests. Their greed reached an extent that they resorted to illegally occupy government land around Lal Masjid and started using the mosque's vicinity as a sanctuary for those extremists who were involved in acts of terror, arson, kidnapping and murder. In return they received heavy funding from unknown quarters and enjoyed the unimaginable perks of life like powerful double-cabin vehicles, along with Kalashnikov-carrying bodyguards, heavy bank accounts etc. Jamia Faridia in E-7 and Jamia Hafsa in G-6 had thousands of students, both male and female, who were supported through these funds. According to reports, Jaishe Mohammad militants used to train these boys and girls of these seminaries.
The 'Red Mosque' became a symbol of terror and the people of the twin cities who used to offer Friday prayers and listen to the sermon of the father of the Ghazi brothers, now avoided going there.
F Z Khan
Islamabad
(4)
The khateeb of Lal Masjid, Maulana Abdul Aziz, was caught fleeing clad in a black burqa, has exposed the veracity of a movement and slogan for Islamic revolution. The maulana, who did not want to show his face on TV, a plea misquoted from Hadith, now stands exposed before the media, again wrongfully justifying his tricks added with confusion and contradictions. He was not even a true custodian of the mosque. His fleeing in female guise has rendered shame to all of us.
In his is first ever television interview he reveals that he and his brother were hostage to first their whims and then to Jaish-e-Mohammad militants who might still be inside the mosque. Their stand was neither just, nor for the cause of Islam. How can a salaried rehbar be the salar (leader) of the free?
Shumaila Zeveqar
Rawalpindi
(5)
The patience and endurance that President Musharraf and his government showed during the whole Lal Masjid crisis is commendable. The way the government kept giving the Ghazi brothers enough time to surrender and save the lives of hundreds of students inside the vicinity of the mosque and Jamia Hafsa is unprecedented. And in the long run seems to be a good decision, as this contained the loss of life.
Everybody in the government, from the opposition and more importantly the general public, urged the president to storm the mosque and finish the matter. But the president proved that he is not a cruel man and he allowed the inmates of the Lal Masjid time to reconsider.
The 1,200 security personnel and the media have shown resilience and should be appreciated for standing ground since July 3. Without flinching from their duty, proving their mettle in situations that are definitely a test of nerves. And there is consensus in the media reports that the Lal Masjid people provoked violence by first firing at the security men and killing two Rangers.
The public may not have reacted even if the security men had stormed the mosque but President Musharraf made in clear in an interview that: "We don't want to desecrate the mosque, we don't want to take lives of hundreds of innocent girls and boys." So rounds of negotiations held, which the Ghazi brothers rejected. The government showed extreme patience, prudence and endurance. Bravo.
Alvina Majaz
London
(6)
Maulana Abdul Aziz was presumably supposed to appear on a TV chat show to reveal that he had more than 300 dreams in which the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and other luminaries of Islam who had urged him to raise his sword (or rifle in this case) against the government in jihad.
I don't know about him, but had I, being a sinful moderate, been subject to a similar sighting I would have slain myself for the cause rather than escape cowardly clad in a burqa as disguise. Ironically being a woman I would have even escaped.
Maryiam Sheikh
Islamabad
(7)
The nation deserves to know the truth about the Lal Masjid issue. Though the media has covered the government's, opposition's and intelligentsia's' points of view for almost half a year, yet a high level judicial inquiry of senior judges of SCP seems imperative. Why was the standoff allowed to persist for so long?
One opinion goes that the government used this issue to dilute the impact of the popular tours of the CJP to various parts of country. And if not then the government should have taken action earlier so that this matter could be resolved. A high level judicial enquiry should be held so that the truth comes out. However, I end my submission on the note that the education of thousands of students should not be disrupted who were benefiting from these 'madrassahs'.
A Mohammad Ali
Sahiwal
(8)
I want to appreciate the government's strategy and action on Lal Masjid issue. I feel it will help in rebuilding the government's image among the public and abroad and also will have far reaching affects on clerics not to indulge in such acts in the future. I also admire the media's role in keeping us updated, by giving running commentaries from these dangerous sites.
Ahmed Zaffar
Rawalpindi
(9)
To avoid any further embarrassment like the Lal Masjid incident, some things that need consideration:
The government should cleanse itself and all under its jurisdiction of immoral elements. This would be helpful in curbing any kind of support used for blackmailing our government.
Tabesh Khan
Ladha, South Waziristan
(10)
From serene 1999 we have reached the stage where helicopter gunships fly overhead in Islamabad, while a curfew is imposed. Intelligence officials are killed in Quetta, army soldiers in Waziristan and Bannu. Yes, maybe the mullahs lost the battle again, but gathering from the number of persons involved, it seems the clergy have numerous volunteers for their cause that does not augur well for the pro-western governments in Pakistan.
Politically speaking the Lal Mosque mullahs chose the wrong soil for their operations, i.e. they chose a city of civil servants where their growth could not go unnoticed or unchallenged. Moreover these two mullahs overestimated the sincerity of the MMA towards any Islamic politics that involved any real sacrifice. For the scale of struggle that these mullahs wished to launch, they were under armed, with an under trained force.
The Lal Masjid issue maybe construed as a victory for liberalism over "obscurantism" but it also shows that Islamic struggle in Pakistan can now only be stopped by the army and its tanks and not political parties who feel it is their turn to rule.
Let us not destroy Pakistan in fighting our own people on streets with the All-Parties Conference.
M Shaikh
Islamabad
(11)
I appreciate President General Pervez Musharraf on the way he has tackled the situation of Lal Masjid.
Moreover, I would like to add that in the future no mob like the Lal Masjid one should not be allowed to flourish rather it should be eliminated right in the beginning.
Talha Bin Tahir
Islamabad
(12)
The issue of Lal Masjid has been the worst nightmare for the government and people of Islamabad. The law enforcing agencies did a good job through the smooth operation revealing the real face of the so-called contractors of Islam.
Abubakar Yousafzai
Swabi
(13)
Expected but nonetheless disgusting; Sirajul Haq, the provincial president of Jamaat-e-Islami, made a sickening statement which was printed in your newspaper. He said he supported the lunatics of the Lal Masjid and said that the government was not spilling the blood of those illiterate mullahs but of the "innocent students". This statement was hilarious.
I'm also shocked at the mullahs for giving up their "jihad", surrendering and getting on the busses for safety. Yet the most hilarious part was when one of Ghazi brothers, leaders of the Lal Masjid, was caught running away in a burqa! Now, that is what I call comedy!
