Masjid or hotbed of extremism?

star_munir · Post by **star_munir** » Sat Jul 07, 2007 10:54 pm

Masjid or hotbed of extremism?
Tripti Varma

Lal Masjid, a mosque located near the headquarters of the ISI in Islamabad, has always been in the news for wrong reasons. At a time when terrorism is the hottest issue on the global front, the mosque is playing a key role in encouraging radical extremism amongst its Muslim pupils.

Jamia Hafsa, the seminary attached to Lal Masjid, houses thousands of male and female students as it funds and trains jihadis under the garb of religion. It is said that majority of the female students of Jamia Hafsa come from PoK, who are brought in here and are brain-washed and trained so as to contribute to the cause of jihad.

Interestingly, sources claim, Lal Masjid has been the apple of Pakistan’s radicals’ eyes, including Prime Ministers, Presidents, Army Chiefs and ministers. And the front-runners in this queue seem to be the ISI staff, who often visit the controversial mosque for prayers.

During the 1980s when the mujahideen was giving a tough fight to the Soviet Union in opposition to its invasion in Afghanistan, the Lal Masjid was headed by Maulana Abdullah, a staunch supporter of Taliban. Interestingly, Maulana Abdullah was close to General Zia-ul-Haq, Pakistan’s longest ruling dictator and supporter of Shariat.

In the late nineties, Maulana Abdullah was assassinated in the mosque and the legacy was inherited by his two sons Maulana Abdul Aziz and Abdul Rashid Ghazi.

Abdul Aziz Ghazi, the chief cleric of the mosque, also runs the largest institute for women in Islamic world known as Jamia Hafsa. An ardent Muslim and supporter of Islamic law, he has always been in the headlines for issuing Fatwas, delivering radical speeches and opposing democracy.

Maulana Abdul Aziz and Abdul Rashid Ghazi have, in the past, admitted to have had links with many of al-Qaeda’s most ‘wanted’ leaders, Osama bin Laden. But, this was before the disastrous September 11 attacks on the World Trade Centre. Till that time, Pakistan's state-sanctioned policy virtually supported jihad.

As America launched a world-wide crusade against terror, and “war-on-terror” became an issue of global magnitude, the Lal Masjid and Jamia Hafsa preferred avoiding the question of their having terms with such terror organisations as al-Qaeda.

However, it has been observed of late that they have been fervently backing "jihad against America" and have condemned President Musharraf, mainly for his support for the war-on-terror. Recently, Abdul Aziz claimed that more than one lakh suicide bombers, including 10,000 in Lal Masjid and Jamia hafsa, were present in Pakistan and were ready to operate anywhere and anytime in Pakistan at the command of their superiors.

Hitting the headlines

In July 2005, the Lal Masjid and Jamia Hafsa attracted much hype when Pakistani security forces attempted to raid the mosque following the 7/7 London suicide bombings.

Authorities said they were investigating a link between Shehzad Tanweer, one of the London bombers and the seminary. But baton-wielding women of the mosque put up a hard fight against the security personnel, preventing them to enter the mosque or the seminary compound.

Since then, the mosque has been at the center of one or the other storm, especially over its attempt to forcefully implement Sharia.

Lal Masjid played a key role in instigating protests in Pakistan against Danish cartoons depicting Prophet Mohammad, which had caused outrage all over the Islamic world.

Also when the capital authority in Islamabad launched demolition of mosques in the city, the mosque students vehemently campaigned against the move. The students, mainly comprised of girls, prevented the authorities from entering its premises, and occupied the building of a nearby library. A round the clock vigil was then set up by the students as they threatened the government with its intention of "fight to death".

The situation was brought under control when the authorities relented and offered talks. The Pakistan government, with the consent of Wafaq-ul-Madaris, then decided to rebuild seven mosques in the capital with the hope of ending the siege of the library by girl students of Jamia Hafsa.

But General Musharraf had no qualms in blaming the banned militant outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed, the principal terrorist outfit in J&K, as being the brains behind the stand-off. Musharraf said the militants of JeM were hiding in the mosque, with many of them ready to carry out suicide attacks.

Lal Masjid again created a furore when Pakistan's former Tourism Minister Nilofar Bakhtiar hugged a French paratrooper after paragliding in Paris. The 'Sharia court' established in the mosque, issued a fatwa against her citing such actions to be anti-Islamic.

Bakhtiar offered her resignation and sought an apology from Mufti Mohammad Yunus of Lal Masjid for damaging her reputation. She served a legal notice on the head of the 'Sharia court' established by the Lal Masjid administration. Despite the fact that her resignation was not accepted by Pakistan PM Shaukat Aziz, she remained adamant and quit the post.

Once again in the name of religion and morality, the students of Lal Masjid kidnapped 9 Chinese nationals, 6 of them women, on June 22 from a massage parlour in Islamabad, accusing them of indulging in anti-Islamic activities.

But successful diplomatic endeavours eventually led to the release of the Chinese citizens after 17 hours of detention. But as it is said, the decision of the clerics to release the detainees was taken keeping in mind Pakistan’s cordial ties with China.

Over the past few decades, the mosque with its jihadi brigade has grown stronger and macabre. With countless fatwas, kidnappings and alleged killings carried out on the orders of clerics and terrorist elements of the mosque, the seemingly holy structure clearly has lost its connection with religion. Lal Masjid is now the terror hub of a distressed Pakistan torn between political groups and extremist outfit

DELETED · Post by **DELETED** » Mon Aug 27, 2007 10:10 pm

DELETED

star_munir · Post by **star_munir** » Tue Aug 28, 2007 1:23 pm

The article was posted just as its current event. I advise you dont take every thing on negative way because i have been observing it from your several posts

star_munir · Post by **star_munir** » Mon Sep 24, 2007 11:47 am

Female suicide bombers to execute attacks in Pak: Report
Lahore, Sept 24: Women suicide bombers could carry out attacks across Pakistan, an Interior Ministry source has revealed.

"There are chances that former male and female students of the Jamia Hafsa, the Jamia Fareedia and the Lal Masjid who managed to escape `Operation Silence` could carry out suicide attacks across the country," the source said.

As per an intelligence report, the involvement of these students cannot be ruled out. The police has been asked to keep close watch on burqa-clad women, youngsters roaming near important installations, especially foreign ones, as well as important personalities, law enforcement personnel and important public and business places.

`The ministry had also circulated special letters in this regard to senior security and administrative officials across the country. Provincial police officers (PPOs) of Punjab, Sindh and Balochistan, NWFP, and the Islamabad police Inspector General (IG) have been especially directed to take precautionary measures on an emergency basis,` the Daily Times reported.

Intelligence agency reports also suggest that in Peshawar, the Kernal Sher Khan Shaheed Stadium on Khyber Road could be a likely target of such an attack.

After receiving the directives, over 2,500 Special Branch personnel of the Punjab Police have been deployed on streets along with other law enforcement officers, sources said.

Bureau Report