Lal Masjid, Islamabad: Difference between revisions
| Line 17: | Line 17: | ||
* Terrorizing people and businessmen |
* Terrorizing people and businessmen |
||
A soft approach taken by the government |
A seemingly soft approach taken by the Pakistani government in dealings with the mosque led to accusations of leniency on the part of General Pervez Musharraf. |
||
== Siege == |
== Siege == |
||
Revision as of 18:15, 5 July 2007
 | This article documents a current event. Information may change rapidly as the event progresses, and initial news reports may be unreliable. The latest updates to this article may not reflect the most current information. (July 2007) |
 | This article needs to be updated. |
 | This article may need to be rewritten to comply with Wikipedia's quality standards. |
Lal Masjid (Urdu: لال مسجد, literally Red Mosque) is a radical mosque following Salafi version of Islam located in Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan. A religious school for women, the Jamia Hafsa madrassa, as well as a male madrassa is attached to the mosque.
Controversies
Throughout its existence, the mosque has continuously been patroned by influential members of the government, certain prime ministers, army chiefs and presidents. The Lal Masjid has since been at the centre of radical and fundamentalist teaching and houses several thousand male and female students in adjacent seminaries. [3]
Pakistan's longest ruling military dictator, General Zia-ul-Haq, as well as subsequent ISI officials had very close relationships with Maulana Abdullah, the former head of the mosque, who had a long history of fanning sectarianism. After his assassination, his sons Abdul Aaziz Ghazi and Abdul Rashid Ghazi took over the mosque.
Recently, they have started to challenge the writ of the government in the capital, by setting up parallel Taliban style judicial system, and by instigating scores of incidents of kidnappings, arson, and murder. [1] [2] In recent statements, Ghazi openly threatened the government with suicide bombings. Some high profile incidents include:
- Kidnapping of ten Chinese nationals, several law enforcement officials, women and children
- Destruction of public and private property
- Taking over children's library
- Terrorizing people and businessmen
A seemingly soft approach taken by the Pakistani government in dealings with the mosque led to accusations of leniency on the part of General Pervez Musharraf.
Siege
On July 3, 2007, the stand off with the government ended in bloody gun battles in which over twenty people, including students of the mosque, media persons, paramilitary personnel, and a businessman, were reportedly killed and over a hundred others were injured. [3] An FIR was later registered against Ghazi brothers with charges ranging from kidnapping, and murder to treason, and terrorism.
To avoid collateral loss, on July 4, 2007, the government offered amnesty to juvenile students if they surrendered. Hundreds of his radical followers reportedly surrendered. Aaziz Ghazi tried to take advantage of the situation by attempting to slip through a tightening siege while wearing a burqa. His unusually taller physique and a relatively fat belly alarmed a policewoman as she searched fleeing students in central Islamabad. He was, consequently, arrested by law enforcement agencies. At the current time the standoff continues as the military of Pakistan raided the mosque in the evening of July 5, 2007.
References
External links
 | This mosque or other Islamic place of worship article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |