There is a general misconception that the Lal Masjid clerics who are making the headlines nowadays owe their ‘glory’ to the blessings of intelligence agencies. The facts tell a different story.

It would be interesting to know how Maulana Abdullah, the late father of the Ghazi Brothers ‘maneuvered’ to get the Khitabat of Lal Masjid and Jamia Faridia. Equally interesting would be to know why masjid and madrasah were respectively named as Lal Masjid and Jamia Faridia. It was the late Field Marshal Ayub Khan, the country’s first military ruler, who got appointed late Maulana Abdullah as the prayer leader of Lal Masjid, on the advice of his spiritual guide, Pir Sahib of Deval Sharif.
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As a student, teachers said he showed no signs of Islamic militancy. Now Pakistani cleric Abdul Rashid Ghazi sleeps with a Kalashnikov by his bed and has vowed to die in his besieged mosque.

Ghazi’s early schooling was at a boys-only Islamic seminary but he never opted for the madrassa lifestyle until the murder of his father in 1998 turned his life upside down.

“He was a normal, moderate student who was well adjusted to a co-educational system,” Naim Qureshi, Ghazi’s teacher at the history department of Quaid-e-Azam University in Islamabad, told AFP.

Ghazi did his Masters in History in 1987-88, and a photo of him and his colleagues still hangs on the department’s wall.

“In studies he was okay but I don’t remember his grades. I remember that he had a normal beard,” he said, comparing it with the bushy, grey, Islamist-style beard that Ghazi now sports.

His teacher said there was little sign of militancy back then. “People do change their lifestyle, after all it’s 20 years on now, but it did surprise me,” Qureshi said.

Ghazi later married into a moderate family and lived a relatively westernised life. He worked with UNESCO. “Ghazi used to share jokes, often spoke in English, moved in mixed company and was an active student,” said a university friend who asked not to be named.

His father, Maulana Abdullah, who headed the mosque, was so angry at his lifestyle that he handed over his property to his brother. But Ghazi was not unhappy, the friend said.

However, he completely changed after a lone gunman shot his father dead inside the mosque. Ghazi joined his brother, who took over the mosque in 1998 and nominated him as his deputy.

Security sources said he had close links with pro-Taliban militants and agitated against President Pervez Musharraf’s decision to back the US-led invasion of Afghanistan.

Colleagues said that in 2004 he survived an attempt on his life and since then had always carried a Kalashinkov with him. “You always find an AK-47 in his car, with him in the madrassa and even at his bedside,” one colleague said.

Source

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Attiya Bibi cries in desperation after her third failed attempt to rescue her minor daughters from Jamia Hafsa. The young widow, a mother of three minor girls, Afshan, Darakhshan and Sana admitted the girls to the seminary two years ago.

Gul Khan of village Govan Ryan, Dir, is another parent who entered inside the boundary wall of the seminary and cried out to call his daughters, Rashida, 12, and Sajida, 13, to come out and go with him. There was no reply and there was a total silence inside the seminary. However, a male voice called back telling him to go back. As he turned back and stepped out of the seminary, he was shot in the leg.

The seminary and mosque site is a scene of indescribable pain and misery. Parents and guardians of students particularly those of girls and minor boys are going through a horrifying experience. Their loved ones have been taken hostage and are used as human shields.

Abdur Rahman was an ambulance aid, who was helping a patient in the vehicle when he was shot in the elbow
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You must have been following up on the bloody, ruthless and queerly transparent siege that is keeping Islamabad on the front face of the media both inside and in international fronts – but let me echo the feelings of a friend who lives in the G-6[The curfew struck sad sector that accommodates the infamous “Lal Masjid”.

Please forgive the anonymity that this text proclaims.
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I am a resident of G-6 sector and my house is about one km away from the mosque that is under the bloody siege. Since some days, my sector has been under a curfew. I live with sounds of bullets being fired, different voices of lal masjid people and rangers being amplified through megaphones, cries of people getting hurt, and a lot of other things.

But the aspect that I will emphasize over here is the inconvenience this is causing in my personal life. There are different, unscheduled times when the curfew is relaxed and we are allowed to go to markets. The commodities are available in mobile utility store vans but are short of demand and are expensive than what is the normal cost of them. The uncertainty in our lives of as to when the curfew will end is affecting my job routine as well, because I have not been able to go to work as well. I am most profoundly been very worried about patients who are living in our sector and how this catastrophic drama is putting more than just the people at siege, but also their hope at the disposal of incarceration.

Although I am not in the condition nor have the knowledge of what should be the actions of the people involved, but I do condemn the act of making a satirical irony of the lives of people living in G-6 and in the vicinity of G-6.

That – my friends – is the real irony.

Curiosity is in human nature (and in cat’s too). We tend to live seeing our difficulties et al. and none so other … children perceive different angles to life. For me, at least, glimpse of army weapons, vehiclesm even army men, has been always fun. And when I saw this naive image in an online paper, couldn’t resist sharing with our readers this side of the Lal Masjid saga. Children of this age have lot to see at this tender age … she’s one alike kid. Curiosity forces her, despite curfew and battle-like situation, to have a second look in.

Words will end the hidden mesmerism in this picture ….!

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It was apparent from the very beginning that any operation on the Lal Masjid would lead either to the extraction or the elimination of the fanatical seminaries inside. And till now, the situation remains firmly in the hands of the forces besieging the mosque. The half a victory has been claimed as one of the two radical brothers has already been caught, although quite dramatically. While the other one is putting on a show of his own, if not a burqa. What he does next can only to be speculated but there is a unanimous feeling that the younger brother will have to surrender himself to the forces. The forces that comprise of the army, the rangers, the special services groups, armored vehicles, snipers, special operations groups and various other siege weapons. Or they will capture him from the mosque by forcefully infiltrating the compound. The probability of him dying in a gun battle is equally imminent, however such a case is not wished upon anyone in this world.

With his fire-brand speeches, fatwas, and Juma sermons, Choatay Maulana Abdul Rasheed and the Maulana beraderan had earned himselves notoriety, not only at home but also in the entire world. With the help of western media, all of this was kept under wraps to a good extent. This is where one realizes that a deeper alliance, or more appropriately, friendship exists between the President and the western coalition countries. From time to time, the General has been scrutinized and poked with questions and demands for not doing more in the war on terror, but seemingly it was all a part of the circus to push Mush to take actions against rebellious factions.

This might be his moment of glory!

Gen. Musharraf, was targeted yet again as someone attacked his aircraft today minutes before it was to take him to Turbat. Fortunately the terrorist miss-timed everything and ended up revealing his position. The terrorist fled the scene (on a motorbike) where an anti-aircraft gun, and an automatic machine gun where found. Reports have it that a person has already been caught in this separate drama on the other end of the national Capital. What doesn’t come to mind of many a people like me, is the fact that this might be another setup. How? I have no idea. In the same light, a lot of our blogger friends think that the Lal Masjid crackdown is nothing but a staged operation. Even though I hate jumping to conclusions, in the context of the reasons and arguments they give, it sounds quite plausible. Of course, the first one to jump at the opportunity to appreciate someone like Pres. Musharraf taking down mullahism would be the western media. Gordon Brown facing his own share of domestic problems took time out and called up Musharraf to appreciate his efforts in the Lal Masjid saga. Seems like Mr. Gordon Brown means business when they talk terrorism in their first telephonic chit chat. Good for our boy, he is doing quite well in his class.

He has not only been a target of public anger for mishandling the Chief Justice issue, his love for the seat and the campaign for it have also been heavily disliked. People that are sick of crisis’s like these want to see a quick end to the Lal Masjid operation; a bloodless and peaceful one. A nation that feels insulted and misused by mullahs in general especially after this showdown, are now siding with the government’s stance to eliminate the elements inside Lal Masjid one way or the other. There is a scary undertone to every voice that asks, “When are they going to execute the operation?” But the people are not to be blamed for any of this, as what has transpired was not in any body’s control. I certainly believe that when I say the fervent students of Jamia Faridia, another seminary in E-7, confronted the rangers and the police positioned at Lal Masjid. A Ranger lost his life, a girl along with a few by-standers died with in an hour of the ensuing stoning, burning, and a mindless snatch and run at the buildings near by. The building of the Ministry of Environment was attacked and burned as a sign of protest. Not only that, a government run girls school was attacked too. Hence, as clichèd as it may sound, the writ of the government was being challenged and action had to be taken.

Currently, Mushy’s men have captured one of the two brothers along with scores of supporters slowly coming out of that building, the armed forces have shown exemplary restraint in not targeting anyone on purpose, and repeated calls for ‘safely surrendering’ to the authorities outside. This in turn sends a message of how in control and composed the decision makers are.

Even if he’s not liked at home, Musharraf will certainly be hailed as companion supreme in the global war against terror. Either ways, this might be a ‘win win’ situation for his global repute!

Images used with the courtesy of BBC News, AFP, and AP.