The armed brigade of the Lal Masjid set up defensive posts on the road outside the mosque from on Saturday in case of attack from the law enforcement agencies. In a fresh development, the stick-wielding students of the Jamia Hafsa and Lal Masjid established their posts at all the entry points leading to the mosque and took positions.
President General Pervez Musharraf recently said that Lal Masjid management is harbouring suicide bombers and Maulana Abdul Aziz criticised the President for his action against the Jamia during the Friday sermon. Maulana Abdul Aziz also warned of retaliation and of suicide attacks, if law enforcement personnel entered the mosque. He also termed the present system of government as dirt and vowed to fight it till the last moment.
During the current week, Maulana Abdul Rasheed Ghazi, Naib administrator of Lal Masjid was seen for the first time with a Klashnikov hanging on his shoulder while talking to the media. On Saturday, the law enforcement agencies were more alert and mobilised in the federal capital, which indicated that a new strategy of crackdown against the seminary students, who had been challenging the writ of the government is in the offing.
Sources said that the government has decided to carryout an operation following the seminary students' raid on a Chinese massage centre at posh area of F-8 sector. The workers were abducted and later released on the diplomatic intervention.
It is also learnt that the government has also brought in army commandos with latest equipment for a crackdown without loss of life. A senior official of the Islamabad Capital Territory did not confirm the plan saying that the mobilisation of security personnel is a routine exercise.
According to other reports, the government is losing hope of settling the issue through dialogue as the hard-liners had crossed all limits and left no option. "With the dawn of every new day, the maulanas of the Lal Mosque create new difficulties for the government by challenging its writ", said a senior official. "Let us see what happens, but we have to secure our citizens at any cost", he concluded.
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.