Islamabad - Thousands of hardline Islamists on Sunday
gathered in Pakistan's capital to commemorate the first anniversary
of a military operation against the extremists in the Red Mosque.
Dozens of religious leaders from across the country and more than
3,000 people, mostly students from Islamic seminaries, chanted 'God
is great' and 'We want martyrdom' during the rally held outside the
mosque known as Lal Masjid.
Around 4,000 policemen were deployed to guard the venue for the
rally, named the 'Red Mosque Martyr Conference.'
The roads leading to the mosque were blocked with barbed wires for
vehicles. Four walkthrough gates were installed and the participants
were being checked with metal detectors.
The speakers blasted President Pervez Musharraf for ordering the
violent July 10, 2007 operation.
'The Pharaoh of the age (Musharraf) killed thousands of our
children whose only crime was that they were learning Quran,' said
Qazi Nisar, a radical cleric whose followers blocked the highway that
connects Pakistan and China across KoraKoram Mountains for several
days during the standoff a year ago.
'We will never forgive him for his atrocities against the innocent
people,' he added.
Security forces surrounded the mosque on July 3, 2007 following
clashes between the police and the seminary students, who had
abducted several women alleging them to be prostitutes and threatened
music shop owners to give up the trade under an 'anti-vice' campaign.
A week later military commandos stormed the mosque in a pre-dawn
operation. According to the government 100 people, including 12
soldiers, were killed in the action. Abdul Rashid Ghazi, younger of
the two radical brother clerics of the mosque, also died while
fighting the troops.
The elder brother, Abdul Aziz, was arrested a few days before the
final assault fleeing while disguised as a woman. He remains in
police custody since then.
Supporters of Red Mosque extremists claim the real death toll was
much higher, possibly in thousands.
The operation is considered a significant incident in the recent
history of Islamic militancy in Pakistan, as it was followed by a
series of suicide attacks on security forces which killed more than
3,000 people during the past year.
Though backed by Pakistani liberals, the mosque action remained
highly unpopular among the general public and became one of the
reasons for the defeat of Musharraf's political allies in February 18
elections.
Emotions were still running high a year later.
'Ghazi has won respect and honour by sacrificing his life for
Islam, but his killers will continue hiding from people until the day
of judgement,' speaker Maulana Azizur Rehman told the rally.
He demanded the immediate release of Abdul Aziz and the rebuilding
of the Islamic seminary, Jamia Hafsa, demolished by the government
after the operation.
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