Pak Mosque Standoff Reaches Dead-end

"We announced to release two policemen as a goodwill gesture," said Ghazi. (IOL Photo)

"We announced to release two policemen as a goodwill gesture, but if the government doesn't accpet our offer, then we can't do anything in this regard," Red Mosque's deputy leader Abdul Rasheed Ghazi told IslamOnline.net.

"We will release the four cops only when our eleven students abducted by security agencies are released," he added.

Dozens of students from a madrassah, or seminary, attached to the Red Mosque late Friday, May 18, seized the four policemen and took them inside, demanding the release of 11 colleagues picked up by intelligence agencies recently.

Armed police took up positions on Saturday close to the mosque, while students armed with batons blocked some nearby roads.

Ghazi said the four policemen were on a "spying mission" outside the mosque when taken hostage.

"We had already advised the local administration not to carry out such acts which could aggravate the situation, but it chose to ignore our warnings," he said.

Interior Minister Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao, Interior Secretary Syed Kamal Shah and senior security officials started negotiating with Hafsa officials late on Friday night.

Ghazi revealed that negotiations with a government delegation led by Chaudhry Shujjat to release the 11 students started last month, but got nowhere.

The Red Mosque stand-off represents the latest challenge facing President Pervez Musharraf amid a political crisis over the suspension of the country's top judge.

Mosques Dilemma

Ghazi further said the government has dragged its feet over the re-building of seven mosques demolished by the Capital Development Authority (CDA), which helped unnerve the students.

"The government is solely responsible for whatever the situation is. It had agreed to re-build the all the seven mosques demolished by the CDA, but construction work has not so far started on even a single Mosque," he contended.

In January, female religious students occupied a children's library next to their madrassah to protest against the demolition of the mosques which the government alleged were built on state land.

The students vowed not to end their strike unless the government pledges to reconstruct the places of worship.

After marathon talks, the government had agreed to re-build the demolished mosques, and a committee comprising government officials and scholars was set up to monitor the implementation of the agreement.

However, the government has so far failed to abide by the agreement.

Crackdown

Federal Minister for Religious Affairs Ejaz-ul-Haq lashed out at the Red Mosque scholars.

"Their actions are damaging the image of Islam in the west," he told IOL.

Ejaz said the government is running out of patience with madrassah students.

"I don’t say that the government is going to launch an operation against them (students). However, if their attitude is not changed, I can’t rule out the possibility of a crackdown," he said.

Ghazi, however, warned of grave consequences if the government tried to crush the students, threatening reprisals nationwide if any operation were launched against the mosque or the seminary.

"I invite the government to conduct the operation and see what will happen in the country," he said. "Any operation will have disastrous consequences."

There are around 12,000 madrasahs in Pakistan, often offering free religious education and board for more than one million Pakistani children, especially in areas neglected by state education services.

Pakistan has placed them under close scrutiny in the wake of the 7/7 terrorist attacks in London, carried out by four British Muslims, including three of Pakistani origin.

The government's heavy-handed approach has alienated many students.

An army air strike in October on the Zia-ul-Koran madrassah in Khar, which killed up to 80 people including many students, had added insult to injury.

The Pakistani government said at the time that the attack targeted the madrassah as it was doubled as an Al-Qaeda training camp.