The Red Mosque saga

Depending on your point of view, luckily or unluckily, the entire siege and hostage drama occurred when I was visiting Pakistan and had the chance to observe the unfolding drama closely. A week-long wage-war led to the bloody operation that resulted, according to sources, in the killing of about 150 people including the murder rebel cleric Abdul Rashid Ghazi.

The world has watched on TVs the extra ordinary use of heavy weapons by the militants. According to the administrative sources, there were land mines, bunkers and grenades at the besieged premises. The entire capital was declared a red zone and the life was paralysed due to an ongoing curfew. At the start of the operation the militants shot dead an army colonel. The fighting was so horrifying that bullets hit many high-rise buildings located few kilometres away from the scene. The militants were fully trained and fearless.

This has all happened in the heart of the capital - Islamabad - the most modern and supposedly secure city in Pakistan. The city has many agencies and secret services supposedly monitoring unusual activity day and night. So how were the dangerous weapons stored at the premises and how were military-style bunkers built and mines deployed? This is something Musharraf’s government should answer now.

Terrorist attacks, bomb blasts and shootings at public places are a part of life in Pakistan. People are used to bloody incidents. Power thirsty political leaders are desperate to use every possible opportunity, including events like the terrible siege of Lal Masjid, for their vested interest. Their main goal is only how to be the ruling power.

Even while this terror drama was happening almost all the top leaders of the major political parties were entertaining grand meetings in London and discussing how to launch a campaign against the present regime. Just for the sake of being in power the political leaders were negotiating the shared power with the army rulers.

In the context of the Lal Masjid incident, one of the main rivals of President Musharraf and the self-exiled leader of Pakistan’s major political party, Pakistan People’s Party Chairperson Benazir Bhutto said that although her political credibility would suffer if she joined the military-led government in Pakistan, it would be good for the country’s democratic, constitutional and development interests.

Western leaders, especially those from the UK, US and Australia, have congratulated President General Pervez Musharraf on what they call a successful operation and have offered their full support. Does this mean that the incident of Lal Masjid will automatically lead to the West endorsing another couple more years of military- power? We will have to wait and see how the post-Lal Masjid situation developes.

Nevertheless, whether General Musharraf is given further time to rule or whether he is forced out with another change in Islamabad, the important question remains standing: whether Pakistan will ever be free from religious extremism, military rule and foreign dominance. Will there ever be true democracy and will the people of Pakistan be given freedom to choose their destiny?