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April 16, 2007

Pakistan: Islamists Cripple The Nation - Part One

This article by Adrian Morgan (Giraldus Cambrensis of Western Resistance) appeared earlier today in Family Security Matters and is reproduced with their permission.

Pakistan: An Ally In Crisis

Part One (of three)

In the immediate aftermath of 9/11, Pakistan became an ally in the "war on terror" on September 14, 2001. Pervez Musharraf, as head of the army, had seized power in 1999. He been made the president of the nation in June, 2001. His decision to become an ally with America was seen by some extreme Muslims as a betrayal. Last year, on September 21, Musharraf announced on CBS television a claim from a book he had written, entitled "In the Line of Fire". Musharraf said that he had become an ally in the "war on terror" under duress. He asserted that Richard Armitage, the Deputy Secretary of State at that time, had threatened to bomb Pakistan back to the Stone Age if it did not cooperate with the US. Those claims were vehemently denied, and George W. Bush said he had been unaware of any such threat.

Musharraf refused to elaborate on the claims, citing the terms of his publishers' book deal as the reason. The curious nature and timing of his claim needed to be explained. However, it soon transpired that the purported "threat" had been conveyed to Musharraf by one Lt Gen Mahmood Ahmed, who at that time was head of the Directorate of Inter-Services Intelligence or ISI, Pakistan's intelligence agency. Ahmed was removed from the ISI on October 8, 2001. Ahmed opposed the invasion of Afghanistan. He has since joined the Islamist group Tablighi Jamaat, which has links with the Taliban and which tried to stage a coup in Pakistan in 1995.

Mahmood Ahmed has since been accused by Indian intelligence agents of involvement with the funding of Mohammed Atta, one of the 9/11 terrorists. Ahmed was not the only ISI member to support both the Tablighi Jamaat and the Taliban. Javed Nasir was already a Tablighi member before he was made head of ISI from 1990 to 1993. During the Bosnian war, he approved airlifts of arms which were sent to the Muslim side. Nasir was later to become a key figure in establishing the Taliban in Afghanistan.

The Pakistani US alliance has been shaky at times, but has survived more or less intact for five years. Musharraf stated on Thursday April 12 that there should be "mutual trust" between partners in the war on terror. He said: "Our sincerity must not be doubted. We have contributed a lot and suffered a lot... but we are not disillusioned. If I am bluffing or if the ISI is bluffing, we should be out of the coalition."

Musharraf has had some extreme situations to deal with during his tenure of office, but he is currently presiding over a nation in so much turmoil that it could be heading for a meltdown.

Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan, is currently witnessing a drama in which radical Islamists are openly threatening suicide bombings and demanding that Pakistan implement sharia law. Islamism has been rife in Pakistan's political life for decades, but the current situation is unprecedented. Judges and lawyers have been in conflict with the police in major cities since March 11, and the opposition Islamist party members have also been mounting their own protests. In North-West Frontier Province, adjoining Afghanistan, where the "Pakistani Taliban" have control of some areas, hundreds of people have died in fighting over the last fortnight.

Since November 2002 when a democratic parliament was restored, there have been 66 Islamists sitting amongst the 342 members of Pakistan's National Assembly. These belong to a coalition of six parties, collectively known as the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal, the United Action Front or MMA. The leader of this coalition is Qazi Hussain Ahmed, who heads the Jamaat-e-Islami party, the main group within the MMA.

In September 2005 Ahmed, a supporter of the Taliban and suspected of being linked to Al Qaeda, had called for a revolution to bring about sharia law. The earthquake of October 8 prevented his plans for a national uprising. During the February 2006 cartoon protests members of the MMA openly called for President Musharraf's death. Qazi Hussain Ahmed was placed under house arrest on April 2 last week, but he promised to continue mounting demonstrations against the government.

The current demonstrations by the judiciary and the MMA are mainly in response to an action by President Musharraf. On Friday March 9, he suspended the nation's chief judge, Chief Justice Iftikar M Chaudhry. The Chief Justice was accused of abuse of office, though he had frequently criticized the government's human rights record and its occasional bypassing of legal procedure.

The protests by lawyers have brought about a breakdown in law and order in the country, and have deepened the crisis. However, the sense of the country descending into anarchy has been put into sharp focus by the activities of the mosque complex in Islamabad, where madrassa students and imams have openly threatened to mount suicide attacks. The police have been employed to put down the protests by lawyers, yet the illegal actions of imams and students continue with apparent impunity.

The Lal Masjid (Red Mosque), in Aapara area in the city center, stands less than a mile from the parliament building. It is close to the headquarters of Pakistan's intelligence/security agency, ISI. This agency has become notorious for its furtive activities, and it is claimed that the ISI assisted Pakistan in its illicit acquirement of nuclear weapons technology. It has been reported that several members of the ISI regularly worship at the Lal Masjid. A cadre of former ISI members, including Javed Nasir, have also been named as being behind the agitation of lawyers. They also have been supporting the Pakistani Taliban in Northwest Frontier Province.

The Lal Masjid has two madrassas (Islamic seminaries) within its complex. In January, members of one of these madrassas the Jamia Hafsa decided to take action against a decision by the Capital Development Authority to demolish mosques which had been illegally built in Islamabad. 3,000 students from the madrassa then occupied the only children's library in Islamabad. These women, clad entirely in black with only their eyes visible, have threatened that any action to remove them from the library will be met with violence. The women carry long sticks (pictured) and they are sometimes accompanied by male students carrying Kalashnikov rifles.

One former ISI member, Khalid Khawaja, was arrested on January 26 . He has since been facing a charge of instigating the illegal actions of women students from the Jamia Hafsa madrassa. Khawaja had met Osama bin Laden on several occasions while he fought the Soviets in Afghanistan, and has described him as "an angel". In March the women from the Jamia Hafsa madrassa were demanding that Khawaja be released.

There is another madrassa within the Lal Masjid mosque complex, called the Jamia Fareedia, and students from this establishment have also been involved in the recent protests and dissent. The madrassas are led by two brothers. Abdul Aziz heads the Jamia Hafsa madrassa, and also is the senior imam at the Red Mosque. His brother Abdul Rashid Ghazi runs the Jamia Fareedia madrassa.

The brothers' father was a "fire and brimstone" preacher of jihad known as Maulana Abdulla, who was the senior imam of the Lal Masjid. He flourished during the time of the Islamist dictator General Zia ul-Haq, who ruled from 1977 until his death in a plane crash in 1988. General Zia introduced Pakistan's notorious "Hudood" or sharia laws on February 10, 1979, which made a woman who complained of rape guilty of adultery, unless she could provide four male Muslim witnesses. In 1986, the dictator had introduced blasphemy laws, which stipulate under Pakistan's Penal Code, article 295-C, that anyone who insults prophet Mohammed can be executed. This penalty was later made mandatory.

Under the regime of General Zia, the Lal Masjid made its reputation as a place where an uncompromising and purist form of Islam was preached. It did so with the approval and patronage of the government and the ISI. About a decade ago, Maulana Abdullah was assassinated - shot dead as he crossed the courtyard of the Lal Masjid - and his two sons took over the running of the mosque and its madrassas.

The brothers claim to have met Osama bin Laden, and during demonstrations by their students at the children's library, the protesters have chanted the names of Osama bin Laden and Mullah Omar (head of the Taliban). Abdul Aziz is the senior of the brothers, and he openly condemns President Musharraf. His brother Abdul Rashid Ghazi has recently claimed that they have the full support of the Pakistan Taliban, who are based in North-West Frontier province. Many of the students at the Red Mosque madrassas come from this province.

Since the president became an ally in the "war on terror", there have been calls at the Red Mosque for Musharraf's death. One such speech was delivered by Maulana Masood Azhar, head of terrorist group Jaish-e-Mohammed. According to Italian news agency AKI, there are links between the Lal Masjid and the four suicide bombers who killed 52 people in London on July 7, 2005.

The publicity which the recent demonstrations garnered have led Abdul Aziz to make more demands of Pakistani society. On Sunday March 25, he announced that he would set up his own FM radio station in the city. He said this would start with an initial radius of 4 miles, extending to 25 miles. The radio broadcasts have since been jammed by the government, and his website has been blocked.

The next day, women from the Jamia Hafsa madrassa rampaged through video and music stores in Islamabad. Aziz' brother Rashid Ghazi said: "Our students launched a campaign against the vulgar video films in the city. They approached shopkeepers and advised them to remove all vulgar films from the shops. One of the store owners pointed out that a brothel is operating in the area and it should be the priority."

The "brothel" was then invaded. This was the home of an elderly women called Aunty Shamin (pictured) . The women fanatics abducted the woman, her daughter, her daughter-in-law, and also her six-month old granddaughter. The kidnap victims were taken to the Jamia Hafsa madrassa.

On March 27, police attempted to arrest female teachers of the madrassa as they left their homes. Male madrassa students intervened, and two policemen were taken hostage. The policemen were released on March 28. On March 29, the women and baby were released, but only after they read out "confessions" of their immorality. Aunty Shamin said: " apologise for my past wrongdoing and I promise in the name of God that in future I will live like a pious person." She later retracted her statement, and accused the fanatics of tying up the baby. She said: "I don't think Islam allows anyone to beat a woman and drag her through the streets like a dog. They tied me, my daughter and daughter-in-law and my six-month-old grand-daughter up with rope."

News of the mosque complex and its demands for sharia law had by this time attracted the attention of the international media. The leaders of the Red Mosque, faced with no arrests from police and an apparently acquiescent government, prepared to increase their demands.

To be continued....

Adrian Morgan

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Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at April 16, 2007 6:36 PM

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Posted by: Catawhumpus at April 17, 2007 12:38 AM

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