Early this morning in Islamabad, the week-long stand-off at Lal Masjid between radical militants and Pakistani security forces worsened. Via The Times Online:
Heavy smoke drifted over the mosque complex yesterday, only a few miles from the presidential palace and the parliament building. Gunfire and explosions thundered across the city as the codenamed Operation Silence unfolded. At times it seemed as if the entire complex was being flattened.
About 70 militants and 12 soldiers died in the fighting. Among the dead was Abdul Rashid Ghazi, the firebrand cleric who led the rebels during the standoff with Pakistan’s security forces, and who declared he would rather die than surrender.
He assumed command after Maulana Abdul Aziz, his elder brother and chief prayer leader, was caught trying to escape and wearing a woman’s burka last week.
Ghazi, who hoped that his martyrdom would inspire a revolution, was found dead in the basement.
Parents of children who attended schools at the compound prayed for their safety before discovering…
Only 20 boys were rescued by security forces who launched the final assault on the mosque. Others…were still missing as the military cleared the sprawling compound by nightfall, engaging in gun battles with militants, room by room.
As for the girls, some of whom had stated they were ready to die for their cause, out of their own free will:
About two dozen women and girls dressed in burkas fled from the mosque as the the final assault began. Among them was Umme Hasan, the wife of Maulana Abdul Aziz. The head of the Madrassa Hafza, the seminary for women, she was known for her extreme views and claimed to have trained her students to become suicide bombers.
Mushie, in a no-win situation: either he angers moderates or radicals, there’s no in between.
President Musharraf ordered his troops to enter the mosque after an emergency meeting yesterday and a final attempt to resolve the week-long stand-off failed. Hundreds of special forces stormed the mosque at dawn but did not dislodge the well-entrenched militants until well into the night.
Pakistani officials said that they had done everything to avoid a bloodbath that would have brought worldwide condemnation of General Musharraf’s embattled administration.
Whither Pakistan?
Political analysts believe that a confrontation between the Government and Islamists is now unavoidable. “It is a defining moment for both the country and the nation in the battle against militancy and religious extremism,†said Shireen Mazari, the chairwoman of the Institute for Strategic Studies, based in Islamabad. “There is no going back.â€
NPR: Soldiers Storm Mosque in Pakistan, Killing Dozens
NYT [Thanks, Kush]: At Least 40 Militants Dead as Pakistani Military Storms Mosque After Talks Fail
wow.
this reminds me a lot of the 1984 operation blue star situation with the Sikhs and the Golden Temple.
I thought the same, Amira.
The implications here are far worse for Mussharraf, or for Pakistan as a stable political entity, than the Golden Temple event, though.
I just got a cold chill in the pit of my stomach. Not good, not good…
Anna, thanks for blogging this.
I found some excellent (non-MSM) coverage on Chowk that I thought I’d link to. I really liked Pervez Hoodbhoy’s article for background and analysis. It was published just before the storming, and I found it quite eye-opening, especially for demolishing many pet theories about the origins of the crisis.
There is also a very insightful first-person-female account of a visit to the Lal Masjid the day before the siege began – What Lies Beneath, by Fawzia Afzal-Khan, a US-based Pakistani-origin academic-activist, that clearly and fully exposes the hypocrisy of the mullahs in charge of the Lal Masjid.
I tend to agree with Shireen Mazari, it’s hard to see how the Pakistan Army could very well go back now. While it is clear that Mushy did dither earlier, he quite clearly laid out what would happen if the mullahs did not surrender on Sunday – he said they would be killed, in umistakable Urdu – so he could not very well have backed down from that. And so it has happened.
I think this is a totally different kettle of fish than 84. The Golden Temple is the seat of Sikh spirituality. It’s really different than what I am reading about the attack here. The attack in 84 was a searing blow to all Sikhs, no matter what their political views. Its hard to explain but, that event was more a blow to the psyche than a political event for the majority of people.
Sahej, you’re right– I may have been reminded of it for whatever reason at first, but reading your comment was enlightening. The two are similar only superficially, I guess.
Yeah ANNA, I agree with you. Its the kind of thing that’s really loaded with emotions. What a horrible set of events that was.
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Hey, why isn’t anybody comparing, and somebody else then refuting the comparison, to Waco?
The Golden Temple thing occurred to me too. I have been talking to a Pakistani friend of mine about the Lal Masjid issue for the past couple of days. He is a religious Muslim, and he said that the entry of the army into the mosque etc. does not have the kind of serious impact that 84 did. He made the analogy that armies burnt down the Kaaba 1200 years ago or whenever (I don’t know the exact date), and “if Islam could get over that, they can get over this” (his words).
What annoyed him was that Musharraf had let the thing slip to his point where drastic action had to be taken. For example, some of the women had been used to take over a government library many months back and no action was taken then. My buddy’s friends back home said that the last time Musharraf had tried to take Ghazi on, there was mobilization of militants from the north west and he feared that there might be too much violence. But his hand was forced this time with the action against Chinese workers in Pakistan.
Yeah, my own reaction to this is that this is neither good for Pakistan, nor for Musharraf.
Just a quick note in passing, have not had a chance to look at the links here. I talked a friend of mine yesterday who works for a newspaper in Lahore and she said that Mushy actually had a hand to play in getting the Islamists inside the mosque. She/they believe(s) that Mushy’s interest in this was because it would take attention away from JusticeC and also the demand for Mushy’s ouster. This is of course rumors and conspiracy theories, but knowing Mushy, it could very well be possible since he has time and again played the balancing act between the seculars and the radicals to help his own cause.
Maybe Mushy has a hand to survive beyond Oct 2007 when his term expires. If Pak descends towards chaos then God forbid what is going to happen to that region with Taliban controversy on one side and the Kashmir/India issue on another.
It’s a bad situation, but a state has to maintain a monopoly of power within its borders… it’s bad enough that the NWFP are in the state they are in (but realistically, nobody has ever really had total control over them and given the situation there both socially and geographically, it’s not in the near future anyways), but in the very capital of the state that such things are going on is intolerable.
On a side note, something I haven’t seen in the comments yet addresses China’s role in all of this since everything seemed to be tolerated by Mushy & Co. until those Chinese workers were abducted for being prostitutes. Since China is, as has been said before, Pakistan’s “All Weather Friend”, it’s more than likely that their government leaned ever so slightly on Pakistan to take care of this. Taking captives in NWFP or another place is one thing but in the capital city itself?
In any case it may help Mushy or it may not in the long run; I don’t think supporters of the mosque would have cut him any slack if he had let them all out but, as someone commented here, when you make a clear threat you had better carry it out or else you risk being trivialized in the future, something he could not have all things considered.
The chinese did pressure Musharraf, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6274018.stm,I never had much respect for Musharraf and that book of his combines with his advertising campaign made me laugh. However, this is probably the only time i would support him. This Action has been long due and Musharraf is very keen on foreign policy. He was so upset about King Abdullah’s remark during his visit to India ” I feel like I’m in my second home” that he had entire rows of children singing the Saudi national anthem in arabic on the roads when the premier made his visit to Pakistan. The Chinese are verry deadly and don’t make it a point to gloat about their capabilities and Mushie needs them as a counter to India. US-Pakistani relations are explored to great depths but not the China-Pakistan relations as thats how they would like to keep it.
Rooting out fundamentalism in Pakistan is not an easy task. Look at how fundamentalism affected kashmir despite the Indian army’s firm clampdowns. However if you have fundamentalist elements within your army and secret services, its going to be a mammoth task. If Mushie does not clamp down now the only scenario is civil war when him or his successor decides to.
Echoing ANNA and Sahej, I also agree the analogy to Operation Bluestar (1984) is not accurate except superficially. Even if one views the Sikh militants in the same poor light as these Muslim fundamentalists, the Lal Masjid does not occupy nearly the same place in Islam as the Golden Temple does in Sikhism. Furthermore the day of the attack in 1984, there were thousands of unarmed, innocent Sikhs there…hundreds of them died in the crossfire. The library, containing rare, irrecoverable manuscripts, got burned down. It was poorly done and poorly thought out. It should have been obvious that just shutting the power and water supply off, and not allowing food in, would have accomplished the task quite well without destroying anything or killing innocents. Overall, the dynamics of these two situations, on so many different levels, just don’t seem comparable.
http://www.rediff.com/news/2007/jul/11masjid1.htm
Fazalur Rehman Khalil, a militant leader who figures in India’s list of most wanted terrorists, was roped in by Pakistani authorities to persuade radical cleric Abdul Rashid Ghazi of Lal Masjid to give in before security forces launched a crackdown on the mosque.
Journalists covering the stand-off between security forces and militants holed up in the Lal Masjid were surprised last night to see Khalil, the head of the outlawed Harkat-ul- Mujahideen, driving into the mosque complex in the same car as the leader of the negotiating team, former prime minister Shujaat Hussain.
Interestingly, there is no coverage of the attack yet in the internet edition of Dawn. http://dawn.com/2007/07/10/index.htm I wonder why?
How much overlap is there between Pakistani Islamists and Pakistani Pashtuns? I have a feeling that there’s a significant overlap, and that to some extent, the Islamism is Pashtun self-assertion vis-a-vis Punjabis — possibly related to previous agitations for Pashunistan. But I’m speculating from thousands of miles away, and I could be completely wrong. Anyone here have any better information?
What can one say. As far as the Pakistani governing classes are concerned, this is a demonstration of the old adage about reaping what one sows. The terrorists they had created for jihad abroad are now going to turn against them. As far as Pakistan’s future is concerned, I think things are going to get much worse. One has a lot of the more prominent islamists and former generals like Hamid Gul implying the possibility of civil war. I think the implications for India are harder to estimate in the medium term, and equally so for Afghanistan.
It’s about time, and it’s not a no-win situation, siding with moderates is always better than siding with radicals – especially ones who kidnap people who break their “morality” codes.
yeah, but if you anger the radicalls, they are more likely to kill you…
Hurray!!! Time for Pakistan to reap what it sowed!!!
I would imagine a destabilized nuclear power is in no ones best interest…
I think Musharraf has angered enough people by now – there were a couple of assassination attempts a couple of weeks ago. I think part of why this happened is that Mushie has engaged and even encouraged Islamic militants to some extent so he can present himself as the sole moderate foil to the west. And this is a hydra headed monster, as has been proven innumerable times in the past.
Amitabh, while I cannot speak to the rest of your comment, this particular statement is true of Lal Masjid too, with tons of young students being held inside against their will.
I also don’t know what the cultural significance is, if any, of armies entering a holy place in Sikhism. It seems that by itself is not a no-no in Islam. I assume that there would be tons of Hindus up in arms if the army entered Tirupati or Amarnath – after all, we like to clean our shrines when somebody polluted enters them, polluted because they are having their period, or one of their parents is Christian.
he seems really adept at navigating this maze. I wouldnt bet on him being offed any time soon. hes a sharp dude….
I recall reading in the NY Times a few months ago that his next strategy is to strike a deal with Benazir Bhutto, get her back as prime minister, and get himself appointed president for life. This came up during the entire Justice Chaudhary fiasco, which for a while made it seem like the clamor of democracy might snowball into a mass uprising.
As for his getting offed, I don’t have any skin in that game. Yes, as a military guy, he probably has himself quite well protected, and tries to surround himself with trusted advisors, but it must be quite a life of paranoia he leads. As long as he keeps the army happy though, at least his position is relatively safe, I think.
So much like Tony Soprano and yet, so different
Atleast this step could be taken in Pakistan due to its dictatorship rule. Can anybody imagine Indian Army storming a mosque ?
@ Amitabh .. cutting down power lines /water/food didnt work here..would’nt have worked in blue star as well. I agree though that it could have been executed in a much better manner.. but when you against brainwashed militants, sadly nothing works but violence.
Amitabh/Sahej, can you elaborate on what was wrong both tactically and morally in Blue Star? I am asking because I don’t know the details.
The death toll in Lal Masjid is close to 800.Both the Lal Masjid and Golden Temple are miles apart.One carried out by a democratic government the other by a military ruler.India escaped the consequences because of democracy
I full back the actions carried about by the army against Lal Masjid. It is totally unacceptable to use a mosque as military fort, to make children hostages, to destroy property, seize government buildings and incite hatred against non-muslims. This cannot be tolerated and no negotations are necessary with people who use children as shields. I FULLY support Musharraf. Faraz (From Abbotabad, Pakistan)
thanks.. http://www.yehhu.net
For a sober analysis of the Pakistan debacle, see:
http://playingagainstthespin.wordpress.com/2007/07/17/what-next-for-pakistan/
in this world of confusion which has been hijacked by media.. lets not believe what we see.. fer truth u hav to walk an extra or maybe 100 extra miles… u dnt get truth at a click of a button dese days..
i dnt beleive what mushy and his govt is sayin on the state run and private channels.. no media persons were allowed within 200 to 300 meters.. the mullah rasheed ghazi was open to media persons till the time he was alive but the govt dint let em in..
second the govt was talkin abt foreign militants.. no foreign militant was found.. the one dat was said to be an arab was later identified as a local.. dey talk abt munition.. well 13 klashinkovs against an army which fires 100 rockets every 30 minutes.. the mullah was ignored again n again nobody gave him a chance.. all the govt of pakistan was saying .. either with us or without us.. a country with freedom??? f^&* !
till date 1400 females students are still missing.. to tell the truth dey r dead.. i read in jang n others dat ppl were reporting burnt bodies in a nullah near the mosque.. 20 were recovered by the public.. dey were beyond recognition.. after a week or so i read locals report army burning the debris and a large pile of clothes and shoes and demolishing the building..
i used to think dat mushharaf was a human but he proved otherwise..
think again folks..
May God show all of us the right path..
salaam why did students of lal mosque came on the roads and started to challenge the government in first place nothing like this happens anywahere else in the world, well i havent seen apsrt from golden temple in india but the story was different cos they were kafirs muslims ought be cicilised their actions , their way should be very civilised not like women and men were doing from lal mosque so they got what deserve i think they should have all been hanged by the way if any one knows how i can get in touch with one of female student of that lal mosque age about 16 to 20 pls mail me am bachelor
The death toll in Lal Masjid is close to 800.Both the Lal Masjid and Golden Temple are miles apart.One carried out by a democratic government the other by a military ruler.India escaped the consequences because of democracy