Recent Appearances...

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Recent Appearances...

India-Pakistan

Former Lal Masjid cleric, wife booked in terror, other cases

2023-06-25

[Dawn] Separate cases were registered against former Lal Masjid

...literally the Red Mosque, located in Islamabad and frequented by all sorts of high govt officials. The proprietors, Ghazi Abdul Rasheed and Maulana Abdul Aziz Ghazi, unleashed their Islamic storm troopers on the city, shutting down whorehouses and beating people up who weren't devout enough. The Musharraf govt put an end to the nonsense by besieging the place. Abdul Aziz Ghazi was nabbed while he was trying to escape dressed up like a girl. BBC reported that the corpse count at 173, but other claims, usually hysterical, say there were up to 1000 titzup. Among their number was Abdul Rashid Ghazi. Everyone then said tut-tut and what a nice guy he had been...
holy man Maulana Abdul Aziz
...nutball holy man who runs the Lal Masjid in the heart of Pakistain's capital. After instigating a rebellion against the state in 2007, he was caught trying to sneak away dressed in a burka. He rejects democracy as un-Islamic, which it probably is...
and his wife at the cop shoppes of Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) and Kohsar under different charges, including Anti-Terrorism Act, police said.

One of the cases was registered at the Kohsar cop shoppe under section 121 of Pakistain Penal Code (waging or attempting to wage war or abetting waging of war against Pakistain), 506 (punishment for criminal intimidation), 341 (punishment for wrongful restraint), 147 (punishment for rioting) and 149 (every member of unlawful assembly guilty of offence committed in prosecution of common object) along with ATA 7 (punishment for acts of terrorism), 11-W (printing, publishing or disseminating any material to incite hatred or giving projection to any person convicted for a terrorist act or any proscribed organization or an organization placed under observation or anyone concerned in terrorism) and 11(X) (responsibility for creating civil commotion) against the former holy man’s wife and 125 unidentified people, including women.

According to the FIR, on June 21 they blocked Jinnah Avenue and Fazl-e-Haq Road for over six hours. They also forcefully shut down shops and markets.

The holy man’s wife, Umme Hassan, threatened the CTD staff and asked TTP to kill them on sight weather they are in uniform or not, it said.

The other case was registered at the CTD cop shoppe under section 324 (murder attempt), 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty), 427 (mischief causing damage to the amount of fifty rupees), 186 (obstructing public servant in discharge of public functions), 148 (rioting, armed with deadly weapon) along with ATA 7 and 11EE (proscription of person) against Maulana Abdul Aziz and four other persons.

According to the FIR, the CTD team in response to a tip intercepted a vehicle for the recovery of weapons at Melody on June 21. Three persons, two of them armed with SMGs, disembarked from the vehicle and one of them started firing at the police.

Maulana Aziz was also sitting in the vehicle against whom several cases of terrorism were registered. Besides, he was also included in the Fourth Schedule of the ATA, it said, adding the holy man also fired at the police from inside the vehicle.

However,
Switzerland makes more than cheese...
the police succeeded to arrest three persons and recovered SMGs from them, the FIR said, adding they failed to produce permit or licence of the weapons.

Link

India-Pakistan

Advocate General help sought on FIR against cleric

2016-06-25

[DAWN] The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday directed the Islamabad advocate general to assist the court in a matter related to the registration of a criminal case against Lal Masjid
...literally the Red Mosque, located in Islamabad and frequented by all sorts of high govt officials. The proprietors, Ghazi Abdul Rasheed and Maulana Abdul Aziz Ghazi, unleashed their Islamic storm troopers on the city, shutting down whorehouses and beating people up who weren't devout enough. The Musharraf govt put an end to the nonsense by besieging the place. Abdul Aziz Ghazi was nabbed while he was trying to escape dressed up like a girl. BBC reported that the corpse count at 173, but other claims, usually hysterical, say there were up to 1000 titzup. Among their number was Abdul Rashid Ghazi. Everyone then said tut-tut and what a nice guy he had been...
holy man Maulana Abdul Aziz
...nutball holy man who runs the Lal Masjid in the heart of Pakistain's capital. After instigating a rebellion against the state in 2007, he was caught trying to sneak away dressed in a burka. He rejects democracy as un-Islamic, which it probably is...
When the hearing of the case was resumed, the interior ministry informed the bench that it had sought the law ministry’s opinion on the matter.

Adjourning the matter until July 12, Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani
... four star general, current Chief of Army Staff of the Mighty Pak Army. Kayani is the former Director General of ISI...
directed the Islamabad advocate general to appear before the court at the next hearing to assist the court.

During the last hearing, the interior ministry secretary Mohammad SLearned Elders of Islamn told the IHC bench that neither Mr Aziz nor the students of Jamia Hafsa
... the Islamic nunnery maintained by Lal Masjid....
were running any sort of institution that posed a danger to the state’s safety and security.

The bench was hearing the case of a petitioner seeking the registration of an FIR against Mr Aziz, his wife Umme Hassan and the students of Jamia Hafsa for inviting ISIS ‐ also known as the Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems....
‐ to avenge the killing of the late Osama bin Laden
... who doesn't live anywhere anymore...
and the 2007 Lal Masjid operation.

The petitioner, activist Mohammad Jibran Nasir, has contended that students of Jamia Hafsa invited IS to Pakistain in a video. He said that in a separate video, Mr Aziz endorsed his students’ actions, and poses grave danger to the safety and security of Pakistain.

Mr Nasir initially reached out to the Aabpara police in this regard, who refused to lodge an FIR. He then filed an application before a civil court that dismissed the application on March 9. The petitioner has asked the court to annul the civil court’s decision and direct the police to register an FIR in this matter.

Link

India-Pakistan

Lal Masjid cleric back in action

2015-11-14

ISLAMABAD: Lal Masjid cleric Abdul Aziz held a rally to mark the initiation of a movement towards enforcement of a system based on the Holy Quran and Sunnah, after Friday prayers.

The rally, led by Abdul Aziz and Umme Hassan and comprising seminary students, took off from Lal Masjid in Islamabad’s G-6 Sector and ended at the Jamia Hafsa in Sector G-7 of Islamabad. Umme Hassan is the head of the Jamia Hafsa seminary and wife of Lal Masjid cleric Maulana Abdul Aziz.

"Abdul, dearest, what is that faint buzzing sound in the sky?"
"Tut tut, Umme, think nothing of it. And DUCK!"

Those attending the rally shouted anti-government slogans in favour of Maulana Abdul Aziz. They also demanded the enforcement of a system based on the Quran and Sunnah.

A heavy contingent of police and Rangers was deployed in the areas surrounding Lal Masjid and Jamia Hafsa in the federal capital city to maintain law and order.

District Magistrate of Islamabad Capital Territory has issued a warning notice to the Lal Masjid cleric for taking out rally ‘without informing and seeking permission from authorities, which could have jeopardised the law and order situation in Islamabad’.

The letter states that a previous notice issued by the office of the chief commissioner of Islamabad on August 3 this year, had included Aziz’s name in a watch list under the Fourth Schedule of the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA). It further states that as per a surety letter submitted by Aziz to the inspector general of Islamabad Police, he is bound to respect and cooperate with the federal authorities.

The warning letter by Islamabad’s district magistrate states that Friday’s rally was in violation of Section 11EE of the ATA as he took part in a rally, organised with religious parties, without informing and seeking prior approval from the authorities concerned, which could have jeopardised the law and order situation in the federal capital.

The letter also warned the Lal Masjid cleric that he could even be arrested if found guilty of violation of Section 11EE of the ATA again.

This is not the first time Abdul Aziz has vowed to enforce Sharia in the country. Earlier in April 2007, Lal Masjid clerics had vowed to enforce what they called ‘Shariat’ in the country even if the government does not want to do so. The Lal Masjid administration had also threatened to unleash a wave of suicide bombers if the government took any action to counter it. The announcement was followed by agitation which erupted into street battles around the mosque between security forces and the militants. At least nine people died and some 150 were injured.

Link

India-Pakistan

Student 'detained' at Jamia Hafsa goes home

2015-02-11

[DAWN] The 26-year-old woman, who was allegedly detained in Jamia Hafsa
... the Islamic nunnery maintained by Lal Masjid....
, on Monday stated in a local court that she was ready to go home with her father.

Umme Hassan, the head of the seminary, also appeared in the court and said she had no objection if Uzma Qayyum wanted to go home.

On December 29, 2014, Sheikh Mohammad Qayyum filed an application with the human rights
...which are often intentionally defined so widely as to be meaningless...
cell of the Supreme Court for the recovery of his daughter. Mr Qayyum alleged that his daughter were tossed into the calaboose in Jamia Hafsa.

He said his daughter took admission at Jamia Binaat-e-Ayesha, Rawalpindi, for a four-year religious course a few years ago. On June 16, 2014, Uzma went to the seminary but did not return home. Later, he came to know that she was in Jamia Hafsa.

Mr Qayyum alleged that her daughter had gone to Jamia Hafsa with Umme Hassan, the wife of Maulana Abdul Aziz
...nutball holy man who runs the Lal Masjid in the heart of Pakistain's capital. After instigating a rebellion against the state in 2007, he was caught trying to sneak away dressed in a burka. He rejects democracy as un-Islamic, which it probably is...
. He said Umme Hassan regularly visited Jamia Binaat-e-Ayesha and was in touch with his daughter since 2013. He said he used all the possible channels, including religious personalities and the police, to recover his daughter but to no avail.

Link

India-Pakistan

Lal Masjid 'detainee' refuses to return to her parents

2015-01-17

[DAWN] Uzma Qayyum, the 26-year-old girl who is allegedly detained at the Jamia Hafsa
... the Islamic nunnery maintained by Lal Masjid....
against her will, appeared before a sessions court on Thursday and said she did not want to return to her family.

The girl was accompanied in the courtroom by Umme Hassan, head of the seminary and wife of Lal Masjid
...literally the Red Mosque, located in Islamabad and frequented by all sorts of high govt officials. The proprietors, Ghazi Abdul Rasheed and Maulana Abdul Aziz Ghazi, unleashed their Islamic storm troopers on the city, shutting down whorehouses and beating people up who weren't devout enough. The Musharraf govt put an end to the nonsense by besieging the place. Abdul Aziz Ghazi was nabbed while he was trying to escape dressed up like a girl. BBC reported that the corpse count at 173, but other claims, usually hysterical, say there were up to 1000 titzup. Among their number was Abdul Rashid Ghazi. Everyone then said tut-tut and what a nice guy he had been...
holy man Abdul Aziz, as well as other men and women from the seminaries.

The court then ordered her to appear again on Jan 20.

Through the courts intervention, Uzmas father, Sheikh Muhammad Qayyum, was finally able to meet his daughter after seven months. However,
Switzerland makes more than cheese...
he still could not convince her to come back home.

High Court Advocate Haider Imtiaz, who is representing Mr Qayyum, told Dawn that although the girl appeared before court, she was accompanied by a number of people who appeared to be associated with Jamia Hafsa
... the Islamic nunnery maintained by Lal Masjid....
, which was why she has been summoned again.

Mr Qayyum told Dawn that as soon as the hearing began, the judge instructed Umme Hassan, her associates and his family to leave the courtroom. The judge then spoke to Uzma, in the presence of court staff, for about half an hour. He then proceeded to invite her mother inside the courtroom and fifteen minutes later, he was also asked to join them as well.

As we were meeting our daughter after so many months, it was a very emotional scene and everyone had tears in their eyes. During our meeting, the judge and court staff all urged Uzma to return to her family. They said that no one could take the place of ones parents and Islam also taught us to obey their wishes, he said.

Mr Qayyum said that the family also tried to convince Uzma to come back to them, but in vain. It seems that Umme Hassan has brainwashed my daughter. The judge offered to have her sent to the Darul Amaan or to a relatives house, but my daughter refused. She repeatedly said that she wanted to go back to Jamia Hafsa, he said.

The court then ordered that Uzmas statement to be recorded on Jan 20. Her father said that he would again try to convince her to return home at the next hearing. Mr Qayyum alleged that during the hearing, Umme Hassan was in constant contact with someone on her mobile phone.

On Wednesday, Umme Hassan had told Dawn that no one from Jamia Hafsa would accompany the girl to the hearing on Thursday and she would have no objections if the girl chose to return to her family.

On December 29, 2014, Mr Qayyum had filed an application with the Human Rights Cell (HRC) of the Supreme Court of Pakistain to have his daughter recovered from Jamia Hafsa.

In his application, he alleged that his daughter was being held captive by the Jamia Hafsa administration on the premises of the seminary.

The Supreme Court had ordered Sessions Judge Nazir Ahmad Gujana to investigate the matter and submit a report. On Wednesday, the court had ordered Islamabad Police to produce the girl in court on Thursday.

Link

India-Pakistan

Musharraf refuses to appear before Lal Masjid commission

2013-02-23

[Dawn] Former President General (retired)

Pervez Perv Musharraf
... former dictator of Pakistain, who was less dictatorial and corrupt than any Pak civilian government to date ...
has refused to appear before the one-man commission constituted by the Supreme Court to probe into the Lal Masjid operation of 2007.

The commission on January 31, 2013, had decided to summon Mr Musharraf and former Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz after recording the statements of a number of witnesses who alleged that the former president was responsible for the military operation that left 103 people, including 10 military personnel, dead.

An official of the commission confirmed that Mr Musharraf had refused to appear before the commission.

He said the commission had summoned the former president thrice with the last summon sent to his residence abroad through the foreign ministry. However,
those who apply themselves too closely to little things often become incapable of great things...
he did not receive it.

According to him, the commission would not take any coercive measure against Mr Musharraf for defying the summons because it had no power to compel any witness to record their statement.

It may be mentioned that Maulana Aziz, the Khateeb of Lal Masjid, his spouse Umme Hassan and some other holy mans have held Gen Musharraf responsible for the operation.

Testifying before the commission, Maulana Aziz on December 31, 2012, said "Gen Musharraf was against our religious ideology.

Link

India-Pakistan

Deal suspected in Maulana Aziz's acquittals

2013-02-05

[Dawn] The acquittal of Khateeb Lal Masjid Maulana Aziz in all except one case has led to conjecture and speculation that a deal has been struck.

In 2009, Maulana Aziz was facing 27 cases in different courts including Anti Terrorism Court (ATC) of Rawalpindi.

Towards the end of January 2013, Maulana Aziz got off scot-free from the second last one in which he was accused of kidnapping police officials; he now only has one hurdle left.

He now only faces one case of harassing the shopkeepers of Aabpara and Jinnah Super -- threatening them for selling Indian and English movies.

The case was registered against him a couple of months before the Lal Masjid operation was launched.

However,
a person who gets all wrapped up in himself makes a mighty small package...
in this case too the chances are that he will be let go as the prosecution's case is a weak one.

But what has led to the conjecture and gossip is the fact that though the holy man has been acquitted in more than two dozen cases, the government has not appealed against a single acquittal.

The state's special prosecutor, Raja Faisal, who has appeared in the Lal Masjid cases argues that the main reason for the acquittal of Maulana Aziz in a number of cases were prosecution witnesses who either changed their testimony or never bothered to appear in the court.

He also blamed the poor investigation conducted by the Islamabad police.

In the Rangers murder case the government officials who earlier recorded their statements against the holy mans including Maulana Aziz backtracked when they appeared in front of the ATC.

Before the investigation team they accused Maulana Aziz as well as others of giving the orders for firing and damaging government property.

However,
if you can't be a good example, then you'll just have to be a horrible warning...
once these people appeared before the ATC judge, they stated that when the mob was attacking government property they beat feet from the scene. In the statement they recorded in the ATC, officials instead of directly blaming Maulana Aziz or any his associate for attacking government buildings, stated that at the time when a mob came out from the Lal Masjid and started setting the government building on fire, they beat feet from the spot in order to save their lives.

Similarly, he said that the shopkeepers of Bhara Kahu who had lodged the complaint with the police that the inmates of Lal Masjid had burnt CDs of Hollywood and Bollywood films, also changed their statements.

In the court, these shopkeepers said that they offered to burn the CDs themselves.

According to Faisal, the police registered a number of cases against Aziz in a hurry but they did not have sufficient evidence.

Interestingly, in the case regarding kidnapping of four police officials, the civil judge cum judicial magistrate of Islamabad did not follow centuries old criminal procedure code (CrPC) -- under this law, the witnesses' statements are recorded after the indictment of an accused.

In the kidnapping case, neither the court nor the prosecution remembered the mandatory provision. The judge recorded the statements of eight witnesses before the indictment. Once this was even pointed out by the defence counsel in order to avert the legal complications. The matter of kidnapping of police officials was pending in the said court since 2007. The proceedings in the said case, however, were started in 2011. The court had completed recording of statements of the witnesses and concluded the arguments on December 22, 2012 when the defence counsel pointed out the lacuna in the court proceedings.

The judge, later, again asked the police to produce any witness to support the allegations they leveled in the FIR and in the challan
... list of charges ...
against Maulana Aziz, and other accused persons including the holy man's spouse Umme Hassan and other two holy mans but the police did not produce any witness.

According to the legal expert, the judgment on the said kidnapping case could easily be challenged but the police seem in no mood to file an appeal against the verdict.

On the other hand, the chief commissioner Islamabad, Tariq Mehmood Pirzada, said that the government never went into any settlement with the Lal Masjid management and the acquittal of Maulana Aziz was purely a legal matter.

Link

India-Pakistan

Clerics acquitted in kidnapping case

2013-01-30

[Dawn] A local court on Monday acquitted Lal Masjid Khateeb Maulana Abdul Aziz along with his spouse and two other clerics in the kidnapping case of four policemen.

On January 10, Senior Civil Judge Sheikh Sohail had framed charges against Maulana Aziz, his wife Majida alias Umme Hassan, Maulana Afzal and Maulana Abdul Basir for kidnapping the police officials on May 18, 2007.

They were also accused of obstructing the policemen from performing their duty and using the loudspeaker for inciting people against the government.

The clerics, however, pleaded that they had neither kidnapped the police officials nor committed any other illegal act.

It may be noted that it is a routine practice under the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) that statements of witnesses are recorded and they are cross-examined after the indictment of an accused.

However, in the kidnapping case of the police officials, in which Maulana Aziz and his associates were booked, the court had recorded the statements of the witnesses even before framing the charges against the accused persons.

Later, in order to complete the CrPC requirement, the court offered the prosecution -- the Islamabad police -- to produce witnesses and reserved judgment on Jan 12. However, no witness appeared before the court.

On Monday, the judge announced the short order acquitting all the four accused persons of the charges.

According to the FIR registered by the Aabpara police on May 18, 2007, students of Jamia Faridia and Jamia Hafsa, the two seminaries affiliated with Lal Masjid, kidnapped the policemen at the behest of Maulana Aziz and his associates.

It said the seminary students while attacking the policemen were chanting slogans against the government and demanding the release of Khalid Khawaj, a former ISI official and a close friend of Maulana Aziz and his brother Ghazi Abdul Rasheed, who was at that time in the custody of law enforcement agencies.

The FIR also alleged that in May 2007 during a Friday sermon Maulana Aziz had warned of suicide attacks if the government launched an operation against Jamia Hafsa.

During the hearing of the case, Qari Wajihulllah, the counsel for Maulana Aziz, maintained that the police had framed his client. He claimed that Maulana Aziz was not present at the place from where the policemen had been kidnapped.

According to him, in order to please the then military dictator Pervez Musharraf, the police had fabricated 27 'bogus' cases against the Lal Masjid cleric.

He pointed out that the police had produced eight witnesses in the court but none of them deposed against the clerics of Lal Masjid.

Qari Wajihullah told Dawn that Maulana Aziz had been acquitted in all but one case. The only pending case against the cleric is related to raids by the seminary students on CD shops at F-7, F-6 and Aabpara market. The case was registered a few days before the Lal Masjid operation in 2007, he added.

It may be mentioned that the Islamabad administration in its reply submitted to the Lal Masjid commission had mentioned a series of cases registered against the cleric.

According to the administration, Maulana Aziz on February 25, 2007, was booked in the abduction case of an assistant sub-inspector (ASI) of the special branch. On March 27 the same year, he was nominated for abducting a woman and her daughter and on March 28, a case was registered against the cleric and others for kidnapping two police officials and seizing their official vehicles.

On March 28, a case was registered against him for launching an FM radio without obtaining permission from the government. On April 14, the cleric was booked in the CD shops burning case. On May 18, he was booked for kidnapping the four police officials and on May 21 for abducting three other policemen. 0n July 3, the Lal Masjid management snatched weapons from the police.

Link

India-Pakistan

Lal Masjid operation: Dead man blamed for sabotaging talks

2013-01-22

[Dawn] Perhaps inspired by the proverb 'dead men tell no tale' the Islamabad administration is now pointing finger at a former official of Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) for his role in sabotaging the negotiations with the Lal Masjid administration that led to the military operation in 2007.

According to the written reply the Islamabad administration submitted to the one-man commission of Justice Shehzado Sheikh of Federal Shariat Court (FSC), Khalid Khawaja, the former spy, was a close friend of Lal Masjid chief holy man Maulana Abdul Aziz and his brother Ghazi Abdul Rasheed.

He disrupted the negotiations between the local administration and the management of the mosque which led to the military operation in which 103 people, including 11 military personnel, were killed, said the reply.

"Khawaja had very strong and effective influence over the management of Lal Masjid/Jamia Hafsa particularly Ghazi Abdul Rasheed, Maulana Abdul Aziz and Umme Hassan. This fact transpired when after a successful negotiations with Ghazi Abdul Rasheed regarding handing over of the children library to the ministry of education, the local administration officials reached Lal Masjid in the evening.

All of a sudden, Khawaja along with 10-12 female students appeared on the scene and opposed the decision. His refusal prevailed upon both the brothers and the possession of the library could not be restored to the ministry of education."

The reply added, "Khawaja was also requested to intervene and resolve the issue of the children library but he responded negatively. He used his influence upon the brothers just to add fuel to the fire."

It said the district administration tried its level best to persuade Khawaja as well.

On failure, he was jugged
... anything you say can and will be used against you, whether you say it or not...
in June 2007 (a month prior to the operation) under the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) and Security of Pakistain Act 1952. The management of Lal Masjid always demanded his release.

According to the reply, Khawaja was released on June 23, 2007, and after his release some Chinese nationals were kidnapped by the students of Lal Masjid.

The Islamabad administration also referred to the capture and murder of Khawaja by the Taliban and added: "Before his murder, Khawaja delivered a speech, which was also uploaded on 'Youtube' by his captors. In the speech, he admitted that he played a double role in the Lal Masjid incident. He further disclosed that during the operation he had advised Maulana Abdul Aziz to come out of Lal Masjid by wearing a Burqa," the reply added.

When contacted, Osama Khalid, son of Khalid Khawaja, told Dawn: "Because my father is a dead man and could not rebut the allegations, the administration wanted to shift the responsibility on him for the Lal Masjid operation."

He said his father sacrificed his life for a cause and the nation knew him very well.

"We don't care about any allegation but the government should bring truth before the nation," he added.

In the statement, the Islamabad administration also gave a chronology of the incident in which the Lal Masjid management and students took the law into their own hands.

Link

India-Pakistan

Lal Masjid cleric to be indicted in kidnapping case

2013-01-11

[Dawn] A local court, on Wednesday, decided to indict Maulana Abdul Aziz chief holy man of Lal Masjid, his spouse and two senior holy mans, in the kidnapping case of four police officials, but on technical grounds decided to delay the proceedings till Thursday (today).

Senior Civil Judge (SCJ) of Islamabad "west" Sheikh Mohammad Sohail decided to indict Maulana Aziz, Umme Hassan, Maulana Afzal and Maulana Abdul Basir, on Wednesday, but then adjourned the matter due to some technical reasons and asked the holy mans to appear on Thursday.

The Aabpara police, before July 2007 Lal Masjid operation, had started the paperwork but haven't done much else against Maulana Aziz and his four associates on kidnapping of four police officials on the complaint of a police constable Mohammad Arif.

The FIR against Maulana Aziz and others was registered under sections 365, 353, 148, 149 and 109, for kidnapping and obstructing the government officials from performing their lawful duty.

The arguments of the case were concluded on December 22, 2012 but at the time when the court was about to reserve its judgment, the lawyers in the case pointed out that the court did not frame charges against the accused persons and the matter was adjourned till January 2 and subsequently put off till January 9.

It is pertinent to note that in the FIR, the police had nominated five persons for the kidnapping of four police officials. Besides the four accused persons stated above, there was another accused in the said case namely Mohammad Aamir.

Aamir was also facing charges for attacking the GHQ and ISI Hamza camp but was acquitted along with 11 others by the Anti Terrorism Court, in April 2008, but was tossed in the calaboose
Youse'll never take me alive coppers!... [BANG!]... Ow!... I quit!
at Adiala Jail and then handed over to the spy agencies.

Later on August 15, 2011, Aamir was found dead while he was in the custody of the agencies.

After Aamir, three other detainees, namely, Tahseen Ullah on December 17, 2011 Said Arab on December 18, 2011 and Abdul Saboor on January 20, last year, also died in detention. The court after the death of Aamir excluded his name from the challan.

Link

India-Pakistan

Final assault on Lal Masjid: Top clerics were not there

2013-01-05

[Dawn] The big shotship of the Lal Masjid and several key functionaries of Jamia Hafsa and Jamia Faridia, the two seminaries attached to it, were either not present in the mosque or had left it before the military launched its final assault on July 10, 2007.

This has emerged from the testimonies of 50 of the 294 witnesses recorded in the past four days by the one-man judicial commission inquiring into the July 3-11, 2007 bloody operation that killed 103 people, including family members of Maulana Abdul Aziz, head holy man of the mosque, teachers and students of the seminaries and 10 security personnel.

Asiya Hameed, a teacher of Jamia Hafsa and custodian of the record of the girls seminary, was among the 16 witnesses who recorded their statements with the commission on Thursday.

"Since I was not in the madrassa during the operation, I don't know the exact details," she said when asked by the head of the commission Justice Shehzado Sheikh of the Federal Shariat Court, whether she had the record of the girls who were on rolls, or went missing during the operation.

She said her uncle had taken her away from the mosque complex, where the girls seminary operated, on July 3, 2007, the day the operation began.

When she rejoined Jamia Hafsa, she said, she did not find the record, which security agencies might have taken away.

Maulana Aziz, who also acted as principal of Jamia Faridia located in Sector E-7, had similarly told the commission in his testimony on December 31 that he could not compile the record of the students killed or went missing in the operation as he was nabbed
Please don't kill me!
when he came out of the mosque on July 4, 2007, the day after the army laid siege to the mosque.

Reports at that time said Maulana Aziz slipped out in a 'burqa' in the company of his daughters and girl students leaving the mosque in response to appeals made by the administration in the days before the Special Services Group launched the final assault on July 10, 2007.

Nazim of Jamia Hafsa, Afzal Khan, deposing the day after Maulana Aziz did, told the commission that he and some 500 girl students had left the mosque on July 6, 2007 during a break in the curfew imposed in the mosque area.

Umme Hassan, Maulana Aziz's spouse and principal of Jamia Hafsa, was arrested from inside the mosque complex on July 10, 2007 but says she did not witness the last stages of the final assault.

She told Dawn that she had struggled for the enforcement of Sharia in the country and lost many members of her family in the quest, including her only son Hassan.

"I sacrificed my son for a cause. There was nothing more precious to me than him," she said.

Her husband, Maulana Aziz, had recounted to the commission other members the family lost -- his mother Sahiba Khatoon, younger brother Maulana Abdul Rashid Ghazi and two cousins.

Many teachers, students of Jamia Faridia and their administrator Tariq Saeed, escaped the misfortune as they were enjugged
Don't shoot, coppers! I'm comin' out!
inside the seminary located far away from the mosque, according to a teacher of Lal Masjid, Maulana Abdul Qadir.

Sajjad Ahmed, a Murree-based journalist, told the commission that his elder brother Khalid Ameen, inspired by sermons of holy mans, reached Lal Masjid on July 3, 2007 morning to defend it and went missing in the aftermath.

"I received his last call on July 6 (2007) and then silence fell, without a trace of him," he said. Despite his best efforts, Khalid Ameen's body was not found.

Sajjad told Dawn that his brother was not religious-minded and seldom offered prayer in Lal Masjid. "But because he was an emotional man, he decided to stand with the Lal Masjid people till the end," he said, adding that "the role of holy mans was not very encouraging in this episode".

"My family lives in a never-ending uncertainty over Ameen's fate."

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India-Pakistan

ATC acquits Lal Masjid holy man, 21 others in Rangers murder case

2012-09-11

[Dawn]

An anti-terrorism court, on Monday, acquited the holy man of Lal Masjid Maulana Abdul Aziz along with 21 others in the Rangers murder case, DawnNews reported.

Talking to media representatives, Aziz said that he had not instigated anyone for murder.

Defendant's lawyer Wajih ullah said that the prosecutor was unable to prove his allegations against his clients.

Aziz was indicted along with 21 others, including his wife Umme Hassan and his daughter Taiba, in a case involving the murder of a Rangers official during the 2007 Lal Masjid operation.

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