LAHORE: Announcing to hold public gatherings across the country, Difa-e-Pakistan Council (DPC) has said that US must be told to steer clear of Pakistan as it (Pak) were not an easy prey, Geo News reported. During Council’s media briefing here in Lahore, Ameer Jamiat-e-Ulema Pakistan, Maulana Samaiulhaq said that US must refrain from attacking our sovereignty and recognize Pakistan as an atomic power just like India. Terming it a clash of civilizations Maulana Samiulhaq said that it was an armageddon between good and evil. Talking on the occasion Ameer Jamat-ud-Dawah, Hafiz Saeed said Nato’s attack on a Pakistani outpost in Mohmand was a dangerous message conveyed to Pakistan. - Chairman Difa-e-Pakistan Council (DPC) an alliance of various religious parties Maulana Samiul Haq has said that all religious parties will guide the nation on national issues and they will hold Difa-e-Pakistan Conference at Minar-e-Pakistan on December 18. He was talking to media after presiding over a meeting held here at Jammia-e-Manzoorul Islamia. Jammiat-e-Ulama Islam (S) Chief Mulana Sami ul Haq presided over the meeting. Leaders of some 24 religious groups including Jammat-ud-Dawa Chief Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, Sipah-e-Sahaba Punjab President Maulana Shamsul Haq, Jammat-e-Islami Niab Amir Dr Muhammad Kamal, Maulana Abdul Jabbar, Mulana Rashid from JUP, Qari Hanif Jalandhari, Abdul Qadri Ropri and Pir Saif Ullah and large number of workers of the religious parties were present on the occasion. He said Nato air strike on Pakistani posts and killing of 24 soldiers was the grave violation of international laws and basic human rights. He termed the Nato attack on Pakistan sovereignty and said nation would not allow the US aggression in future, Mulana Samiul Haq added. JUI chief also endorsed the government decision to get vacate Shamsi airbase and block Nato supply route but stressed that government should withdraw all the logistic facilities provided to US forces. Maulana Samiul Haq also criticised government decision to make friendship with India and said that Pakistan was facing real threats from Eastern borders and we can not secure from Eastern borders. In response to a question he said Dafa-e-Pakistan Council would invite different political parties including PPP, PML-N, MQM, PTI leadership for Minar-e-Pakistan public gathering. REFERENCES: US told to stay away from Pakistan http://www.geo.tv/GeoDetail.aspx?ID=28824 Difa-e-Pakistan conference on December 18 DECEMBER 05, 2011 http://www.brecorder.com/general-news/single/599/172/1257956/ Sunday, December 18, 2011, Moharram-ul-Haram 22, 1433 A.H. Updated at: 1200 http://jang.com.pk/jang/dec2011-daily/18-12-2011/u90522.htm
Difa-e-Pakistan/JUD Death Threat to Pakistani Media (Capital Talk - 13th Feb 2012)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cG3HJlzCjxA
Ahl-e-Hadith Scholar Issues Fatwa Against Jihad in Kashmir
Why the Pakistani Military used to Support Taliban, Several Sectarian Outfits and Lashkar-e-Tayyaba before 911? And while the Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan and the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi stand officially disbanded, their most militant son and leader, Maulana Azam Tariq, an accused in several cases of sectarian killing, contested elections from jail - albeit as an independent candidate - won his seat, and was released on bail shortly thereafter. Musharraf rewrote election rules to disqualify former Prime Ministers Mohammed Nawaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto, and threatened to toss them in jail if they returned from abroad, which badly undermined both Nawaz Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League and Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party (PPP). Musharraf has plainly given the religious groups more free rein in the campaign than he has allowed the two big parties that were his main rivals. In Jhang city, in Punjab province, Maulana Azam Tariq, leader of an outlawed extremist group called Sipah-e-Sahaba, which has been linked to numerous sectarian killings, is being allowed to run as an independent despite election laws that disqualify any candidate who has criminal charges pending, or even those who did not earn a college degree. "It makes no sense that Benazir can't run in the election," says one Islamabad-based diplomat, "and this nasty guy can."
References: And this takes me back to Pervez Musharraf’s first visit to the US after his coup. At a meeting with a group of journalists among whom I was present, my dear and much lamented friend Tahir Mirza, then the Dawn correspondent, asked Musharraf why he was not acting against Lashkar-e Tayba and Jaish-e Muhammad. Musharraf went red in the face and shot back, “They are not doing anything in Pakistan. They are doing jihad outside.” Pakistani neocons and UN sanctions Khalid Hasan This entry was posted on Sunday, December 28th, 2008 at 6:00 pm. http://www.khalidhasan.net/2008/12/28/pakistani-neocons-and-un-sanctions/ For The 'General' Good By Sairah Irshad Khan Monthly Newsline January 2003 http://www.newsline.com.pk/newsJan2003/cover1jan2003.htm - General's Election By TIM MCGIRK / KHANA-KHEL Monday, Oct. 07, 2002 http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,361788,00.html - MORE DETAILS: General Musharraf, Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, Brigadier [R] Usman Khalid & Deobandi Taliban. http://chagataikhan.blogspot.com/2009/02/general-musharraf-colonel-muammar.html
References: And this takes me back to Pervez Musharraf’s first visit to the US after his coup. At a meeting with a group of journalists among whom I was present, my dear and much lamented friend Tahir Mirza, then the Dawn correspondent, asked Musharraf why he was not acting against Lashkar-e Tayba and Jaish-e Muhammad. Musharraf went red in the face and shot back, “They are not doing anything in Pakistan. They are doing jihad outside.” Pakistani neocons and UN sanctions Khalid Hasan This entry was posted on Sunday, December 28th, 2008 at 6:00 pm. http://www.khalidhasan.net/2008/12/28/pakistani-neocons-and-un-sanctions/ For The 'General' Good By Sairah Irshad Khan Monthly Newsline January 2003 http://www.newsline.com.pk/newsJan2003/cover1jan2003.htm - General's Election By TIM MCGIRK / KHANA-KHEL Monday, Oct. 07, 2002 http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,361788,00.html - MORE DETAILS: General Musharraf, Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, Brigadier [R] Usman Khalid & Deobandi Taliban. http://chagataikhan.blogspot.com/2009/02/general-musharraf-colonel-muammar.html
Pakistan’s chief spy Lt. General Mahmoud Ahmad “was in the US when the attacks occurred.” He arrived in the US on the 4th of September, a full week before the attacks. He had meetings at the State Department “after” the attacks on the WTC. But he also had “a regular visit of consultations” with his US counterparts at the CIA and the Pentagon during the week prior to September 11. REFERENCE: Cover-up or Complicity of the Bush Administration? The Role of Pakistan’s Military Intelligence (ISI) in the September 11 Attacks by Michel Chossudovsky Professor of Economics, University of Ottawa Centre for Research on Globalisation (CRG), Montréal Posted at globalresearch.ca 2 November 2001 http://www.globalresearch.ca/articles/CHO111A.html
Michel Chossudovsky is Professor of Economics at the University of Ottawa. TFF Associates http://www.transnational.org/SAJT/tff/people/m_chossudovsky.html
AFTER 9/11.
In the afternoon, Mahmood was invited to CIA headquarters at Langley, Virginia, where he told George Tenet, the CIA director, that in his view Mullah Omar, the Taliban chief, was a religious man with humanitarian instincts and not a man of violence! This was a bit difficult for the CIA officials to digest and rightly so as the Taliban’s track record, especially in the realm of human rights, was no secret. General Mahmood was told politely but firmly that Mullah Omar and the Taliban would have to face US Military might if Osama Bin Laden along with other Al-Qaeda leaders were not handed over without delay. To send the message across clearly, Richard Armitage held a second meeting with Mahmood the same day, informing him that he would soon be handed specific American demands, to which Mahmood reiterated that Pakistan would cooperate. {Bush at War by Bob Woodward, published by Simon & Schuster, 2002, New York}, p 32. {Pakistan: Eye of the Storm by Owen Bennett Jones, published by New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2002}, p. 2.
General Mahmood on September 13, 2001, was handed a formal list of the US demands by Mr. Armitage and was asked to convey these to Musharraf and was also duly informed, for the sake of emphasis, that these were “not negotiable.” Colin Powell, Richard Armitage, and the assisstant secretary of state, Christina Rocca, had drafted the list in the shape of a “non-paper”. It categorically asked Pakistan:
Stop Al-Qaeda operatives coming from Afghanistan to Pakistan, intercept arms shipments through Pakistan, and end ALL logistical support for Osama Bin Laden.
Give blanket overflight and landing rights to US aircraft.
Give the US access to Pakistani Naval and Air Bases and to the border areas betweeen Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Turn over all the intelligence and immigration information.
Condemn the September 11 attacks and curb all domestic expressions of support for terrorism.
Cut off all shipments of fuel to the Talibans, and stop Pakistani volunteers from going into Afghanistan to join the Taliban. Note that, should the evidence strongly implicate Osama Bin Laden and the Al-Qaeda Network in Afghanistan, and should the Taliban continue to harbour him and his accomplices, Pakistan will break diplomatic relations with the Taliban regime, end support for the Taliban, and assist the US in the aforementioned ways to destroy Osama and his network.
Having gone through the list, Mahmood declared that he was quite clear on the subject and that “he knew how the President thought, and the President would accept these points.” {Bush at War by Bob Woodward, published by Simon & Schuster, 2002, New York}, p 58-59. Interview: Richard Armitage, “Campaign Against Terror,” PBS (Frontline), April 19, 2002}
Mahmood then faxed the document to Musharraf. While the latter was going through it and in the process of weighing the pros and cons of each demand, his aide de camp that Colin Powell was on the line. Musharraf liked and respected Powell, and the conversation was not going to be a problem. He told him that he understood and appreciated the US position, but he would respond to the US demands after having discussed these with his associates. Powell was far too polite to remind him that he in fact was the government, but did inform him that his General in Washington had already assured them that these demands would be acceptable to the government of Pakistan. {Pakistan’s Drift into Extremism : Allah, the Army, and America’s War on Terror by Hassan Abbas, published by An East Gate Book , M.E. Sharpe Armonk, New York. London, England.}. NOTES/REFERENCES - Pakistan: Eye of the Storm by Owen Bennett Jones, published by New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2002. Interview: Richard Armitage, “Campaign Against Terror,” PBS (Frontline), April 19, 2002; last accessed June 2, 2003, at http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/campaign/interviews/armitage.htm Bush at War by Bob Woodward, published by Simon & Schuster, 2002, New York. Pakistan’s Drift into Extremism : Allah, the Army, and America’s War on Terror by Hassan Abbas, published by An East Gate Book , M.E. Sharpe Armonk, New York. London, England
Sheikh Rashid Flirting with Maya Khan.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXSi9mEl6m8
Sheikh Rashid Like Wild Women LAMHAY 09 Aug 2010
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IDwi7bKAN0
Sheikh Rasheed Exposes Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry's Visit to Lal Haweli
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_VE_b5dDU0
Sheikh Rashid Ahmed with Begum Nawazish Ali. (AAJ TV)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QF4rkWwmUI
General Hamid Gul supported Pervez Musharraf on 12 Oct 1999
URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HRXOjCGcoRI
Hamid Gul, a retired general, accuses Mr Sharif of having presided over an administration which had failed to deliver the goods. "Sharif turned out to be a great destroyer of national institutions," he told the BBC. "Look at what he did to the judiciary. "He stripped them of power, put a set of judges against the chief justice, did the same to the press. "He gagged the parliament and finally he wanted to do the same to the army." REFERENCE: South Asia Pakistan's coup: Why the army acted Wednesday, October 13, 1999 Published at 23:20 GMT 00:20 UK http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/473297.stm
Political Jugglery & Somersaults of Sheikh Rashid Ahmed - 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tKvhjzwsoo
http://www.express.com.pk/epaper/PoPupwindow.aspx?newsID=1101400854&Issue=NP_LHE&Date=20111214
Nusrat Javed on Sheikh Rasheed
Political Jugglery & Somersaults of Sheikh Rashid Ahmed - 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmaRngoyPJE&feature=related
After years of denials, Pakistan admitted Thursday that its top nuclear scientist sold crucial equipment to Iran (search), but said it knew nothing of his activities when they occurred and insisted he will not be turned over to another country for prosecution. The admission by the Pakistani information minister was the first public acknowledgment that Abdul Qadeer Khan (search) provided Iran's secret nuclear program with centrifuges, a crucial component needed to enrich uranium and produce nuclear material for warheads. "Dr. Abdul Qadeer gave some centrifuges to Iran," the minister, Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. "He helped Iran in his personal capacity, and the Pakistan government had nothing to do with it." Ahmed initially made the admission at a seminar in Islamabad (search) organized by a local newspaper group, in which he stuck by Pakistan's insistence that Khan would never be handed over to a third country for prosecution. The scientist is considered a hero by his countrymen for nearly single-handedly producing atomic bombs for Pakistan to counter rival India's nuclear arsenal. "I support the idea that the government should tell the people about these sensitive matters," Ahmed said at the seminar, according to an audiotape obtained by the AP. "I am not a spokesman for a cowardly nation. Yes, we supplied Iran the centrifuge system. Yes, Dr. Qadeer gave Iran this technology. But we are not going to hand over Dr. Qadeer to anyone. We will not." Ahmed later told the AP that Pakistan's government is fully cooperating with the International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N. body that is investigating the extent of Khan's illicit sales of nuclear technology to Iran, Libya, North Korea and other countries. REFERENCE: Pakistan: Khan Gave Nuke Material to Iran Published March 10, 2005 Associated Press http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,149995,00.html
Political Jugglery & Somersaults of Sheikh Rashid Ahmed - 3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IxdIOUAjZU&feature=related
Political Jugglery & Somersaults of Sheikh Rashid Ahmed - 4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NjKMtmJPZcs&feature=related
Political Jugglery & Somersaults of Sheikh Rashid Ahmed - 5
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-1PLqFy9QQ&feature=related
Political Jugglery & Somersaults of Sheikh Rashid Ahmed - 6
General Mahmood on September 13, 2001, was handed a formal list of the US demands by Mr. Armitage and was asked to convey these to Musharraf and was also duly informed, for the sake of emphasis, that these were “not negotiable.” Colin Powell, Richard Armitage, and the assisstant secretary of state, Christina Rocca, had drafted the list in the shape of a “non-paper”. It categorically asked Pakistan:
Stop Al-Qaeda operatives coming from Afghanistan to Pakistan, intercept arms shipments through Pakistan, and end ALL logistical support for Osama Bin Laden.
Give blanket overflight and landing rights to US aircraft.
Give the US access to Pakistani Naval and Air Bases and to the border areas betweeen Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Turn over all the intelligence and immigration information.
Condemn the September 11 attacks and curb all domestic expressions of support for terrorism.
Cut off all shipments of fuel to the Talibans, and stop Pakistani volunteers from going into Afghanistan to join the Taliban. Note that, should the evidence strongly implicate Osama Bin Laden and the Al-Qaeda Network in Afghanistan, and should the Taliban continue to harbour him and his accomplices, Pakistan will break diplomatic relations with the Taliban regime, end support for the Taliban, and assist the US in the aforementioned ways to destroy Osama and his network.
Having gone through the list, Mahmood declared that he was quite clear on the subject and that “he knew how the President thought, and the President would accept these points.” {Bush at War by Bob Woodward, published by Simon & Schuster, 2002, New York}, p 58-59. Interview: Richard Armitage, “Campaign Against Terror,” PBS (Frontline), April 19, 2002}
Mahmood then faxed the document to Musharraf. While the latter was going through it and in the process of weighing the pros and cons of each demand, his aide de camp that Colin Powell was on the line. Musharraf liked and respected Powell, and the conversation was not going to be a problem. He told him that he understood and appreciated the US position, but he would respond to the US demands after having discussed these with his associates. Powell was far too polite to remind him that he in fact was the government, but did inform him that his General in Washington had already assured them that these demands would be acceptable to the government of Pakistan. {Pakistan’s Drift into Extremism : Allah, the Army, and America’s War on Terror by Hassan Abbas, published by An East Gate Book , M.E. Sharpe Armonk, New York. London, England.}. NOTES/REFERENCES - Pakistan: Eye of the Storm by Owen Bennett Jones, published by New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2002. Interview: Richard Armitage, “Campaign Against Terror,” PBS (Frontline), April 19, 2002; last accessed June 2, 2003, at http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/campaign/interviews/armitage.htm Bush at War by Bob Woodward, published by Simon & Schuster, 2002, New York. Pakistan’s Drift into Extremism : Allah, the Army, and America’s War on Terror by Hassan Abbas, published by An East Gate Book , M.E. Sharpe Armonk, New York. London, England
Sheikh Rashid Flirting with Maya Khan.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXSi9mEl6m8
Relations with Israel could help Pakistan, says former president Musharraf - In his first interview with an Israeli newspaper, former president Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan tells Haaretz about Pakistan-U.S. relations, Iran's nuclear ambitions, and how he would solve the Arab-Israeli conflict. Two years before, addressing a gathering of the American Jewish Congress in New York (where his presence was in itself highly unusual ) Musharraf all but said that Pakistan could be open to establishing ties with the Jewish State. As it turned out, he never became a mediator in the conflict, nor were relations forged between Israel and Pakistan. But now Musharraf - who has vowed to return home in the coming months and run for the presidency again - sits down with a Haaretz reporter in his first-ever interview with an Israeli newspaper to revisit these suggestions and chat about the future for his country, ours, and a great deal more. "I felt I needed to test the waters in Pakistan when it came to Israel. Yes. We have been anti-Israel in Pakistan because of Palestine, because the Pakistani people are on the side of the Palestinians and are concerned for their plight. Right from the beginning, from when we got our independence in '47 and Israel came into reality a year later, we have been pro-Palestine," begins Musharraf. "But I believe in realism and in assessing ground realities. I think it's necessary to understand the changing environment, analyze it - and respond. A lot has happened since '48, and one has to adjust. Policies are made, yes, but when the environment changes, policies should change. Policies should not remain constant." REFERENCE: Relations with Israel could help Pakistan, says former president Musharraf By Danna Harman Published 11:19 06.01.12 http://www.haaretz.com/weekend/magazine/relations-with-israel-could-help-pakistan-says-former-president-musharraf-1.405846
Sheikh Rashid Like Wild Women LAMHAY 09 Aug 2010
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IDwi7bKAN0
Sheikh Rasheed Exposes Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry's Visit to Lal Haweli
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_VE_b5dDU0
Sheikh Rashid Ahmed with Begum Nawazish Ali. (AAJ TV)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QF4rkWwmUI
General Hamid Gul supported Pervez Musharraf on 12 Oct 1999
URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HRXOjCGcoRI
Hamid Gul, a retired general, accuses Mr Sharif of having presided over an administration which had failed to deliver the goods. "Sharif turned out to be a great destroyer of national institutions," he told the BBC. "Look at what he did to the judiciary. "He stripped them of power, put a set of judges against the chief justice, did the same to the press. "He gagged the parliament and finally he wanted to do the same to the army." REFERENCE: South Asia Pakistan's coup: Why the army acted Wednesday, October 13, 1999 Published at 23:20 GMT 00:20 UK http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/473297.stm
Political Jugglery & Somersaults of Sheikh Rashid Ahmed - 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tKvhjzwsoo
http://www.express.com.pk/epaper/PoPupwindow.aspx?newsID=1101400854&Issue=NP_LHE&Date=20111214
Nusrat Javed on Sheikh Rasheed
Political Jugglery & Somersaults of Sheikh Rashid Ahmed - 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmaRngoyPJE&feature=related
After years of denials, Pakistan admitted Thursday that its top nuclear scientist sold crucial equipment to Iran (search), but said it knew nothing of his activities when they occurred and insisted he will not be turned over to another country for prosecution. The admission by the Pakistani information minister was the first public acknowledgment that Abdul Qadeer Khan (search) provided Iran's secret nuclear program with centrifuges, a crucial component needed to enrich uranium and produce nuclear material for warheads. "Dr. Abdul Qadeer gave some centrifuges to Iran," the minister, Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. "He helped Iran in his personal capacity, and the Pakistan government had nothing to do with it." Ahmed initially made the admission at a seminar in Islamabad (search) organized by a local newspaper group, in which he stuck by Pakistan's insistence that Khan would never be handed over to a third country for prosecution. The scientist is considered a hero by his countrymen for nearly single-handedly producing atomic bombs for Pakistan to counter rival India's nuclear arsenal. "I support the idea that the government should tell the people about these sensitive matters," Ahmed said at the seminar, according to an audiotape obtained by the AP. "I am not a spokesman for a cowardly nation. Yes, we supplied Iran the centrifuge system. Yes, Dr. Qadeer gave Iran this technology. But we are not going to hand over Dr. Qadeer to anyone. We will not." Ahmed later told the AP that Pakistan's government is fully cooperating with the International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N. body that is investigating the extent of Khan's illicit sales of nuclear technology to Iran, Libya, North Korea and other countries. REFERENCE: Pakistan: Khan Gave Nuke Material to Iran Published March 10, 2005 Associated Press http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,149995,00.html
Political Jugglery & Somersaults of Sheikh Rashid Ahmed - 3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IxdIOUAjZU&feature=related
KARACHI (October 31, 2010) : Muttahida Muslim League (MML), an alliance of Pakistan Muslim League (PML) factions, has formally invited Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) to join the group in the larger interest of the country. Briefing the journalists at Nine Zero, the MQM's Headquarter, Sheikh Rasheed, Chairman, Awami Muslim League (AML) said MML has invited MQM to join the alliance in the greater interest of Pakistan. "MQM is a well-organised, straight forward political party and they have assured us to review proposal in co-ordination committee's meeting for final decision," Sheikh added. "We have formed MML and it is our wish that everyone who wants change in the country should join the alliance, Sheikh said, adding that MQM has power and if they part way with the government then no one can save the coalition set-up." "If we leave the 180 million innocent people, who also pay tax regularly, on mercy of looters and plunders then it would difficult to save the country," Sheikh warned. MML invites MQM to join alliance RECORDER REPORT KARACHI (October 31, 2010) http://www.brecorder.com/news/general-news/pakistan/1118596:mml-invites-mqm-to-join-alliance.html
Political Jugglery & Somersaults of Sheikh Rashid Ahmed - 4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NjKMtmJPZcs&feature=related
It's perhaps easier to persuade the militant to eschew violence than to imbibe in him the ethos of popular politics demanding doublespeak and concealment of the unsavoury past. Proof of this was provided at Islamabad's Marriott Hotel at the June 13 inauguration of a photo exhibit. Present were Pakistan PM Shaukat Aziz, information minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, chairperson of the Human Rights Commission Asma Jehangir, who inaugurated the exhibition, and a clutch of Kashmiri leaders. 'The camp was meant to train JKLF cadres and the Sheikh accompanied JKLF leaders, including Malik, to the LoC several times.' And then began speaking JKLF leader Yasin Malik, who had crossed the Line of Control (LoC) in the 1980s to train as a militant and subsequently became a votary of non-violent politics. Yasin Malik said, "(Information minister) Sheikh Rashid has played a great role for Kashmir's liberation. He used to support the frontline jehadis from Kashmir, but few know of his contributions." Perhaps, in the euphoria of reliving the past, or overwhelmed by gratitude (or, indeed, pique), Yasin went on to spell out the Sheikh's role in Kashmir's militant movement: it was at the information minister's farmhouse that some 3,500 Kashmiri jehadis, including Yasin, received training in arms. From the reformed militant leader's perspective, there obviously couldn't have been a better compliment to shower on another Kashmiri before an august audience. But the politician in the irrepressible Sheikh realised that even in these days of Indo-Pak bonhomie, it isn't possible to accept as minister a man who could have trained 3,500 militants. When journalists questioned him, he tersely remarked, "I have no idea about which Sheikh Rashid he (Yasin) is speaking." This prompted the newshounds to turn to Pakistani journalist Hamid Mir, who's known to have close links with the Kashmiri leadership and attained fame for his interview with Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. Mir said, "Yes, according to the information I have, Sheikh Rashid's Rawalpindi farmhouse was dubbed Freedom House and used to be a hub of Kashmiri activists belonging to the JKLF. The camp was operational from 1988-90 to train JKLF cadres and Sheikh Rashid accompanied JKLF leaders, including Yasin, to the LoC several times. The camp's existence was known to high officials in Islamabad."
The next day Yasin Malik retracted his statement, claiming the media had misquoted him. The Sheikh issued a statement, insisting it had never been his policy to train militants. "I am a politician, not a militant, and strongly support the Indo-Pak peace process," he added. A retired intelligence official told Outlook that late Ashfaq Majeed Wani was in charge of Freedom House, the Sheikh's 20-acre farmhouse in Fateh Jang, Rawalpindi; and it was the ISI, then under Lt Gen Hamid Gul, which established the facility. But the former official claims the "liberation of Kashmir" may not have been the Sheikh's sole motive. "There were those in the intelligence who believed that he had actually rented out his farmhouse to the ISI for a hefty sum of money. And Yasin, who lived in Rawalpindi's Tinch Bhatta area then, was a frequent visitor to Freedom House," he said.
As journalists dug up the Sheikh's past, the Pakistan People's Party spokesperson Farhatullah Babar confirmed Yasin's statement: Freedom House was a militant training camp. Subsequently, the PPP issued a statement saying, "In 1989, the PPP government had learnt that the ISI, without the government's clearance, had given to then Opposition member Sheikh Rashid hundreds of acres of land in the suburban areas of Rawalpindi. The PPP government had also learnt that this land was given to him to support the Kashmiri groups." He said the PPP government was, however, sceptical about the claim and did not buy this argument. "But, as the military was under the President, there was little the government of the day could do about it constitutionally". Since only 20 acres of land was used to train militants, Babar has alleged that hundreds of acres of land were given to the Sheikh for some "collateral purposes". Claiming that the "training camp story was anything more than a decoy to divert state funds to favoured political leaders to overthrow democracy", the PPP has now demanded an inquiry into the Sheikh's role in training militants.
Confirmation has come from other quarters as well. Hamid Mir, of the Geo Television Network, says he talked to the interior minister of the Benazir government (1988-1990), Aitizaz Ahsan, on June 15, two days after Yasin tossed the bombshell at the Marriott Hotel. Mir quotes Ahsan as saying that Yasin was "100 per cent correct" in claiming that Freedom House used to be a training facility. Sources say the ISI decided to shut Freedom House as the establishment chose to back armed Islamic groups, instead of secular groups like the JKLF. This was when the ISI put its formidable weight behind the Hizbul Mujahideen, the Jamaat-e-Islami's armed wing. Sheikh Rashid did not have good relations with the Jamaat, and Freedom House fell out of favour. Those close to the Sheikh, however, say he has drastically altered his mindset since the Zia days. "There is a hell of a difference between the Sheikh of the early 1980s and the Sheikh of 2005," says a close friend. He says that as a Kashmiri from the Valley, Sheikh Rashid was an ardent supporter of the JKLF which had received an impetus under the military regime of Gen Zia-ul Haq.
The controversy couldn't have been more inopportune: he was planning to travel to India's Kashmir on the Muzaffarabad-Srinagar bus on June 30. There's much speculation here on whether or not the Sheikh will make the journey to Srinagar, from where his family had migrated decades back. Should he decide to not alter his travel plans, the other crucial question is: will the Indian government grant him permit to visit his 'homeland'? Mir, however, feels the Indian government should allow the Sheikh to visit Kashmir. "No doubt the Sheikh believed in liberating Kashmir through an armed struggle. But, today, he believes in resolving the ever-lingering Kashmir dispute through bilateral dialogue." Many here believe the Sheikh has a penchant to change his ideology and political affiliations. Earlier known as Farzand-e-Rawalpindi, or son of Rawalpindi, the Sheikh had served as information minister in the Nawaz Sharif government. He was elected to the National Assembly on the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) ticket in the 2003 election. Subsequently, though, he shifted his allegiance to the ruling PML(Q), and earned the sobriquet of Lota of Rawalpindi. A vessel used for ablution, lota is a derogatory term used for political chameleons. REFERENCE: PAKISTAN Did He Help Train 3,500 Militants? He supported the JKLF, and helped train militants. Thanks to Yasin, Sheikh Rashid's dirty secret is out. AMIR MIR MAGAZINE JUN 27, 2005 http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?227765
Political Jugglery & Somersaults of Sheikh Rashid Ahmed - 5
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-1PLqFy9QQ&feature=related
10 YEARS AGO "SAME SHEIKH RASHEED AHMED"
ISLAMABAD, April 7: Power politics in the Pakistan Muslim League (PML) will intensify with the conviction of deposed Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif as the development poses a question as to who will be the acting president of the party. According to the party constitution, only the president (Nawaz Sharif) can nominate one of the eight vice-presidents as acting president while the central executive council or the general council of the party have no authority to do so. Senior party leaders told NNI that in the present situation, the CEC and parliamentary party would meet on April 9 to pass a resolution demanding of Nawaz Sharif to nominate one of the vice-presidents as the acting president. The vice-presidents are Raja Zafrul Haq, Ejazul Haq, Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, Lt-Gen (retd) Majid Malik, Khurshid Kasuri, Illahi Bukhsh Soomro, Subedar Khan Mandokhel and Gohar Ayub Khan.
According to party sources Zafrul Haq at the moment enjoys backing of Chaudhry brothers (Shujaat Hussain and Pervaiz Ellahi). Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, Lt-Gen (retd) Majeed Malik, Illahi Bukhsh Soomro, and Gohar Ayub Khan have also supported his nomination, the sources said. Ejazul Haq, on the other hand, is a strong contender for the top slot but some party leaders oppose the idea on account of some of his statements after Oct 12 military takeover. He, however, enjoys full support of the so-called dissidents, including Mian Mohammad Azhar, Abida Hussain, Syed Fakhar Imam and Khurshid Kasuri, the sources added. They said that Nawaz Sharif had a soft corner for Raja Zafrul Haq and he had repeatedly thanked him for keeping the party united. However, Syed Fakhar Imam has repeatedly said that the new party president should be elected through secret ballot in a general council meeting.-NNI . REFERENCE: PML to ask Nawaz to nominate party chief DAWN WIRE SERVICE Week Ending: 8 April 2000 Issue : 06/15 http://www.lib.virginia.edu/area-studies/SouthAsia/SAserials/Dawn/2000/apr08.html#pmlt
ISLAMABAD: Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, former railways minister, on Wednesday said the coming parliament would not stay for a long, as there existed little chances that President Musharraf and new assemblies could work together. Addressing a news conference here, he said the government’s failure to handle Lal Masjid issue besides power and gas crises were the causes of Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid’s (PML-Q) crushing defeat in Monday’s elections. Rashid, who suffered defeat in NA-55 and NA-56 constituencies of Rawalpindi, said: “I am considering to make my own political party but before taking a decision I will consult Chaudhrys.” He said he had no intention to quit politics. However, he added, he would quit politics at the peak of his political career. He said though President Musharraf was keen to work with the coming parliament, but some politicians did not want to let the system work for a long period. Accepting the PML-Q defeat in the elections, he said the polls were held in a free, fair and transparent manner enabling the nation to bring a change. “We are defeated due to our own deeds like ghee, atta, electricity and gas crises. The Lal Masjid issue is the most important reason behind our defeat,” he conceded.
Rashid said now its liability of the politicians not to plunge the country into further chaos and crises. “The nation has made right decision. Now the ball is in politicians’ court. They should form a government of national consensus,” he advised. He said the people reacted against the Lal Masjid operation and pro-United States policies in the poll. “Obviously, there is the issue of chief justice, but the real fact behind our defeat is the Lal Masjid operation,” he maintained. Sacked chief justice: When asked, he agreed that the sacked chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry should be released immediately. Rashid, the all time winner in Rawalpindi in the past, said some politicians had played with the sentiments of the people by promising to reinstate the deposed chief justice and make Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan as president of the country. He said Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) had no interest in the constitutional amendment to undo the third-terms’ condition for becoming prime minister. “PPP has no interest in it. As far as Nawaz Sharif is concerned he will have to wait for the next parliament,” he told a questioner. ‘Lal Masjid raid was major reason for PML-Q defeat’ * Sheikh Rashid calls for immediate release of sacked chief justice * Says he will form his own party Staff Report Thursday, February 21, 2008 http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2008\02\21\story_21-2-2008_pg7_13
Political Jugglery & Somersaults of Sheikh Rashid Ahmed - 6
The opposition victory is so resounding that influential Pakistanis began calling for the president's resignation. "The people of Pakistan have spoken with great vigor and clarity," the Supreme Court Bar Association's president, Aitzaz Ahsan, told NEWSWEEK by phone from his Lahore residence, where he is still under house arrest for opposing Musharraf's efforts to keep power. "Pervez Musharraf has played his innings and should show some grace and bow out." But Musharraf, who has ruled Pakistan with an authoritarian hand since he overthrew the democratically elected Sharif in a bloodless 1999 military coup and who has been hailed by President George Bush as a crucial ally, is unlikely to call it quits anytime soon. Even so, he is badly weakened politically. Although Musharraf as president was not a candidate in the election, his most powerful and vocal supporters were routed. Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, the Q party's president, was defeated. So were Musharraf's defense and foreign ministers and his strongest whips in parliament. Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, his former railways minister, lost for the first time in seven elections going back to 1985. He was so shaken that he scrambled for a midnight plane to Spain, as angry crowds gathered outside his residence in Rawalpindi. The End of Musharraf? "Newsweek", 2008-02-19. Retrieved on 2008-02-19 After humiliating election results, the U.S. ally may wield little power in Pakistan. http://www.newsweek.com/2008/02/18/the-end-of-musharraf.html
LAHORE: The Jamaatud Dawa (JuD) is violating rules issued by the district administration for the ‘Difa-i-Pakistan Conference’, which is to be held at Minar-i-Pakistan today in protest at “America and Nato’s terrorism”. Banners and posters advertising the conference and flags of Lashkar-i-Taiba, an outfit thought responsible for the Mumbai terrorist attack of November 2008, have been put up around the city. The group has also set up reception camps. All of these actions are in violation of a code of conduct issued by the administration, according to an intelligence agency report. It said the code was being “violated openly, particularly regarding display of flags and posters of a proscribed organisation”. The United Nations Security Council declared JD an alias of Lashkar-i-Taiba and banned it on December 10, 2008. The federal government announced a ban on the group in Pakistan the next day, though it later emerged during a hearing in the Lahore High Court that the ban had never been officially notified. The JD denies any links with LT, insisting that it is a charity organisation. The JD has regularly arranged rallies in Lahore in recent months with no resistance from the authorities. According to the code of conduct for Sunday’s rally issued by the district administration, there must be no wall-chalking, banners, streamers, posters or flags advertising the conference in the city. This rule has been openly violated, most spectacularly by a massive banner on Chauburji, a historic building overseen by the Archaeology Department. The code of conduct states that no reception desk be set up, and that the speakers at the rally must not say anything likely to incite hatred against any religious party or sect. No speeches against constitutional offices, the armed forces or the judiciary are allowed. “No banned, proscribed organisation or their members will be allowed to address the participants,” it states. It also states that “disputed affairs” must not be “touched/discussed”. The code bans the public display of arms. Organisers are not allowed to make announcements concerning the conference via a van or other vehicle. “No one will be forced to attend the public gathering. No shop or business activities will be closed forcibly. There shall be no political slogans/hooting of any political/religious party,” says the code. According to the intelligence agency’s report, more than 15,000 chairs have been set up in Minar-i-Pakistan for the rally. JD spokesman Yahya Mujahid said the number of chairs for the rally was double the number placed there for the Tehreek-i-Insaf rally held at the same venue on October 30. The intelligence report said that about 3,000 volunteers would be deployed at the venue for security. JD chief Hafiz Muhammad Saeed has said that a lot of people will participate in the conference. In a press release issued earlier, organisers urged religious leaders to make contacts in mosques, schools and the streets to inform people about “American and Nato aggression” against Pakistan and to convince them to attend the rally. Capital City Police Officer Ahmed Raza Tahir and Deputy Inspector General Ghulam Mehmood Dogar were asked to comment on the violation of the code of conduct for the rally, but did not reply to questions from this correspondent. REFERENCE: ‘Defence of Pakistan’ Conference: Jamaatud Dawa violates rules for rally By Asad Kharal Published: December 18, 2011 http://tribune.com.pk/story/308097/defence-of-pakistan-conference-jamaatud-dawa-violates-rules-for-rally/
Kamran Khan (GEO TV/Jang Group) Supported Lal Masjid Operation (ARY/GEO 2007)
URL: http://youtu.be/aeUkxFEsc4I
This correspondent has seen a letter of appreciation written by Yaldeshiv, shown by Rasheed, when the Lal Masjid issued a religious edict in 2004 that any Pakistani soldier killed in the South Waziristan tribal area did not deserve Muslim funeral prayers or burial in a Muslim graveyard. The letter was later endorsed by more than 500 scholars and became one of the main reasons for defiance in the Pakistan Army during military operations in South Waziristan. Lal Masjid was also the main site for Pakistani militants to visit, which landed the brothers in serious trouble in 2004 when the government accused them of being partners in a conspiracy to carry out major terror operations in Islamabad. The connection was Rasheed's car, which was apparently used by one Usman, who had been arrested in connection with sabotage activities in the capital. The government wanted the brothers arrested, but then-federal minister for religious affairs and son of former president Zia Ejaz ul-Haq, who was very close to the brothers, intervened. He became guarantor on behalf of the state that if Rasheed surrendered for interrogations to an intelligence agency of the armed forces and if no evidence came out, he would be cleared of all charges. "Before going into custody I made it clear to Ejaz ul-Haq that I had met everybody, including Osama, [Taliban leader] Mullah Omar [and] Dr Ayman al-Zawahiri and that many wanted figures did come to Lal Masjid because it is a mosque and anybody can come to this place. So any evidence of terror should be other than that. Ejaz ul-Haq agreed, and then I was handed over to intelligence," Rasheed told Asia Times Online in a recent interview. REFERENCE: Pakistan: Trouble in the mosque By Syed Saleem Shahzad South Asia Apr 12, 2007 http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/ID12Df04.html
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/ID12Df03.html
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/ID12Df03.html
Kamran Khan (GEO TV/Jang Group) Supported Lal Masjid Operation (ARY/GEO 2007)
URL: http://youtu.be/aeUkxFEsc4I
The federal religious affairs minister, Ijaz ul Haq, repeated his view on a private TV channel on September 9, that there was no evidence that the madrassas were involved in terrorism. He said a mistake was made in Pakistan, and outside, in associating the banned jihadi-terrorist organisations with the madrassas. He said the Uzbeks in South Waziristan were the people who came as the vanguard of the Soviet troops to fight the 1979-88 Afghan war, but went back to Uzbekistan to demand their rights from “the worst dictator in the world”, President Karimov of Uzbekistan. They were savagely treated and pushed into Afghanistan where the Taliban gave them asylum. They took no part, he said, in the war against America but had to flee to Pakistan after 9/11. (This is the most hypocritically disingenuous account of the movement of Qari Tahir Yuldashev that one has ever heard. It also contradicts the position taken by Lt-General Safdar Hussain, the Peshawar corps commander, on the same TV channel, a week earlier.) The pro-MMA-madrassa flurry of statements by Mr Haq has encouraged others to use private TV channels to obfuscate the issue of the isolationism and rejectionism of the madrassas and their exploitation by terrorist organisations, including Al Qaeda. Thus we had a former chief justice of the Sindh High Court shocking us out of our wits by stating on a private TV channel on September 10, that the madrassas were the central education system of the Muslims in India till the British got one man willing to serve them (he was referring to Sir Syed Ahmad Khan) to open a parallel system of education to outflank and destroy the madrassas. He said the 9/11 and 7/7 incidents were stage-managed to justify plans to destroy the Muslims. He said he did not believe that Muslim youths were capable of the terrorism of 7/7, leaving behind telltale evidence to implicate them. It appears that Mr Haq’s rhetoric is catching on with private TV channels, where the hosts or anchorpersons either do not know the background to the growth of terrorism in Pakistan or are a part of the “Islamic reply” to the “accusations” of the West. On September 9, Maulana Abdul Maalik of the MMA was so emboldened by Mr Haq’s presence that he announced that the madrassas would teach jihad as qitaal and needed no permission from the state for starting a war. Mr Haq remained quiet, even though he knew well that Sufi Muhammad of Malakand had ordered a private jihad in favour of the Taliban and had got 8,000 Pushtuns to populate the prisons of the Afghan warlords. He pretended not to see the implications of madrassas deciding when and with whom to go to war without asking the nation-state in which they were located. Indeed, Mr Haq got a discussion so skewed in favour of those who would depose President Pervez Musharraf in the name of Islam that an “unofficial” discussant, Mr Javed al-Ghamidi, had to say that mistakes were made by the madrassas as well. The fact is that most top madrassas are directly or indirectly involved in breeding militant Islamists who are inclined to become terrorists. This has been proved beyond doubt, unless you want proof of nothing less than actual military training grounds on their premises. Pakistan’s most notorious terrorist wanted by India together with Ahmad Umar Sheikh, the murderer of Daniel Pearl in Karachi, is Maulana Masood Azhar, a graduate of the Banuri Town madrassa in Karachi. The director of the madrassa, Mufti Nizamuddin Shamzai — target-killed last year –arranged the first meeting between Osama bin Laden and Mullah Umar, the self-styled “caliph” of the Taliban. The South Waziristan terrorist still on the loose in his area, Abdullah Mehsud, went straight to Banuri Town madrassa after his release from Guantanamo Bay and declared war on the Americans and “their allies”. After his mentor Mufti Jamil of the madrassa was killed in Karachi, he struck in South Waziristan, kidnapping two Chinese engineers, with horrible consequences for Pakistan. On June 24, Mufti Rehman and Maulana Irshad, new heads of the Banuri Mosque madrassa in Karachi, were also target-killed. Before the world pressured Pakistan into banning them, some of the jihadi organisations boasted the highest number of madrassas in Pakistan. Those organisations have changed their names, but still exist — and so do their madrassas. One private TV channel exploring the world of madrassas (and finding them clean!) last month visited a very well appointed “university” in Karachi run by Lashkar-e-Taiba, a banned terrorist organisation. Another TV channel visited another madrassa in Islamabad — this time a women’s seminary called Dar al-Hafsa — and was bombarded with rhetoric of rejection of the state, which begins a young Pakistani’s journey into extremism and violence. The TV host wanted to know if the seminary did not take them away from the mainstream of society and expose them to a discourse that made them reject the state. One woman seminarian said that General Pervez Musharraf had blasphemed by saying that women should not be behind the veil. The women said wahi was their command; the state was not. One said she rejected the state. On the other hand, Mr Ijaz ul Haq said on TV that the government had apologised to Dar al-Hafsa and had punished the police officer who had tried to force his way into the madrassa looking for a terror suspect. President Musharraf has said many things on TV that his religious affairs minister is trying to negate through his own gloss on the madrassas. For instance, the president said that the men who tried to kill him had been trained and equipped with explosives in South Waziristan where, he said, he had hunted down and killed some Uighur terrorists from Sinkiang at the request of China. New research is available on the presence of Uighur terrorists in Pakistan, if Mr Haq is interested in the latest information. President Musharraf had also complained of the terrorists of Southeast Asia getting their ideological training in the madrassas of Karachi — the largest Deobandi concentration including madrassas belonging to Sipah-e-Sahaba. He even named Hanbali, the Indonesian terrorist linked to Al Qaeda. The man he got arrested from Dubai on the charge of trying to kill him in Rawalpindi, Qari Saifullah Akhtar, is a graduate of the Banuri Town madrassa. The problem with all madrassas is that they nurse a mind that adopts isolationism as a way of looking at the world. The total lack of realism following World War I that inspired the Khilafat and Hijrat Movements and the Reshmi Romaal Conspiracy tells us that the madrassa is and has always remained a politically dangerous fool’s paradise. This isolationism breeds rejectionism of the world in general and the nation-state in particular. It is the incubator of personalities that later lead Muslim society to extremism and violence. Therefore, Mr Ijaz ul Haq should have the guts to either denounce President Pervez Musharraf and leave his cabinet or admit that the president is pulling a fast one on the world and the people of Pakistan. * REFERENCE: EDITORIAL: Madrassas, Ijaz ul Haq and Musharraf Monday, September 12, 2005 http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_12-9-2005_pg3_1
Ijaz Ul Haq and Khwaja Asif Get Personal
URL: http://youtu.be/FrH0EaxRVyo
Ijaz Ul Haq and Khwaja Asif Get Personal
URL: http://youtu.be/FrH0EaxRVyo
ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Religious Affairs Ijaz-ul-Haq has said that the patience adopted by the Government with the administration of Lal Masjid following illegal possession of Children Library was its biggest mistake. The administration of Lal Masjid wanted to use 3000 students of Lal Masjid and Jamia Farida as a human shield, he said while talking to State run TV Channel on Monday. "I think strict action is the only way to get rid from Maulana Abdul Aziz, Abdul Rashid Ghazi and save the seminary", the minister observed. Federal Minister for Religious Affairs added that the issue is tarnishing the image of the country abroad and Government has shown great tolerance. The administration of seminary, he said, should be given deadline and if they not agreed then option of action must be reviewed. The issue was deteriorated due to patience and tolerance of Government, he said. The minister was of the view that teachers and students of Jamia Farida are not aware about the behaviour of administration of seminary. Wafaq-ul-Madaris has also removed the name of lal Masjid from its body, he maintained. No one can challenge the writ of Government or nor any one can announce Jihad without will of ruler although he (ruler) is insincere, he asserted. Despite challenging the writ of Government by administration of seminary, he said, Government has shown enormous patients but to no avail. Commenting on Political situation of the country, the minister said that there is no political crisis in the country adding that All Parties Conference would be the gathering self-interest politician. There would be no change on Government due to APC, he said. Answering to a question, Federal Minister for Religious Affairs said that Government should give subsidy to Pakistan International Airlines instead of increasing the fare of Hajj. The increase in fare of Hajj was vital to overcome the loss being faced by PIA, he disclosed adding that PIA is facing enormous problem due to increase in Petroleum prices in international market. End. REFERENCE: Patience with lal Masjid admin big mistake of Govt: Ijaz http://www.paktribune.com/news/print.php?id=182918
Lal Masjid & Role of Ijazul Haq - 1 (GEO TV 2007)
URL: http://youtu.be/PE-boeehZes
URL: http://youtu.be/PE-boeehZes
KARACHI: The military regime created the Lal Masjid issue to deceive the international community with a ‘fixed match’, the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) alleged Saturday. Friendly treatment towards extremists and cruelty toward liberal and democratic forces has exposed the military regime, said PPP MNAs Yousuf Talpur and Aijaz Jakhrani. Referring to a similar military operation in Balochistan, they said that Akbar Bugti was not being offered the package that the Ghazi brothers, who endangered so many lives, were given. Abdul Aziz Ghazi was called a ‘coward mullah’ for trying to escape in a Burqa. “Liberal and political leaders like Akbar Bughti are not being offered guest house facilities by Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain,” they pointed out. A naked contradiction was seen in the government’s policy with its soft handling of militants and suicide bombers, and its hard line attitude towards the democratic opposition. “If someone responsible for killing several innocent men, women and children is allowed to talk to a news channel from a safe-house, why are liberal and democratic political workers kept in inhuman conditions?” they asked. The world knows that the regime invented and promoted the Lal Masjid brigade to threaten civilian governments, as such a monstrously jihad centre was allowed nowhere, let alone in the country’s capital, they said. A high level commission of Supreme Court judges should be formed to find out who created this fifth column and nourished this monster. They demanded the arrest and interrogation of Federal Minister Ijaz ul Haq, and other government officials who directly supported Lal Masjid mullahs, to discover the web of extremism. “The dictatorial regime is directly responsible for the bloodshed of innocent people in and around the Lal Masjid,” PPP leaders said. MQM Chief Altaf Hussain has asked the president, prime minister, federal cabinet and heads of all intelligence agencies to take notice of the Opposition parties’ efforts to play dirty politics for political gains against the Government. Opposition parties wanted to show their support to the Lal Masjid administration to politicize the matter; it is a challenge to the writ of the government, he said. MQM senators have urged the Lal Masjid’s Abdul Rasheed Ghazi to show flexibility and surrender himself to law enforcement agencies. They also criticized the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) for its support to the Lal Masjid administration. REFERENCE: Lal Masjid issue is a ‘fixed match’: PPP Staff Report Sunday, July 08, 2007 http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007%5C07%5C08%5Cstory_8-7-2007_pg12_5
Lal Masjid & Role of Ijazul Haq - 2 (GEO TV 2007)
URL: http://youtu.be/5f9kgoC7E7Q
Lal Masjid & Role of Ijazul Haq - 2 (GEO TV 2007)
URL: http://youtu.be/5f9kgoC7E7Q
* Ejaz says mastermind of PM suicide attack killed in operation Staff Report ISLAMABAD: Eight “high value terrorists” wanted by Pakistan and other countries are holed up inside Lal Masjid, while another was killed by security forces in the ongoing operation, Religious Affairs Minister Ejazul Haq said on Sunday. “Nine suspected terrorists said to be far more dangerous and harmful than Al Qaeda and Taliban operatives were hiding inside the mosque compound,” Haq told a press conference here. He refused to reveal the identities of these militants. He said that security forces killed one of these suspected terrorists inside Lal Masjid on the second day of the ongoing operation. He was the mastermind of the failed suicide attack on Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz in Attock in 2005, he said. Haq said that the militants and not Abdul Rashid Ghazi, Lal Masjid’s deputy chief cleric, were controlling the mosque. “The militants are holding children and Ghazi hostage,” he said. He said that of those who had surrendered to the security forces, three girl students were still unclaimed. They were being kept at the Pakistan Sports Complex. He said that about 500 male and female students were still stranded inside the mosque. He also ruled out the government launching any action against other madrassas in Pakistan, including Jamia Faridia. AFP adds: The hardcore militants inside include two commanders from the banned Harkatul-Jihad-e-Islami, security officials said. “We believe there are militants from Harkatul-Jihad-e-Islami, which was involved in the [Daniel] Pearl murder. Based on intelligence we suspect that two commanders from the group are in there,” one senior official told AFP. “They have taken control and they are putting up fierce resistance.” The information was based on “intercepts” and other intelligence, the officials said. A source inside the mosque said there was a “lot of tension among the various groups inside the compound on how to conduct the fight”. He identified one of the Harkatul-Jihad-e-Islami militants as Abu Zar, said to be a one-time accomplice of the group’s late leader Amjad Farooqi, who was killed by security forces in 2004. He also named a Pakistani Taliban militant from Waziristan, Mohammad Fida, as the “security chief” of the compound. There was no official confirmation of the names. REFERENCE: ‘Eight top terrorists inside Lal Masjid’ Monday, July 09, 2007 http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007%5C07%5C09%5Cstory_9-7-2007_pg1_1
Lal Masjid & Role of Ijazul Haq - 3 (GEO TV 2007)
URL: http://youtu.be/s7VgNnqQeQI
Lal Masjid & Role of Ijazul Haq - 3 (GEO TV 2007)
URL: http://youtu.be/s7VgNnqQeQI
Lal Masjid issue to be resolved soon: Ijaz - ISLAMABAD, April 12: Religious Affairs Minister Ijaz-ul-Haq said on Thursday that the issue of Lal Masjid-Jamia Hafsa would be resolved peacefully and through dialogue within a few days.Speaking to ulema at a meeting of Wafaq-ul-Madaris at the Haji Camp here, he said the government had no plans to launch any operation against the seminary. Mr Haq said: “The government and PML president Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain are in contact with the managements of Jamia Hafsa and Lal Masjid to find a peaceful solution to the issue.” He said Chaudhry Shujaat had met the Lal Masjid management and there were indications that the issue would be resolved amicably. “The students of Jamia Hafsa are our daughters and we are taking every possible step to save their future.” A committee, consisting of ulema and officials of the capital administration, had been set up to address the complaints of mosques and madressas, he said, adding that all issues would be discussed and resolved in future. He said the committee would take decisions about seven disputed mosques in the capital. The minister dispelled the impression that the government was against madressas. He said the registration of 97 per cent madressas affiliated with the Wafaq-ul-Madaris had been completed. A delegation of ulema was likely to meet President Musharraf to discuss issues relating to madressas’ educational activities, he said.—APP REFERENCE: Lal Masjid issue to be resolved soon: Ijaz April 13, 2007 Friday Rabi-ul-Awwal 24, 1428 http://archives.dawn.com/2007/04/13/top12.htm
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