-----
.
Ulema Blame Pakistan for "Bloodshed"
By Aamir Latif, IOL Correspondent
.
The Ulema delegation appointed by the government to
negotiate with Red Mosque deputy leader Abdul Rashid GhaziGhazi blamed the
regime Tuesday, July 10, for the failure of talks and the "bloodshed."
"Everything was about to settle down," Qari Hanif
Jalindhrai, a member of the delegation, told a news conference along with Grand
Mufti of Pakistan Maulana Rafi Usmani.
"Maulana Ghazi had agreed to our formula that he would
be shifted to his hometown, and tried by the courts," he added.
Ghazi hails from the small village of Rojhan in the
district Dera Ghazi Khan, southern Punjab.
He belongs to the Mazari tribe of Baloch clan.
"However, when the draft of the proposed formula was
sent to President House, it was rejected, and a new draft was given to us
asking Maulana Ghazi to surrender," Jalindhrai recalled.
He added that the government had also backtracked on an
earlier promise to transfer the administration of Red Mosque, Jamia Hafsa and
Jamia Faridia to Wifaq-ul-Madaris Al-Arabia, the board that governs madrasahs
belonging to Dubendi school of thought in Pakistan.
National Mourning
The Ulema delegation heaped blame on the government for
the scores of people killed in a several-hour operation to storm the Red Mosque.
"The government is solely responsible for killing of
innocent people in the operation. It has hoodwinked us," said Grand Mufti Hanif.
The Wifaq-ul-Madaris and the six-party religious
alliance, Muttehida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), announced a three-day national
mourning over the Red Mosque operation.
Pakistani authorities announced the end of the
Operation Silence with the killing of Ghazi and his close aides.
Ghazi's 80-year old mother also died in the operation.
There are conflicting reports about casualties in the
operation.
Umm-e-Hassan, the wife of his leader brother Maulana
Abdul Aziz, and their 13-year old daughter Asma have been arrested by security
forces.
Maulana Aziz and his elder daughter Tayyeba are already
in custody.
Government sources told IslamOnline.net that President
Prevez Musharraf's close aides amended the draft asking that Ghazi hand over 50
wanted people instead of 15.
The amendment was turned down by Ghazi, sources said.
"General Musharraf has been under immense pressure from
his close aides after death of Lt Colonel Haroon Islam," a government official
told IOL wishing not to be named.
"In my opinion, the decision about a full fledged
operation against Ghazi had been taken after the death of Colonel Haroon."
Islam, a senior army commando, was killed Sunday during
fierce clashes between troops and students inside the mosque compound.
The military said he died after an operation to blast
through part of the wall surrounding the fortified Red Mosque complex.
<<Arrow_03.gif>>
