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India-Pakistan
Imam: Lal Mosque to be repainted red "with our own blood" if necessary
2007-10-07
"There can be no compromise. If our demands are not fulfilled, we cannot guarantee that there will be law and order"
The new imam at Islamabad's oldest mosque, the scene of a July "massacre" of up to 1,000 female students by police commandos, yesterday told the first Friday prayer service since the mosque reopened that the building would be repainted red "with our own blood" if necessary. At least 10,000 worshippers knelt in prayer at the Lal Majid, or Red Mosque, which was repainted yellow during an earlier attempt by authorities to patch bullet holes and reopen the mosque under government control.

The congregation yesterday spilled out onto an adjacent four-lane boulevard with a tree-lined median, where men in white skull caps knelt shoulder to shoulder as Abdul Ghaffar, the chief imam who survived the July 10 raid in which the former leader died, gave the traditional Friday sermon. "It should be painted again red because red is the color of the blood we shed. If the government doesn't do it, we will repaint it with our own blood," said Mr. Ghaffar, who took over the mosque this week under orders of the Pakistani Supreme Court.

He said a sprawling girls' seminary adjacent to the mosque, where many if not most of the victims are thought to have died, must be rebuilt.

"There can be no compromise. If our demands are not fulfilled, we cannot guarantee that there will be law and order. There will be protests, unrest and we may have to use our last option," he said — possibly a cryptic reference to threats to unleash "waves of suicide bombers" made by the former chief imam, Abdul Rashid Ghazi, who died in the raid.

Posted by:Seafarious

#16  How many terrorists does it take to paint the Lal Mosque?
Posted by: gorb   2007-10-07 23:35  

#15  Hmmm....lemme see....45000 square feet of exterior surface area to be painted.....and I guess you get about 300 square feet to a gallon of blood, give or take the blood type.....so....carry the three......about 150 gallons......say around 3/4 gallon yield per muzzie......got it.

Round up approximately 200 muzzie volunteers Ghaffar. We can find some folks to bleed them for you.
Posted by: mcsegeek1   2007-10-07 21:17  

#14  It warms the heart to see how you've all eagerly joined in to support this effort.
Posted by: wxjames   2007-10-07 19:50  

#13  I love when a plan comes together.
Posted by: JohnQC   2007-10-07 19:29  

#12  Let's hope the monsoons come at the same time the painting begins, so they'll have to apply ten or twelve coats. A pint will cover about 20 square feet, if applied correctly. The human body contains about 20 pints, I believe. Of course, blood dries to an almost black appearance, so fresh coats will be required periodically. I've got a couple of sharp knives, if they're needed...
Posted by: Old Patriot   2007-10-07 18:40  

#11  Contemporary news reports confirmed the armed status of the terrorists, and All were male. There is no evidence that the army massacred unarmed females. That mosque would have been easy to infiltrate, thus
the Pakistan military would have known how to overwhelm enemy chokepoints.
Posted by: McZoid   2007-10-07 18:11  

#10  ...you missed a spot over there...send out Rage Boy with a bucket.
Posted by: Phinater Thraviger   2007-10-07 11:32  

#9  Just repainting was not good enough. The government should have replaced all the leaders in the mosque with government bureaucrat Imams, trained in giving Episcopalian quality (mind numbingly boring) sermons.
Posted by: Anonymoose   2007-10-07 10:39  

#8  Well Raj, the color folks at HGTV, highly recommend a deep red primer anytime you're going for red on the walls. That way you can avoid having to do several coats of paint. On the other hand, multiple coats maybe what you want. Extra work, but the results....
Posted by: Procopius2k   2007-10-07 10:06  

#7  What will they use for primer?
Posted by: Raj   2007-10-07 08:49  

#6  So what's the bad news?
Posted by: Guillibaldo Spaitle1733   2007-10-07 07:28  

#5  Where can I donate some 6" paintbrushes?
Posted by: gorb   2007-10-07 06:21  

#4  Very likely the best idea this guy ever had!
Posted by: Dave S.    2007-10-07 01:27  

#3  In one afternoon! Two coats!
Posted by: Franz Liebkind    2007-10-07 00:56  

#2  "Lal Mosque to be repainted red 'with our own blood'"

Works for me.

The sooner the better.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut   2007-10-07 00:22  

#1  Lal Mosque to be repainted red "with our own blood" if necessary

Please. It's necessary. Trust me, I wouldn't lie to you.
Posted by: Zenster   2007-10-07 00:09  

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