Ghazi Abdul Rashid, the deputy administrator of Jamia Hafsa and younger brother of Lal Masjid Imam Maulana Abdul Aziz, has said he is ready to “embrace martyrdom” if the government decides to use force to bring the radical clerics in line.
“We are ready for shahadat (martyrdom). Our shahadat will give impetus to the mission we have launched for the enforcement of Sharia in the country,” Ghazi said in an interview with Daily Times on Tuesday. Government officials including President Gen Pervez Musharraf have said they want to resolve the standoff with the Lal Masjid and its madrassas peacefully, and Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, president of the Pakistan Muslim League, met the Lal Masjid imam and his brother last Sunday, but Ghazi said formal negotiations were yet to begin.
“The dialogue is yet to start. The meeting with Shujaat was an informal one. Shujaat noted our demands and promised to respond after consulting the highest quarters. We have not yet received any response,” Ghazi said.
Ghazi claimed that Shujaat seconded the clerics’ demands and termed them “justified”. He maintained that many people, including students from across the country, were contacting the Jamia Hafsa to offer their support. He said students of the Federal Urdu University had put up a banner at Lal Masjid voicing their support for the madrassa students.
He said the madrassa students’ push for enforcement of Sharia in Pakistan was spontaneous. “We don’t have any leader and clear-cut organisational structure of this movement, however it is crystal clear that the movement is on and we want to bring a change in society,” said Ghazi. |