| The Supreme Court on Monday took suo motu notice of the Lal Masjid situation and formed a committee of ulema to negotiate with the mosque’s administration to reach a peaceful solution to the crisis. The court directed the government to help the committee – which consists of Maulana Mufti Rafi Usmani, Rai Bashir Ahmed, Mufti Abdul Hameed, Dr Adil Khan, Qari Hanif Jullundhari, Mufti Muhammad Naeem and Qari Abdul Rasheed – get in touch with the Lal Masjid deputy chief cleric Abdul Rashid Ghazi. The court also directed Attorney General Makhdoom Ali Khan to get information from the government on how it plans to recover the women and children held hostage inside the mosque. “We are concerned with the safety and liberty of the innocent children and women who have been reportedly made hostage in Lal Masjid. It is the duty of the government to ensure their safe recovery,” said Justice Muhammad Nawaz Abbasi, who was hearing the case with Justice Faqeer Khokhar. The bench declined a request for the operation to be halted on the grounds that the court had no control over Lal Masjid. The court also asked the interior secretary under what law the armed forces had been called in for the operation and why Lal Masjid was allowed to hoard ammunition and explosives. The case continues today. |