July 11, 2007	Wednesday	Jamadi-us-Sani 25, 1428

LAHORE, July 10: The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has demanded a high-level independent inquiry into the Lal Masjid operation, the clumsy manner in which it was carried out and the deaths of undisclosed number of people.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, HRCP Chairperson Asma Jahangir said the commission was appalled by the killing of so many people by disproportionate use of brute force and an arbitrary action taken to deal with the situation.

She said the probe must focus on the delayed operation, the confusion over the plan under which ulema and government members negotiated with Lal Masjid clerics and the lack of a clear-cut strategy regarding those who voluntarily surrendered.

The absence of a coordinated plan in the operation added to the confusion prevailing among the people. The homage paid by the government and others over the last many years to clerics such as those running the Lal Masjid and the obsequious manner in approaching them also emboldened them.

The HRCP chairperson said that the situation at the Lal Masjid had not cropped up overnight. The build-up of arms and training of students to use them continued for years with the help of the authorities. It also defies belief that the authorities learnt about the presence of alleged militants within the mosque only hours before the operation. Even now other seminaries existed, where militants were trained and arsenals of arms stocked. She says the authorities know the location of such seminaries.

She said the allegation that women and children were used as human shields by the militants of Lal Masjid was appalling. Such exploitation of children by seminaries must end and an investigation be made into the exemption granted to the seminary from regulating and monitoring its pupils.

She said the deaths of so many at the hands of the state forces might pave the way for more extremism in society. —Reporter