KARACHI, July 12: The Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) and the Sindh Bar Council (SBC) have demanded a judicial inquiry into the 36-hour Lal Masjid operation that left scores of people, including 10 soldiers, dead.

PBC member Mohammad Yasin Azad, SBC member Salahuddin Khan Gandapur, along with other senior lawyers, including Younus Khan and Zafar Iqbal, told a press conference here on Thursday that the military government had exposed the country’s sovereignty and integrity to a very serious threat.

They also asked General Pervez Musharraf to step down immediately for endangering the country’s sovereignty and integrity by resorting to the uncalled for military action at Lal Masjid and Jamia Hafsa.Condemning the ruthless operation at the mosque and the adjacent religious seminaries in strong words, they severely criticised the role of the secret agencies which, they claimed, had been supplying arms and ammunition to extremist religious groups since the era of Gen Ziaul Haq.

They observed that radical religious groups had been armed with sophisticated weapons and given military training to fight against the Soviet occupation forces in Afghanistan in pursuance of Washington’s policy. The lawyers believed that the very armed groups were challenging the government’s writ now when it had taken a U-turn again in pursuance of US policies.

They observed that the fluctuating policies had cast a negative and dangerous impact on Pakistan’s internal security and culture, with militant groups stockpiling dumps of the arms and ammunition elsewhere in the country.

The lawyers said that after the withdrawal of the Soviet Union from Afghanistan and the former’s subsequent dismemberment, the United States set its priorities again, pitting once loyal Jihadi outfits against their own people, including their supporters in Pakistan.

They said the motive behind the army operation would become clear in the due course of time, though the revelations would have lost their importance. However, they stressed, the armed forces’ role in the country’s political affairs must be brought to an end once and for all in order to ensure the country’s security, sovereignty and integrity.

They also urged the Supreme Court to take a suo motu notice of the Lal Masjid affairs and the subsequent army operation with a view to ascertaining the facts making sure that such misadventures were not repeated in future.