July 14, 2007	Saturday	Jamadi-us-Sani 28, 1428

LAHORE, July 13: The Punjab leadership of the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal said here on Friday the alliance would move a court of competent jurisdiction to get murder cases registered against Gen Pervez Musharraf and all those responsible for the bloodshed at Lal Masjid and Jamia Hafsa.

Speaking at a public demonstration before the Lahore Press Club, MNAs Liaquat Baloch and Hafiz Salman Butt, Jamaat-i-Islami spokesperson Ameerul Azeem and Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam leaders Maulana Mohibunnabi and Saifuddin alleged that the president was responsible for the military operation against students of Jamia Hafsa and Jamia Fareedia and the people in Lal Masjid in the heart of the federal capital and the loss of ‘hundreds’ of lives.

A good number of MMA workers attended the demonstration, called by the alliance which issued directives to its cadres across Punjab to observe Friday as a day of protest against the tragic incident of the mosque and the two seminaries. Carrying placards and banners, the workers chanted slogans during the demonstration which lasted for around one and a half hour.

The MMA leaders demanded a judicial inquiry into the whole episode by the Supreme Court saying the military operation had plunged the country into a deep crisis. They were of the view that the regime had shown its intent against religious educational institutions and the events unfolding around the Lal Masjid and Jamia Hafsa gave strong indication that the regime was targeting seminaries across the country as part of an agenda dictated by its bosses from Washington and other western countries. They, however, said that all religious forces stood against the regime’s designs and would protect religious institutions at all costs.

The MMA sources claim that the protest day was observed all over the province and the ulema had appealed for an action against the regime in their Friday sermons.

DAWA: Meanwhile, Jamaatud Dawa chief Hafiz Muhammad Saeed told a Friday congregation at Jamia Qudsiya at Chauburji that the government had tried to hide the huge loss of innocent human lives by enforcing curfews and prohibiting the media from entering the area.

He said the government’s claim of 73 dead could not be accepted as hundreds of students were present in the Jamia Hafsa and Lal Masjid. Hafiz Saeed also led funeral prayers in absentia of those killed in the operation.

ISRAR: Religious scholar Dr Israr Ahmad told a Friday congregation at the Quran Academy that the government had grossly mishandled the entire episode because the issue could have been resolved through negotiations. He also crticised religious and political parties which, he said, had failed in rising up to the occasion.

PAT: The Pakistan Awami Tehreek has appreciated President Musharraf’s resolve of not allowing the seminaries to be misused but said that that the president had not promised an independent inquiry into the whole affair of the Lal Masjid and the Jamia Hafsa.

PAT’s secretary-general Anwar Akhtar said in a press statement on Friday that the smuggling of large quantities of arms and ammunition inside the place of worship and religious learning located in the heart of the federal capital, needed to be probed. He also wanted of the government to issue a list of seminaries where arms were available and students were being trained in militant activities.