ISLAMABAD, Oct 13: After changing its colour a couple of times since the contentious July 10-11 military operation, the Lal Masjid will be given a fresh coat of red paint after Eidul Fitr, it has been learnt.

“The government has agreed to restore the original red colour of the mosque,” officials in the Interior Ministry told Dawn.

The officials, on the condition of anonymity, said the decision in this respect was taken in a high-level meeting presided over by Secretary Interior Syed Kamal Shah in the ministry.

The meeting was also attended by the officials of the district administration and representatives of the wife of former Lal Masjid chief cleric Maulana Abdul Aziz, Umme Hassaan, who is heading the mosque management these days.

According to the officials, the interior ministry has tasked the Capital Development Authority (CDA) with repainting the Lal Masjid red.

On the other hand, the mosque management has been clearly informed that the paint job will only be undertaken by the Capital Development Authority, and it should not make any such attempt.

At present, the colour of Lal Masjid is beige, which was painted by the CDA after the 12-day bloody military operation concluded around mid-July.

However, when the mosque was reopened on July 27, supporters of the expelled mosque management staged a protest demonstration, took over the control of the mosque and painted it red.

The same time when the mosque was witnessing these unruly scenes, a suicide bomber detonated his explosives-laden vest a few hundred yards away in Aabpara market, killing 19 people, mostly policemen.

Shortly after the blast, the Lal Masjid supporters abandoned the mosque, apparently in anticipation of another security operation against them.

The mosque was retaken by the capital administration and it was again painted beige.

Meanwhile, the interior ministry officials also directed the Capital Development Authority to carry out repair work at the mosque that were being delayed.

About the shifting of Jamia Hafsa girl students to Jamia Fareedia, a male students’ seminary being run by Lal Masjid management, the local administration and representatives of Umme Hassaan agreed that the plan would be finalised after Eid.