ISLAMABAD: After obtaining pre-arrest bail from a local court in two separate cases, Maulana Abdul Aziz announced - to the chargin of his lawyer - that he was going to pardon former president Gen Pervez Musharraf for the July 2007 military operation on Lal Masjid.

“I have discussed the matter (forgiving Musharraf) with my family members and except a very few all others are ready to pardon the former military ruler. I will try to persuade them too,” Maulana Aziz told mediapersons outside the court of Additional District and Sessions Judge Islamabad Raja Asif Mehmood, who granted him the pre-arrest bail. He claimed that there was no hidden deal or any other secret objective behind his decision to pardon the former military ruler.

But the cleric’s announcement annoyed his counsel Tariq Asad. Advocate Asad, who is also the chairman of Shuhada Foundation Trust comprising clerics of the Lal Masjid and the heirs of those who died in the military operation, said Maulana Aziz can pardon Gen Musharraf for the loss of life in his family but cannot take such a decision on behalf of other victims.

“If Maulana Aziz pardons Musharraf, I would initiate legal proceedings against him,” advocate Asad added. The Aabpara police registered the two FIRs against the cleric for extending threat to the civil society activists and delivering a provocative speech at the Community Centre Islamabad in October 2014. The court accepted the bail plea against surety bonds worth Rs50,000 each case.

A day earlier, advocate Asad had contended before the court that his client was under ‘siege’ with his residence surrounded by personnel of law enforcement agencies and, therefore, could not appear before the court.

The counsel wanted to obtain the bail without producing the cleric in the court but the judge directed the station house officer (SHO) of Aabpara to facilitate the appearance of the accused. On Tuesday, when the cleric appeared before the court, his bail application was accepted.

Published in Dawn, February 3rd, 2016