ISLAMABAD: The government on Friday criticised the Lal Masjid clerics’ declaration about the enforcement of the Sharia and their threat to unleash a wave of suicide attacks. “Sharia cannot be enforced by a simple pronouncement from the Lal Masjid,” Interior Minister Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao told a press conference called shortly after the Friday prayer.

The minister said the government would not succumb to pressures and threats. “The government would not allow anyone to take law into one’s own hands,” he added. He said the government was closely monitoring the situation and committed to enforcing the rule of law.

According to a press release issued by the ministry, the government had taken notice of the events taking place in the Lal Masjid and the Madressah Hafsa compound. It said the government was exercising maximum restraint out of respect for the mosque and presence of female students who had been misled into agitation.—Staff Reporter