After the reentry of Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK), Altaf Hussain Group in Karachi, and Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) in Punjab, comes the return of Mullah Aziz to the Lal Masjid of Islamabad.
About 200 people, including teenagers and minors and some gunmen, under the leadership of the former khateeb (prayer leader) of Lal Masjid Maulana Abdul Aziz, occupied the mosque in main Islamabad that is just 3 kilometres away from the Prime Minister’s office, CNN-News18 has learnt.
The developments come after reports were received of an armed sit-in carried out by the imam of the mosque, Maulana Abdul Aziz Ghazi, with his supporters, demanding the “implementation of Islamic law”.
Aziz was the chief cleric of the mosque, better known as the Lal Masjid, until 2007 when he was arrested as he tried to escape during the military operation against the miscreants holding up in the mosque.
He was jailed and later released but was not reinstated as the prayer leader of the mosque, which is owned by the government.
According to top sources, Maulana Abdul Aziz along with around 200 children and gunmen as well as equipment and beds in three vehicles reached Lal Masjid on September 13 at 6am from Rojhan.
On Thursday, they were on the roads under the leadership of Maulana Aziz, moving from Aabpara towards the mosque. They want to go on a long march and if they can’t do it, then they will riot in Islamabad on Friday, sources said.
The police cordoned off Lal Masjid with a well-equipped contingent and barbed wire while the cleric along with the gathering was inside.
The police, including the station house officer (SHO) of Aabpara, tried to intercept the people but remained unsuccessful as some of them were armed with submachine guns (SMGs), the officers said.
The police were informed by members of the group that they had come to take possession of the mosque.
The SHO Aabpara met Maulana, who reportedly said, “I have come to free up Lal Masjid.” On this, the SHO told Maulana that the senior officers were coming to talk to them. Maulana Abdul Aziz Lal left Masjid for Jamia Hafsa after negotiations with police officers and the district administration.
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