On July 10 hundreds of Pakistan’s special forces successfully stormed the Red Mosque (the Lal Masjid) in Islamabad. Its capture from the Islamic militants, led by the firebrand cleric Abdul Rashid Ghazi whose dead body was found in the basement, marked the end of the biggest crisis in Pakistan since the secession of Bangladesh in 1971. It was an important boost for President Pervez Musharraf who is encompassed by acute political problems.
For the troops involved the recapture of the Red Mosque, just over a mile from Parliament House, represented an extremely difficult military operation, and twelve soldiers died in the fighting which at times was hand-to-hand, room-to-room.
The militants, who lost over 70 fighters, were armed with machine-guns, rocket launchers and rifles, and they held a large number of women, and girls and boys from the two madresas, as hostages. The final death toll will be high.
The recent history of the Red Mosque, the second largest mosque in the capital — it can accommodate 4,000 for prayers — highlights the problems of Pakistan. A previous military ruler of the country, Gen. Zia ul-Haq, agreed to the expansion of the Red Mosque in return for the enlistment of young recruits for the jihad against the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. This led on to the mosque and its religious schools becoming a center for jihadi elements, especially Al-Qaeda. In the 1990s the state’s main intelligence agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), gave the mosque its full backing and used it for meetings.
Following the attacks on America in September 2001, President Musharraf aligned his country with Western and certain Arab governments in their campaign against terrorism. This brought the militants into direct conflict with the president. The government’s launching of military operations in the North West Frontier Province against the Taleban led to calls for the assassination of President Musharraf, and fatwas were issued banning the appropriate Muslim funerals for the soldiers killed in action.
The president is caught between the two forces of extremism, with calls for Shariah law throughout the country, and moderate Pakistanis and Western governments, with their calls for vigorous action against the militants. In addition he faces the problem of factional violence between Shiite and Sunni fundamentalists that has led to thousands of people being killed. However in Pakistan only some seven percent of the total electorate support the religious parties and there is a real respect for the rule of law.
There has been growing interest in the problems of Pakistan in the United Kingdom and trepidation as to the future of that country and its 165 million people. Pakistan has great strategic importance and historic relations with Britain. It also has a small but effective nuclear force. What would happen to that force, if we should wake up one morning to hear on the news that the president has been overthrown by fundamentalists in league with Al-Qaeda and a rogue group from within the ISI?
The North West Frontier Province is as lawless in 2007 as it was between the two world wars in British India. Tribal fighters and criminal gangs rule the roost. In 2005-06 a number of peace agreements were signed between Islamabad and the tribes after many Pakistani soldiers had lost their lives. But the agreements have not been kept.
The United Kingdom has over 5,000 troops in Afghanistan and more will be added when they can be taken out of Southern Iraq. For the British Army Afghanistan is seen as the more important area of operations. Fierce fighting has taken place between British Special Forces, such as the SAS and Commandos, and the Taleban. British commanders claim that the Taleban use Pakistan as a safe haven and its madresas as recruiting centers. Without far firmer and more effective action by the Pakistan government it is impossible to defeat the Taleban.
There is also the matter of terrorism in Britain, which has been marked up by some major trials and failed bomb attacks in London and Glasgow. Of the 1.6 million Muslims living in Britain some 43 percent come from Pakistan.
Many of the imams in Britain’s big cities come from that country and tend to take a very conservative view of Islam. Last November the director of MI5, the security service, said in a lecture that 200 terror networks had been identified, 1,600 suspects were under surveillance and most of this potential terrorism was under the direct control of Al-Qaeda leaders living in Pakistan.
The British government will be hoping that the removal of a “rebel fortress” in the heart of the capital — ignored for six months — will give Gen. Musharraf a little breathing space to make some much needed political progress.
