The purge: the fallout

Pakistan government’s ‘Operation Silence’ may have reached its “final stages” following the killing of Lal Masjid’s deputy cleric Maulana Abdul Rashid Ghazi on Tuesday, but the turmoil may not all be over. Violent protest is being mounted by sympathisers of the radical cleric’s cause. And there is criticism from political and civil society groups

Protests in NWFP

Following news of Maulana Rashid Ghazi’s self-proclaimed ‘martyrdom’, Pakistan’s Northwest Frontier Province — a traditional hotbed of Islamic fundamentalism and ruled by a coalition of Pakistan’s religious parties (the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal) — was the first to fall prey to violent reaction.

In the Battagram district, hundreds of armed tribesmen set ablaze the offices of US-based Care International and the French Red Crescent, and occupied positions along the Karakoram highway, firing at vehicles and disrupting traffic. The highway remained closed until 4.30 pm on Tuesday when tribesmen abandoned their positions following negotiations with the district mayor. Two roadside explosions rocked the lower Dir district, injuring 10 policemen, while another explosion injured another six people in the Bajaur agency, which had on Monday witnessed a massive demonstration of 20,000 tribesmen and hundreds of militants.

Nation on alert

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While violent backlash has as yet been confined to the turbulent NWFP region, the rest of the country is under high alert following directives issued after a high-level meeting chaired by General Musharraf in the federal capital, Islamabad. Security has been tightened along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border area, ostensibly in anticipation of infiltration by outraged Afghan tribes who formed strong ties with Deobandi madrassa students during the Afghan-Soviet war. The government has also tightened the security of Chinese nationals residing in Pakistan following reports that they were deliberately targeted in order to undermine Pakistan’s strategic alliance with China. No fallout has been recorded as yet in Southern Punjab, a region with a large number of Deobandi seminaries and home to the two clerics of Lal Masjid, but the possibility of violent reaction in the two cities of D.G. Khan and D.I. Khan remains.

Political and civil reaction

Political reaction to the government’s operation has been mixed but is significant in the backdrop of the All-Parties Conference being held in London and amidst rumours of ‘deal-mongering’ between Musharraf’s government and various political parties.

While the MQM’s support of the operation was expected given its status as a coalition partner with the incumbent PML(Q), Benazir Bhutto surprised many by extending her unwavering support of the operation, leading some analysts to suggest that a deal between her Pakistan People’s Party and Musharraf might finally be in the offing. Her statement also antagonised leader of the opposition and chief of the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal to the extent that he boycotted the All Parties Conference in protest.

Many members of the ulema, while keeping from openly supporting the cause of Lal Masjid, have criticised Musharraf for retracting from a settlement reached between high government officials and the Lal Masjid cleric that they believe may have resolved the crisis amicably. The MMA has announced a 3-day mourning period and has called for countrywide strikes on Friday. In the aftermath of the tragedy that befell Karachi on May 12 this year following similar demonstrations by political parties, many are apprehensive that the protests might become violent.

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Outspoken critic and chairperson of the Human Rights Commision of Pakistan, Asma Jehangir, has also criticised the government for its ‘soft stance’ on the crisis, pointing to its unwillingness to solve the crisis through proper legal channels and instead entering into prolonged negotiations with the radical clerics.

President speaks

President Pervez Musharraf will address the nation today.