The Supreme Court (SC) on Tuesday told the government to build an educational institution on the site of the demolished Jamia Hafsa, and questioned as to why the government had tolerated a madrassa built on encroached land for years.A four-member bench of the SC comprising Justice Javed Iqbal, Justice Fakir Muhammad Khokhar, Justice Mian Shakirullah Jan and Justice M Javed Buttar heard the suo motu case of the Lal Masjid and Jamia Hafsa operation.
Interior Secretary Syed Kamal, Islamabad Deputy Commissioner Chaudhry Muhammad Ali, and the Interior Ministry’s National Crisis Management Cell Director General Brigadier (r) Javed Iqbal Cheema appeared in court. “Why did the Capital Development Authority (CDA) turn a blind eye [to the madrassa] despite having a huge army of employees?” asked Justice Javed Iqbal in response to the arguments of respondents, who contended that a sizable portion of the madrassa was built on encroached state land.
The court told the authorities to address the grievances of the families of those killed in the operation. The Interior Ministry was also directed to speed up the process of DNA testing to identify the dead.
Kamal told the court that all those arrested during the Lal Masjid operation had been released except for head cleric Maulana Abdul Aziz and his daughter Tayyaba Dua. He also told the court that Dua would be released as well. He said 42 bodies had so far been identified by DNA testing and 20 remained.