A two-member bench of the Supreme Court (SC) on Tuesday ordered the government to open Lal Masjid for prayers from today (Wednesday) and pay compensation to the families of those killed during the 10-day military operation against the mosque and the Jamia Hafsa madrassa.Hearing a suo motu case, the bench consisting of Justice Muhammad Nawaz Abbasi and Justice Javed Buttar
The bench directed the Capital Development Authority (CDA) to complete the construction of a proposed educational project at the site of the demolished Jamia Hafsa in a year.
The SC bench set an October 15 deadline for the Islamabad administration to ensure the shifting of girl students of Jamia Hafsa to Jamia Fareedia, which was sealed during the military operation. It asked the Islamabad sessionsÂ’ judge to find the legal heirs of those killed in the operation within a month and compensate them within two months. Justice Buttar declared that Lal Masjid would be used only for prayers and no madrassa would function on its premises.
| "Hey, they can't do that! They're studying!" "Naw, they're just praying." "But they're chanting the Koran word-for-word!" "Like I wuz saying ...." |