#1 Waqar Gillani, Encore, February 16, 2020
Besieged Maulana Abdul Aziz makes yet another move to take over Lal Masjid and propagate his extreme views in the face of administrative resistance. Islamabad’s Lal Masjid is once again in the limelight after its deposed firebrand khateeb, Maulana Abdul Aziz, made another move to ‘take over’ the premises. He entered the mosque with nearly 200 female students, some three weeks ago amidst weak administrative oversight. Aziz was deposed by the Musharraf government during the siege of Lal Masjid which lasted from July 3 to July 11, 2007. He left the state-administered mosque following allegations of propagating hate speech and extremism. Since then Aziz has been running a small mosque in G-7, whilst demanding the construction of Jamia Hafsa at its appointed site in Islamabad. In April of last year, the government sealed the site and replaced Aziz as the khateeb. |