How the Negotiations were thwarted by the Government
This is the report of Maulana Zahidur-Rashdi who was involved in the negotiations along with Mufti Rafi Usmani and this report is worth considering by anyone who bears ill-feelings towards the Shuhuda of Lal-Masjid....unless you are so biased and beyond reason that nothing can persuade you!
It is from this morning’s (12JULY2007)’s Daily Islam newspaper…
http://dailyislam.com.pk/
For those who don’t understand Urdu, the summary is as follows:
For those who can understand Urdu, please read attachement in FULL!
A group of Scholars from Wifaqul-Madaris (organisation which overseas Madrasas in Pakistan) consisting of Maulana Zahidur-Rashdi (Author), Mufti Rafi Usmani, Maulana Dr. Abdur-Razaq Sikander, Maulana Qari Hanif Jalandhari, Maulana Adil Khan, Maulana Hakeem Muhammad Mazhar Khan, Maulana Mufti Muhammad, Maulana Qadhi Abdur-Rasheed and Maulana Saleemu-ullah Khan (Ameer of the group) met with the Prime-minister Shaukat Aziz, Chawdry Shujat Hussain, and Aijazul-Haq (minister for religious affairs), Muhammad Ali Durrani (minister), Tariq Azeem (minister), and commander Khaleel Ahmed (Pakistan Army) at the prime Minster’s house on the 9th of July at 14:00. The prime-minister personally appreciated and thanked the group of Ulama for assisting the government and elaborated on the government’s efforts & tactics.
The conditions of Maulana Ghazi Abdur-Rasheed Shaheed (RA) which were discussed with Mufti Taqi Usmani & Mufti Rafi Usmani were presented to the government officials and it was decided that direct communication with Maulana Ghazi Abdur-Rasheed Shaheed (RA) (on the phone) should be restored in order to avoid further blood-shed and in principles all three conditions of Maulana Ghazi Abdur-Rasheed Shaheed (RA) were accepted but it was decided to talk to him about their implementation. His three conditions were:
1. He shouldn’t be arrested or placed under house-arrest, rather he should be allowed to move to his native village along with his belongings and his entire extended family
2. All of his companions and everyone else held up in Lal Masjid & Jamia Hafasa who are not wanted in any legal cases previously should be allowed to walk away however Maulana Ghazi Abdur-Rasheed Shaheed (RA) had no objections to people being tried for cases prior to the Lal Masjid/Jamia Hafsa affair
3. Lal Masjid should be given over by Awqaaf (Ministry of Religious Affairs) and run with the consultation of Wifaqul Madaris and Jamia Hafsa & Jamia Fareedia should be brought under the control of Wifaqul Madaris
It was communicated to the government that Maulana Ghazi Abdur-Rasheed Shaheed (RA) was unwilling to surrender and/or compromise if these three conditions were not met!
As previously stated that all three of these conditions were agreed in principle and it was decided that relevant ministers of Pakistan government and Ulama of Wifaqul Madaris will work together on finer details.
We had a cordial meeting with the prime-minister and we were under the impression that the matter is now resolved! It was also decided that we would visit Lal Masjid in the evening (Ministers and group of Ulama), however we were STOPPED at a check-point and REFUSED to proceed further. Security personnel stated that there are Terrorists holed up in the Mosque so we cannot allow the group to proceed (on grounds of safety); we had already informed Maulana Ghazi Abdur-Rasheed Shaheed (RA) of our arrival and he was ready to welcome us.
We had no choice but to go to a nearby house and start discussions with informed Maulana Ghazi Abdur-Rasheed Shaheed (RA) on the phone. On informed Maulana Ghazi Abdur-Rasheed Shaheed (RA)’s request Maulana Fazlur-Rahman Khalili was also invited to the negotiations.
By mid-night we had agreed to the three points (very similar to the previous ones so I won’t bother translating) & the salient points of the agreement were noted by Tariq Azeem Khan (Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting) and fully expounded in writing by me (Maulana Zahidur-Rashdi). We discussed the final draft with Maulana Ghazi Abdur-Rasheed Shaheed (RA) on the phone and he agreed with it.
Chawdry Shujat Hussain then iterated that this agreement must be taken to the president for final approval and he proceeded to the presidency with the ministers. Two hours later the agreement that was brought back was completely deferent in the following respects:
1. There was no mention of arresting or placing Maulana Ghazi Abdur-Rasheed Shaheed (RA) under house-arrest…No discussion of this matter was in the new agreement
2. The discussions about not arresting and trying personnel was skipped!
3. Handing control of Jamia Hafsa & Jamia Fareedia to Wifaqul Madaris was also skipped!
We were told that the new agreement is non-negotiable and a response (Yes or No) is required within 30 minutes.
This new agreement was obviously rejected by Maulana Ghazi Abdur-Rasheed Shaheed (RA) on the phone as his 3 conditions were not met.
I (Maulana Zahidur-Rashdi) personally spoke to Maulana Ghazi Abdur-Rasheed Shaheed (RA) on the phone at around 02:15 (10th of July) and he reiterated his previous position….At this point the group of Ulama left the government ministers and stated that since the agreement reached (between the Prime Minister, Federal Ministers, Maulana Ghazi Abdur-Rasheed Shaheed (RA) & Ulama) has been altered significantly, we are unable to proceed with the negotiations and we take no responsibility for the breakdown.