Dozens of people have been killed or injured in the storming by government troops of the Red Mosque in the capital of Pakistan, Islamabad. The authorities say that resistance leader Abdul Rashid Ghazi was among the victims. Hundreds of women and children were in the mosque and the two adjacent religious schools.
The kidnapping of alleged prostitutes and threats against owners of music and video shops by radical students attending the Red Mosque calls to mind scenes from the early days of the Taliban in Afghanistan.
Campaign of talibanisation
In the tribal regions, the Pakistani equivalent of the Taliban has been conducting a talibanisation campaign. Girls schools have been set on fire, barbers have been banned from shaving beards and people have been stopped from listening to music and watching videos.
Initially, the campaign was restricted to the semi-autonomous tribal areas but the campaign spread to the North West Frontier Province, NWFP, one of Pakistan's four provinces. Six months ago, the campaign hit parts of Islamabad.
Allies of the general
Pakistan's president, General Pervez Musharraf, bears a great deal of responsibility for the talibanisation. After he came to power in a bloodless coup in 1998, he sidelined the moderate, secular opposition parties. The popularity of the Pakistan People's Party and the Pakistan Moslem League-Nawaz were a threat to his regime. The religious parties, who are generally sympathetic to militant groups and the Taliban, became the general's allies.
Jamia Hafsa, the religious girls school attached to the Red Mosque, added an unauthorised extra storey to the building in January. The city government protested against the building work. In reaction, militant students occupied an adjacent public children's library. The authorities did not evict the students, instead several ministers started negotiations with them.
Stature
These negotiations dramatically improved the stature of the leaders of the radical mosque and Abdul Aziz Ghazi, head of the mosque and his younger brother Abdul Rashid Ghazi, head of Jamia Hafsa, issued more demands. They called for the implementation of Sharia law, strict Islamic law, throughout Pakistan.
Most Pakistanis want nothing to do with Sharia law and are crazy about music, especially Indian music, and breathed a sigh of relief when the government finally tackled the radical leaders. The Pakistani media also reacted positively, though most of them said that General Musharraf should have taken action earlier.
Battles
However, militants in other parts of the country came out in support of the Red Mosque radicals. In Swat, in NWFP, where the radio broadcasts by religious leader Maulana Fazlullah persuaded dozens of girls to stop going to school, there have been regular battles between security troops and Mr Fazlullah's followers. He had earlier publicly announced his support for the Ghazi Brothers.
In the tribal regions, there were several demonstrations in support of the leaders of Islamabad's Red Mosque. There was an attack on General Musharraf's aircraft and unknown assailants murdered three Chinese citizens and seriously injured a fourth in Peshawar, capital of NWFP.
Some analysts say the murder of the Chinese citizens was in revenge for Beijing demanding that Chinese workers in Pakistan be better protected. Beijing's demand was in response to the kidnapping of six Chinese women by radical students, who claimed that the women were prostitutes. The women were later released.
Army of Mohammed
General Musharraf claims that members of the al-Qaeda-linked Army of Mohammed, Jaish-e-Mohammad, were also in the mosque. The group is alleged to have close links with the Ghazi Brothers. The Army of Mohammad is fighting against what it calls the Indian occupation of Jammu and Kashmir and has carried out dozens of attacks. The groups financing is alleged to come mainly from Pakistani living in Great Britain.
Pakistani newspapers have warned that the general's attack on the Red Mosque, named Operation Silence, must not be repeated in the tribal regions as resistance to the security forces will be greater and far more professional.
* RNW translation (jc)