Death at the Red Mosque
The Red Mosque (Lal Masjid) in Islamabad, Pakistan, has become a center for Islamist activity. Thousands of extremist students, men and women, have been incited by their Imams and have ventured out in gangs and attacked people on the streets that they considered insufficiently pious. Women wearing western dress were attacked and beaten. The women doing this activity are of course covered from head to toe in black burkas and they carry long bamboo sticks to hit their victims. This came to a head last week when they captured three Chinese women from a massage parlor and beat them to death because they were accused of being prostitutes. The Pakistan Government was severely criticized for not reacting to these provocations for months, and the Chinese Govt. issued a complaint.
Finally, the Govt. sent in the police and the army and surrounded the Mosque and proclaimed a curfew. Firing has been exchanged and ca. 20 people were killed, including several policemen. In order to avoid further loss of life and not to allow the students, similar to the Taliban, to proclaim themselves martyrs, the Musharraf Govt. offered the equivalent of 60 euros to every student who would surrender. But, those with guns would be arrested and tried. Over 1,000 students surrendered, but there are still hundreds inside, with guns. The leading Imam and instigator of the situation was arrested when he tried to escape the Mosque dressed as a woman wearing a burka. Videos from inside show masked terrorists shooting at the army outside.
This situation is a typical and deliberate case of incitement by Muslim religious authorities against the legal power of the state. The Islamists want to bring down the "moderate" Muslim regimes that cooperate with the West as much as they want to destroy the West itself.
There may yet be large scale loss of life at the Red Mosque in Islamabad, but it won't be the last time a Mosque has been used as a center for violent and subversive military activities.
___________________________________
Note: Edgar Allen Poe's story "Masque of the Red Death" takes place in a Church and the Red Death is a plague.
Finally, the Govt. sent in the police and the army and surrounded the Mosque and proclaimed a curfew. Firing has been exchanged and ca. 20 people were killed, including several policemen. In order to avoid further loss of life and not to allow the students, similar to the Taliban, to proclaim themselves martyrs, the Musharraf Govt. offered the equivalent of 60 euros to every student who would surrender. But, those with guns would be arrested and tried. Over 1,000 students surrendered, but there are still hundreds inside, with guns. The leading Imam and instigator of the situation was arrested when he tried to escape the Mosque dressed as a woman wearing a burka. Videos from inside show masked terrorists shooting at the army outside.
This situation is a typical and deliberate case of incitement by Muslim religious authorities against the legal power of the state. The Islamists want to bring down the "moderate" Muslim regimes that cooperate with the West as much as they want to destroy the West itself.
There may yet be large scale loss of life at the Red Mosque in Islamabad, but it won't be the last time a Mosque has been used as a center for violent and subversive military activities.
___________________________________
Note: Edgar Allen Poe's story "Masque of the Red Death" takes place in a Church and the Red Death is a plague.
posted by Jack Cohen at 11:23 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home