The words could not have been more definitive: Pakistani government officials have decided not to pander to those remaining inside the Red Mosque in Islamabad, just streets away from the Pakistan home of government, who now spend their fifth day besieged with little food or water.
The front wall of the compound has been destroyed by the Pakistan Rangers, Pervez Musharraf’s equivalent of the SAS. Negotiators using loudhailers decried that those inside had a simple choice: surrender or be taken by force. President Musharraf even tried the lure of money to those remaining inside the mosque – 5000 rupees, to be precise, or just over £40.
Yet still, despite the Deputy Information Minister to the Pakistani Government, Tariq Azim, saying that “unconditional, total surrender” would be the only conclusion to this hostage situation, those inside the mosque remain resilient, willing to die. The Sunday Times reported today of two sisters who had admitted to their father over the phone that they were prepared for martyrdom – they were eventually lured out by the fabrication that their mother was ill, and effectively kidnapped back to the sanctuary of their home. The 10-year old elder sister said that she was unsure whether she would be able to forgive her father for snatching the opportunity to become a martyr from her.
A hardened core of 850 remain inside the complex – around 200 of whom were students at the madrassa – and with every passing hour it seems they are more comfortable to their fate as martyrs to the cause of Islam. Ghazi Abdul Rashid, the Deputy Leader of the Lal Masjid madrassa and mosque, has been left effectively in charge after his brother tried to escape past the police cordon by wearing the dress of a woman, and his radical indoctrination of those remaining seems to be working surprisingly well.
Those who do try to escape their hostage plight are gunned down maliciously: two students who tried to run from the mosque on Friday were shot on sight by those who remained inside. The intact walls of the compound are fortified by 14 gunmen with Kalashnikov rifles who themselves use the hostages as – often willing – human shields. The remainder have been corralled underground into the basement of the mosque, making it impossible for Pakistani security forces to damage the building further in case of a cave-in. Around 1,200 are believed to have fled without harm since Tuesday, when the siege began.
It was a raid on a police checkpoint near the compound by 150 students of Abdul Rashid that caused the situation to escalate to such an extent, with forces responding to the attack by using tear gas and later, bullets. 24 people have been killed in the exchange of fire, including one journalist covering the story.
Abdul Rashid, who with his brother inherited the mosque when his father died, sought to radicalise its teachings in line with sharia law, or the strictest version of Islam. They raided nearby wasteland for further possible real estate on which they have increased the size and power of the mosque in the community. It has become a place where it is a privilege to learn, with families sending their sons and daughters to be taught the practices of Islam in a wholesome manner. Some of those caught up in the hostage crisis are orphans of the recent
