CDA demolishes part of Lal Masjid amid rising tensions

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad administration and the Capital Development Authority (CDA) demolished parts of Jamia Hafsa on Tuesday, Dawn News reported.

The authorities labeled the parts to be “illegally constructed”. The demolition comes merely days after threats of an anti-government movement by Lal Masjid cleric Maulana Abdul Aziz.

The threats were followed by deployment of over 150 police officers around Lal Masjid, on Friday, to curtail movement in and out of the mosque. This in turn resulted in Maulana Aziz brandishing an automatic weapon at the police and threatening them with dire consequences.

Jamia Hafsa standoff: Umme Hassan’s arrest fuels fresh tensions in Islamabad

Now yesterday, a team of Capital Development Authority (CDA) officials has razed some additional structures of the newly constructed seminary. A CDA official said that the department’s team was appointed to support the district administration in demolition of the seminary structures.

Dawn News reported a senior official as saying that “the order was issued by the interior ministry to demolish some sections of illegally constructed Jamia Hafsa, hoping that the move would force Maulana Abdul Aziz and his group to come to the negotiation table.”

Facebook account of Jamia Hafsa was also temporarily suspended. While Maulana Aziz remained quiet during the demolition activities, in a later statement he said that the government was violating its terms. He claimed that the demolition was part of government’s “face-saving” efforts, which were proposed in exchange for releasing Umme Hassan.

Umme Hassan – wife of Maulana Abdul Aziz – was arrested on February 19 along with eight of her students from Margalla Town in Islamabad.