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

ISLAMABAD: A three-decade-old madrassa in the federal capital (Jamia Hafsa) has once again become a point of contention between Islamabad’s district administration.

The students of Jamia Hafsa run by Umme Hassan, the wife of Lal Masjid chief cleric Maulana Abdul Aziz, have once again taken up arms, challenging the law-enforcers outside Lal Masjid.

Maulana Abdul Aziz along with a large number of his supporters, has been roaming with arms, threating the police and the FC personnel to “teach them a lesson” if they attempted to arrest him. As he challenges the law enforcers, his supporters raise slogans while brandishing arms.

So far, the local administration and the law-enforcers have refrained from arresting Aziz and his supporters, the situation remains tense in the vicinity of Lal Masjid and Jamia Hafsa.  

Earlier, Umme Hassan, who serves as the principal of Jamia Hafsa, was arrested by the Islamabad police along with 11 others on charges of attacking and firing on a police van.

Earlier, ATC judge Tahir Abbas approved the four-day physical remand of Umme Hassan and six women and seven men in a case registered against them at the Shehzad Town police station under terrorism charges.

The Islamabad administration claims that negotiations are ongoing to resolve the matter. However, the Lal Masjid negotiation committee said that the talks have failed and that the administration has demanded the demolition of the Jamia Hafsa building adjacent to Lal Masjid.

The Islamabad administration did not confirm any such condition.

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On February 20, police arrested Umme Hassan and others on charges of interfering in official duty and attacking law enforcement personnel.

The following day, Islamabad’s anti-terrorism court approved her four-day physical remand, which has since been extended twice. Umme Hassan and others are expected to be produced in court on Monday.

Throughout the past week, students of Lal Masjid have been protesting for the release of Umme Hassan and others, blocking key roads in the twin cities. Some religious leaders have warned the government that the situation could escalate into a repeat of the 2007 Lal Masjid operation carried out during the rule of former military ruler General Pervez Musharraf.

Following Umme Hassan’s arrest, roads around Islamabad’s Lal Masjid have been sealed off with barbed wire and barriers. Police officials at the scene told the BBC Urdu that the closures were aimed at preventing Jamia Hafsa and Lal Masjid protesters from marching on the Kashmir Highway and Aabpara Chowk.

They cited law and order concerns as the reason for the road closures, saying that students of Lal Masjid frequently attempt to stage protests in Aabpara and they were needed to be confined to the mosque’s vicinity.

But how did a dispute over the relocation of a madrassa escalate to the arrest of Umme Hassan and why has the issue remained unresolved?

Speaking to the BBC Urdu, Tanveer Ahmed, the administrator of Madrassatul Muslimeen, claimed that Islamabad’s deputy commissioner visited the madrassa in February and informed them of the decision to relocate the seminary due to security threats.

According to Ahmed, the deputy commissioner did not provide valid reasons, and when the madrassa administration offered to move back from the road if that was the issue, they were told that the government would provide an alternative location.

Ahmed said that they asked the Islamabad administration to discuss the matter with senior leaders of Jamaat Ahle Sunnat.

He claimed that both parties agreed in February that a committee of religious scholars would meet with the deputy commissioner to discuss the issue.

The administration then proposed a new location for the madrassa: a plot next to the Madni Mosque in Phase 2 of Margalla Town, about 1.5 km from Madrassatul Muslimeen.

However, Tanveer Ahmed argued that the vacant plot next to Madni Mosque was insufficient for their needs. He said they had not been informed whether any construction had begun on the new site.

Ahmed said that the current madrassa’s land was designated as a trust property and had been established during the regime of former military ruler Ziaul Haq. The madrassa currently accommodates around 180 students.

Meanwhile, Islamabad Deputy Commissioner Irfan Nawaz Memon told the BBC Urdu that negotiations between Jamia Hafsa and the administration were ongoing, but he declined to provide further details.

Conditions for Umme Hassan’s release

At Madrassatul Muslimeen, the teaching process continues as usual. However, the adjacent plot where the seminary was supposed to be relocated became the site of recent arrests of Umme Hassan along with female students and administrative members of Madni Mosque.

According to the FIR filed at Shehzad Town Police Station, Umme Hassan, female students, and others have been accused of disrupting the construction of the seminary in Phase II of Islamabad’s Margalla Town. The charges include rioting, allegedly firing at police, vandalism, and violence.

This is not the first time Umme Hassan has been arrested. Islamabad police say that at least 20 cases have been registered against her.

Hafiz Ehtesham, a government negotiator and spokesperson for the Lal Masjid Shohada Foundation, said that the administration of Madni Mosque and nearby Talha Mosque allegedly called Umme Hassan, asking her to mediate a dispute about the demolition of Madni Mosque.

According to him, negotiations were held successfully, but Umme Hassan was arrested from the home of Talha Mosque’s imam while she was having a meal there.

He claimed that neither Maulana Abdul Aziz nor the administration knew about her visit until her arrest.

Hafiz Ehtesham alleged that Islamabad’s administration has set conditions for the release of Umme Hassan and other detained women, including the demolition of Jamia Hafsa.

He claimed the conditions also included refraining from moral policing and not interfering in the work of the administration against illegal mosques and seminaries.

Islamabad’s administration has not commented on these claims. Islamabad’s Deputy Commissioner Irfan Nawaz Memon neither confirmed nor denied the conditions, only stating that negotiations were ongoing.

Meanwhile, the committee formed by Maulana Abdul Aziz rejected the condition of demolishing Jamia Hafsa’s building.

Hafiz Ehtesham said that while other conditions were accepted, the demand to demolish the newly reconstructed building of Jamia Hafsa led to a deadlock in negotiations.

Why the Dispute Over Jamia Hafsa’s building?

Jamia Hafsa was reconstructed in 2022 after being demolished during the Lal Masjid operation in 2007. In October 2007, the Supreme Court ordered the federal government and CDA to reconstruct Jamia Hafsa on its original site within a year, but the order was never implemented.

Hafiz Ehtesham told the BBC that in 2011, then-Interior Minister Rehman Malik and Bahria Town owner Malik Riaz offered 20 kanals of land in Sector H as an alternative site. However, after construction began, authorities forcibly halted work in 2019 when the seminary’s basement had already been completed.

Despite promises of alternative locations, no land was provided, leading the administration to rebuild Jamia Hafsa at the original site.

The seminary’s administration claims they received no prior notice or demand for demolition before Umme Hassan’s recent arrest.

Hafiz Ehtesham accused the administration of seeking partial demolition of the building to avoid embarrassment. He argued that the Supreme Court’s decision remains valid and unchallenged.

He said that hundreds of female students and teachers currently reside in Jamia Hafsa. The seminary’s main branch in Sector G-7/3 hosts 3,500 to 4,000 students, he said.

He said that the administration fears that if more students arrive at the new building and protest, it could lead to public disorder.

Umme Hassan and Jamia Hafsa’s students have protested against late-night music events, concerts, and wedding celebrations more than a dozen times, demanding an end to loud music.

Meanwhile, the Jamaat Ahle Sunnat has convened meetings, strongly opposing the demolition or relocation of mosques and seminaries and calling for Umme Hassan’s release.

Pakistan Ulema Council Chairman Allama Tahir Ashrafi told the BBC that both sides were engaged in talks over Madrassatul Muslimeen’s situation. He dismissed concerns that this issue could escalate like the 2007 Lal Masjid operation, asserting that both the administration and religious seminaries belong to the same community and negotiations were underway.

When asked for details of the discussions, he declined to provide specifics.

In 2007, the government launched an operation against Lal Masjid’s administration over their alleged illegal activities.