Commentary

Trouble at the Red Mosque

Can you believe it? A mosque in Islamabad, the capital city of Pakistan – our trusted ally in the war on terror- was the scene of gunshots, bloodshed and death. What is the world coming to? (The place of worship and eye of the storm is aptly named the “Red Mosque.”)

At last count, sixteen people died as a result of the clash between government forces and armed followers of the mosque’s radical clerics. The Washington Post reported that at least three female students at a religious school affiliated with the mosque were killed, as well as a Pakistani soldier and an unlucky photographer.

The tension between the government and the mosque did not start with the arrival of army rangers, it has actually been festering for months. It seems that events in Pakistan – and elsewhere in the world-must reach full-boil before they register on the radar screens of western media outlets.

The elders at the Red Mosque have been on a crusade to halt the immoral practices common in Islamabad – prostitution and the consumption of alcohol-which, I am quite sure, are common in large urban areas throughout the civilized world.

Over the past several months, the cleric’s young goons have functioned as Islamabad’s all-volunteer vice police. The members of this religious “justice squad” – mainly students of the madrassa that is run by the Red Mosque – have taken it upon themselves to abduct police officers and kidnap women that they believe are prostitutes.

Their colorful brand of righteousness did not end with the arbitrary kidnapping of innocent citizens. They also harassed stores that peddled music deemed offensive to Islam, and issued a fatwa (a religious smack-down) against a female cabinet member who dared to hug a strange man in public. (She is married, and therefore the property of another man.)

Usually clashes between the advocates of seventh century morals and the secular government of Pakistan have been limited to the regions near the Afghan border – where access to cable TV is difficult to come by. The fact that this deadly contest played itself out on the streets of Islamabad is worrisome indeed.

President Musharraf is very unpopular at the moment. After he tried to clean judicial house by attempting to remove the popular chief justice of the Supreme Court a few months ago, the vast, sane Pakistani moderate population has turned on him. The fun-hating clerics at the Red Mosque no doubt smelled blood in the water and decided to seize the moment by imposing their will through their poorly educated followers.

There are still some 4,000 young martyrs holed-up in the sprawling mosque compound. This confrontation is far from over. Musharraf’s best bet is to reach out to the moderates by behaving like a responsible, democratic leader. If he ignores the rising anger of the secular middle, he will eventually fall at the hands of the clerics, and he will take all of Pakistan with him.

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© 2007 Splendid Marbles.