I am a supporter neither of Musharraf nor of the Lal Masjid Ulama. This battle was between two parties where none of them was right. Lal Masjid had become a place where extremism though, Parvez Musharraf’s tackling of the issue needs attention; he just dealt with the matter in a way that he gets bouquets from his Western backers. Since his position had started dwindling in the eyes of Bush hence he wanted to prove his capability as Bush’s General in the area. If he wanted he could have continued the siege for a few more days. This would have solved the matter without the tragedy of hundreds of people getting killed. But Musharraf wanted to dramatise the whole situation to earn maximum mileage. Now the way the events unfolded, there is a clear danger of very serious fallouts, and the evidence is already there in the form of a rise in terrorist attacks. I strongly believe that there is no place for terrorism in the world. But terrorism cannot be fought in isolation without a greater fight against the tyranny of the Bushes and Blairs. And if terrorism is fought the way Bush wants, it will always keep on growing. Terrorism cannot go unless all the factors leading to its rise are addressed.
Md Ziyaullah Khan
Pune, Maharashtra