ISLAMABAD: Maulana Abdul Aziz, the deposed Lal Masjid cleric, has announced that he will preside over the conference to mark the 10th anniversary of Lal Masjid operation, that is scheduled to be held on July 7.
According to media reports, invitations to the conference might be sent out to the president, prime minister, the director general of the ISI and the federal cabinet along with other leaders and prominent religious figures.
The foundation recently announced that the conference would be a major step towards “the implementation of Sharia in the country.”
Reportedly, they are not planning to obtain an NOC from the government since according to the foundation an NOC is not needed as the conference is being held inside the Mosque.
However, according to reports an NOC is required as the mosque is state property and Maulana Aziz has already been deposed of as khateeb of the mosque.
In a similar situation, a conference was held by the deposed cleric on March 24, 2017, but all roads leading to the Lal Masjid were blocked by the government on that day. However, the cleric has issued a warning to the authorities not to try and block the conference this time.
The Lal Masjid operation was launched in 2007, after militant (male and female) students residing inside Lal Masjid killed a Pakistan Rangers personnel posted outside the mosque on July, 3, 2007. Female students had taken refuge at the Children Library under the banner of Jamia Hafsa.
The operation was launched by the army commandos in the early hours of July 10 and was completed on July 11.
