Pakistan government has apparently decided to resolve the stand-off with a group of radical Islamic clerics by accepting one of their key demands of closing down all brothels in the capital city.
ISLAMABAD: Already facing a multiplicity of problems, the Pakistan government has apparently decided to resolve the stand-off with a group of radical Islamic clerics by accepting one of their key demands of closing down all brothels in the capital city.
The government is ready to force the closure of brothels operating in Islamabad to meet one of the demands of the clerics of Lal Masjid who control a large madrasa in Islamabad as a quid pro quo deal for veiled girls of the seminary to end their occupation of a children's library in the city, local daily 'The News' reported.
Pakistan Muslim Leaque-Q (PML-Q) President Shujaat Hussain, who has been roped in by the government to negotiate with the two pro-Taliban clerics Abdul Aziz and Abdul Rashid Ghazi, said that action would be taken against the brothels,
but only after ascertaining facts, the paper said.
Hussain who took part in a high-level meeting attended by President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz after his talks with the two clerics said he was quite optimistic about resolving the problem without resorting to an crackdown by the police against the madrasa and mosque.
Asked about the demands by the clerics to close down brothels, he said they would be shut if found operating in the capital city. He said the action would be taken only after the identification of a complainant.
The administration of Jamia Hafsa, had claimed that there were as many as 26 brothels in sector G-6 in Islamabad but without explaining how it discovered these spots.
Monday's meeting attended by Musharraf reportedly decided to rely mainly on negotiations for resolving the piquant situation created by the militant clerics as well as veiled girls students of the madrasa, who created a stir by issuing a fatwa against Tourism Minister Nilofar Bakhtiar for hugging a French paratrooper after a para jump in Paris.
Given the multiplicity of the crises the government is facing at the moment, a decision has been taken to resolve them through political means.
Meanwhile, a petition was moved in the Pakistan Supreme Court on Monday against Lal Masjid imam Maulana Abdul Aziz and Jamia Hafsa principal Abdul Rashid Ghazi for setting up a Qazi Court and forming a private army against the state.
The petition moved by Shahid Orakzai, a freelance journalist, has been filed under Article 184(3) of the Constitution as a matter of public importance and urges the court to restrict the activities of the clerics, who are also brothers.
The petitioner has requested the court to issue immediate orders stopping the government from using force against the madrasas to prevent the loss of life or injury to any person.
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