Lal Masjid case: Supreme Court urged to take action against responsible persons

The Supreme Court was on Friday requested that hearing dates pertaining to the Lal Masjid case be fixed promptly and action be taken against persons responsible for defiling the Holy Quran while removing debris of Jamia Hafsa building and compensation be given to persons, who lost their lives in the incident following earlier orders of the apex court.
Dr Akmal Saleemi moved the application on the second anniversary of Lal Masjid incident through advocate Tariq Asad, requesting the court to issue directions to the authorities for submission of a comprehensive report with verification of all those, who had been killed in the incident.
The forces surrounded the Lal Masjid (Red Mosque) on July 3, 2007, following a clash between police and alleged al Qaeda-linked militants. A week later, on July 10, army commandos stormed the Masjid and Jamia Hafsa (an adjacent girls' school) that left more than 100 people dead. The mosque operation unleashed a wave of revenge suicide bombing across Pakistan that has since killed around 2,000 people. Attacks are now part of daily life.
Earlier on October 2, 2007, the court passed an order on the subject, which reads as, "...we direct that the police shall proceed in the matter in accordance with law and shall submit a comprehensive report before next date of hearing. The police shall also verify the antecedents of all those who have been innocently killed in the incident and record statements of their legal heirs to determine their entitlement for payment of compensation in the form of Diyat and subject to the law and necessary verification of the genuineness of the legal heirs in each case by the Session Judge, Islamabad, the Federal government shall make the payment equal to one Diyat for one death to the legal heirs."
The application said that during the period between July 2007 and November 2, 2007, several hearings had been fixed wherein some positive steps were taken and relief was granted. But after the imposition of PCO 2007, the case was never fixed even after the restoration of sacked judges.
That legal heirs of deceased amongst others had been repeatedly requesting and filing applications before different authorities, but their grievances had never been redressed in accordance with the principle of natural justice, the application added.