Shujaat holds informal talks with Lal Masjid administration

The federal capital has plunged into a deepening crisis with the setting up of 'Shariah court', as overnight reconciliation meeting between Pakistan Muslim League president Shujaat Hussain and religious hard-liners failed to make any headway.
Although the Lal Masjid administration showed no flexibility in its stance but the two sides agreed to continue talks to find a 'peaceful' solution of the issue that has grasped attention globally.
In a fresh round of manoeuvrings, Shujaat held an unscheduled meeting with the Lal Masjid top leader Maulvi Abdul Aziz and Maulvi Abdul Rashid Ghazi on Saturday night but failed to convince them to change their stance.
The unprecedented situation has escalated the tension between the ICT administration with more than 5000'danda-brandishing' seminary students.
It is learnt that Shujaat had held a detailed discussion with Abdul Aziz and Abdul Rashid. The Lal Masjid administration, sources said, made it clear to Shujaat that they were not ready to change their stance, unless the government accepted their demands.The hard-line group has also refused to take back its announcement of setting up 'Shariah court' in the heart of the federal capital. In fact, sources said, Shujaat was told that they were very much determined to enforce 'Shariah' countrywide in a month if the government failed to control immorality.
Meanwhile, the civil society organisations, NGOs, were protesting against the setting up of Sharia court and pressing the government to take action against those who are setting up a parallel judicial system.
NNI adds: Jamia Hafsa's Deputy Chief, Abdul Rashid said on Sunday that Shujaat Hussain visited Lal Masjid to "listen to our views" about the current crisis.
"It was not formal talk, but just an informal sitting, and Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain listened to our stand on the issues," he told NNI. He said that no decision was taken in the meeting. However, Rashid did not agree with media reports about the meeting and said that it proved that Lal Masjid management had not closed doors for dialogue.
He said that the doors were open if anyone wanted to listen to their stand. He denied that they had adopted hard-line attitude during talks with Shujaat. In reply to a question about 'Shariah court' functioning, Rashid said they were receiving complaints, and claimed that a female police officer had complained against her police officer, and they are reviewing it.
He noted that the said female police officer had complained to President Musharraf against the male police officer, but she did not get any response. Following the meeting, Shujaat expressed hope that the matters would be resolved through dialogues. However, sources said that the administration of Lal Masjid remained firm on its stand, saying that they have no intention of taking back the announcement of the setting up of 'Shariah court'.