The Wafaqul Madaris al Arabia, an alliance of religious institutions, has strongly condemned the operation against Lal Masjid saying the government for its own interest had polarised the situation and misguided the nation.
"The law enforcement agencies personnel have shifted hundreds of dead bodies of Lal Masjid and Jamia Hafsa students, male and female, to unknown places for their secret burial", they said. Qari Hanif Jalandhry, Mufti Tahir Masood and several other religious scholars said this while addressing a joint news conference at Jamia Islamia Rawalpindi on Wednesday.
They said the government had killed hundreds of students in operation and their dead bodies were being taken to Chak Daulat, near Kharian Cantt for mass burial secretly. The government wanted to hide the massacre of the Lal Masjid students but they could not succeed, the scholars warned.
"It is a confirmed report that the female students of Jamia Hafsa were taken to unknown place by military personnel and no exact figure of them was available", they said. They said the government wanted to hide the exact number of those killed in the operation. They said that an extra-ordinary meeting of the Wafaqul Madaris al Arabia was held at the Jamia Islamia in which dozens of religious scholars from all parts of the country participated.
"The Wafaqul Madaris in the beginning had asked the government to avoid use of force as it would lead to massacre and it proved true", they said adding that both the sides used fire power, which resulted in death and destruction. They said that some hidden forces had also worked to disrupt the ongoing negotiations and worsened the situation.
They held President Musharraf responsible for Lal Masjid massacre episode saying that he (Musharraf) had threatened death to people in mosque. He fulfilled his threats by sabotaging the reconciliatory efforts, they added.
They rejected the warning of Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz saying that Wafaqul Madaris would struggle till last maintaining the independence and educational identity of the religious madaris. They asked the government to contact the Wafaqul Madaris if it needs some data of madaris. They said they would hold countrywide protest against the Lal Masjid operation.