'It could not be handled by police'

-- Interior Minister Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao (Interview was conducted on Tuesday morning)

The News on Sunday: Who is incharge of Operation Silence?
Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao: This is a very complex situation. We have different people looking at different things. They have coordination with each other.
TNS: It seems that no one particular person is in charge of the situation. Who is taking the decisions?
AAKS: There are collective decisions being made. We have had high level meetings chaired by the president and the prime minister.
TNS: As Interior Minister were you aware of such a huge number of arms and ammunition lying in Lal Masjid?
AAKS: We were fully aware of it; that is why we were reluctant to go ahead with a full-fledged operation. But, the situation that was created led to the operation. The inmates of the Masjid snatched rifles from the Rangers and fired shots at the law enforcing agents, killing and wounding a host of them.
TNS: But why wasn't any action taken against these militants when they were amassing arms and ammunition in the madrasa?
AAKS: We were trying to engage them in a dialogue. We wanted to try all options. It was not matter that could be handled at the level of police. Nor was it easy to send someone and round them up.
TNS: How far back would you trace the accumulation of weapons and the presence of the militants in the area?
AAKS: Well, they had been accumulating weapons for quite some time and the militants who had come there had weapons with them. They also had petrol bombs they made themselves. In a city like Islamabad you can't check each and every person.
TNS: You knew it all; still you couldn't check or prevent it?
AAKS: You cannot check each and every car coming into Aabpara. This was a Jamia Masjid and every Friday hundreds of people would flock the place. Anybody coming for prayers might be carrying a few grenades etc under a shawl or a shirt. Weapons are easily available in Darra and other northern areas.
TNS: So can we say that this is going on in other places also right at the moment if it is that easy?
AAKS: I did not say that. You have to know their bent of mind. This madrasa was a special case. It has tarnished the image of all madrasas in the country. The message that has gone out internationally is that if it can happen in one place it can happen any where else.
TNS: Does that mean that the government is not to blame for whatever happened? Considering that state has unlimited powers, what were you waiting for?
AAKS: There were a number of things going on. They had encroached and were quite firmly placed. We had options but we wanted minimum casualties. If we had tried to clamp down the madrasa or cut off their electricity earlier, it would have triggered the same results.
They had been interacting with the media. Ghazi was always on the TV channels and putting his views forward, explaining the high morals of the madrasa authorities that were behind the kidnapping and the CD burning incidents.
TNS: Why did the state not try to arrest Maulana Aziz and Ghazi Rashid when FIRs had been registered against them and they were in easy access?
AAKS: No, they were never in easy access of the authorities, and they would have resisted all attempts to get them arrested. Once an attempt was made to arrest Ghazi Rashid, a year and a half back, but he immediately went instantly vanished into the madrasa, and the police could not follow him there. He had armed guards and militants protecting him. It was very difficult. They all were living in the vicinity of two thousand-plus women and children. Even if we tried it, we would not have succeeded.
TNS: That means they were getting stronger by the day, whereas the government could do little. So, why the grand operation now?
AAKS: We ran out of all options. The women and children were the biggest consideration for us always. Even in this operation, we have been able to save hundreds of innocent lives. We did not want a conflict and tried our best for a compromise till the very end, but Ghazi wanted things on his own terms. Our conscience is clear. Chaudhry Shujaat tried his best, the parliamentarians tried hard, Edhi and his wife did.
TNS: Don't you think that these were very informal negotiations and that no agenda for a minimum agreement was set, no formal objectives defined and no formal negotiator appointed by the government on which there could be a consensus?
AAKS: This was not a formal hostage situation. We wanted to exhaust all options and find a way out. But we could not have provided a safe passage to militants because no other country offered to accept Ghazi. In Pakistan, even if he had gone to his village, the same law would have applied.
TNS: Have you been advised by the US on the operation?
AAKS: Not at all. We have got no advice and we don't need any. We are capable of handling this issue ourselves.
TNS: Will there be a policy change regarding madrasas in the future after this operation?
AAKS: There will be no policy change and no clampdown on any madrasa at all. We don't expect a similar situation to develop in any other place. This was an isolated example. These brothers were really playing to the gallery and lying to the media. Ghazi almost always contradicted himself in his various appearances on TV and never stuck to his word till the end. He would wriggle out each time. For instance, he said that some 40 students had been buried in a mass grave in the madrasa. We will allow the media inside to see for themselves that there is nothing of the sort there.

  By Noreen Haider
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