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Fresh row at radical seminary

Nirupama Subramanian

ISLAMABAD: The students of the Jamia Hafsa, a radical women's madrassa in the capital, and their mentor in the controversial Lal Masjid next door, alleged on Monday that a low-flying helicopter released an irritant gas over the complex as part of a Government mock operation against them.

Abdul Aziz Ghazi, chief cleric at the mosque, said a Government helicopter flew low over the mosque-seminary complex for about 15 minutes, releasing a gas that caused suffocation among students.

His brother Abdul Rashid, who runs the women's madrassa, alleged that two men in the chopper took video footage of the students from the air.

The two brothers threatened to cut off ongoing negotiations with the Government towards the resolution of the crisis if it did not apologise for this episode.

Mr. Rashid said in addition to the threat of an imminent operation, the low-flying helicopter was a violation of the privacy of the students who did not wear the veil inside the premises.

Witnesses said that as the helicopter hovered overhead, the women students went up to the terrace waving their trademark sticks, while their male counterparts rushed out of the mosque and blocked the road outside in protest.

On Sunday, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement, a coalition partner of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League (Q) led by Altaf Hussain, held a massive rally in Karachi asking the Government to take action against Lal Masjid and the Jamia Hafsa seminary.

Mr. Hussain, who addressed the gathering by telephone from London, said these extremist elements were "trying to push the country back to the Stone Age". He warned that if the Government did not act against them, the MQM would have to "come forward to play a frontline role to halt this religious extremism."

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