من هناك
07-20-2007, 04:56 PM
"When we asked our teacher why Maulana Aziz had left in a burka she
said that the prime minister advised him to do so. She said that he
had been told to come out in disguise so that he wouldn't be killed"
=====
'I hoped to be a glorious martyr'
A woman who was inside Islamabad's Red Mosque when it was stormed by
Pakistani troops on 10 July has given the BBC one of the first
accounts of the final hours of the siege. Unwilling to be named, the
survivor said she was not held hostage by militants inside.
More than 100 people died in the army operation - she was one of only
30 women to walk out alive after soldiers went in. Following are
excerpts from the interview with Rafia Riaz of the BBC's Urdu
service.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6907141.stm
----------------------------------------------------------
I was not in contact with my family. The last time I contacted them,
I told them that the army would not start an operation.
They asked me to come back home, but I said that I would never come
back as I wished to be martyred. My brother said that he would force
me to return, but I told him that he could be beaten up if he came
near the seminary...
A girl who came with us was taken home forcibly. She was crying and
told the teacher that she didn't want to go back. The teacher asked
her to go back with her parents.
We felt sorry for her as we came here with the passion of jihad [holy
war] and to preach Islam, and now because there was a problem the
girls had gone back. We did not appreciate the parents behaviour.
The teacher said that no one was being stopped from going home, and
she asked parents to go and find their children to take them home.
Very few girls left because they were afraid - those who left were
either minors or they were forced to leave by their parents...
We were shocked that they cut off the electricity and also cut off
the water and gas supply. What could we do? We were only praying to
God to show them the right path.
Not enough explosives
They were throwing lots tear gas shells. We were continually cleaning
our eyes with water. Glass windows were breaking, doors were
breaking. We couldn't sleep, sometimes one would sleep for an hour,
or half an hour, the others would stay awake. That way we managed...
We wanted to carry out suicide attacks. We didn't have enough
ammunition to fight face to face. We had a small number of arms with
which our mujahideen brothers were fighting.
We asked the teacher to provide us with arms necessary for suicide
attacks. She said that we didn't have sufficient explosives. Yes, we
had a passion and we were willing to go to all lengths...
After the evening prayer we found out that Maulana Aziz - the chief
cleric - had been arrested while he was trying to flee wearing a
burka. We were told that he'd been called to speak to the prime
minister.
When we asked our teacher why Maulana Aziz had left in a burka she
said that the prime minister advised him to do so. She said that he
had been told to come out in disguise so that he wouldn't be
killed...
We thought that they only wanted to arrest Maulana Aziz, but at night
when the firing started we realised that they had other intentions...
On Thursday night [5 July], they attacked the kitchen and we were
forced to survive on leaves and honey. They set fire to our room so
we shifted to the next room. Police sprinkled petrol everywhere
outside.
When we woke up on Saturday [7 July] our teacher told us that they
had found lots of honey from the Red Mosque area. We made juice out
of it and our brother brought leaves for us. All of us were without
food from the day before so we ate leaves and honey juice...
Korans burning
We had been told by our teacher that they had put explosives in the
building and that we shouldn't die in this manner, but that we should
come outside to face the bullets or even surrender. It was better to
come out rather than die under the debris...
We came outside with our hands raised and saw that the doors were
closed and they were on the roof. There was no way to leave. We told
them that we had surrendered and they should not shoot at us. A
policeman showed us the way out and finally, we were taken outside...
They took us to another room and gave us food. We were crying a lot
because Korans were burning inside the Red Mosque which was on fire.
We pleaded with them to let us take the Koran. We were very sad to
see them being burnt in front of our own eyes. At sunset we were told
that we were going to be sent home, and at night, we left the area...
After meeting my father, I was overcome by grief as I had hoped to be
a martyr and come back alive.
Now they've attacked the Red Mosque and Jamia Hafsa [the seminary
attached to it], I hope the whole country will have Red Mosques. I
will work for jihad, and open a madrassa and train people for jihad.
said that the prime minister advised him to do so. She said that he
had been told to come out in disguise so that he wouldn't be killed"
=====
'I hoped to be a glorious martyr'
A woman who was inside Islamabad's Red Mosque when it was stormed by
Pakistani troops on 10 July has given the BBC one of the first
accounts of the final hours of the siege. Unwilling to be named, the
survivor said she was not held hostage by militants inside.
More than 100 people died in the army operation - she was one of only
30 women to walk out alive after soldiers went in. Following are
excerpts from the interview with Rafia Riaz of the BBC's Urdu
service.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6907141.stm
----------------------------------------------------------
I was not in contact with my family. The last time I contacted them,
I told them that the army would not start an operation.
They asked me to come back home, but I said that I would never come
back as I wished to be martyred. My brother said that he would force
me to return, but I told him that he could be beaten up if he came
near the seminary...
A girl who came with us was taken home forcibly. She was crying and
told the teacher that she didn't want to go back. The teacher asked
her to go back with her parents.
We felt sorry for her as we came here with the passion of jihad [holy
war] and to preach Islam, and now because there was a problem the
girls had gone back. We did not appreciate the parents behaviour.
The teacher said that no one was being stopped from going home, and
she asked parents to go and find their children to take them home.
Very few girls left because they were afraid - those who left were
either minors or they were forced to leave by their parents...
We were shocked that they cut off the electricity and also cut off
the water and gas supply. What could we do? We were only praying to
God to show them the right path.
Not enough explosives
They were throwing lots tear gas shells. We were continually cleaning
our eyes with water. Glass windows were breaking, doors were
breaking. We couldn't sleep, sometimes one would sleep for an hour,
or half an hour, the others would stay awake. That way we managed...
We wanted to carry out suicide attacks. We didn't have enough
ammunition to fight face to face. We had a small number of arms with
which our mujahideen brothers were fighting.
We asked the teacher to provide us with arms necessary for suicide
attacks. She said that we didn't have sufficient explosives. Yes, we
had a passion and we were willing to go to all lengths...
After the evening prayer we found out that Maulana Aziz - the chief
cleric - had been arrested while he was trying to flee wearing a
burka. We were told that he'd been called to speak to the prime
minister.
When we asked our teacher why Maulana Aziz had left in a burka she
said that the prime minister advised him to do so. She said that he
had been told to come out in disguise so that he wouldn't be
killed...
We thought that they only wanted to arrest Maulana Aziz, but at night
when the firing started we realised that they had other intentions...
On Thursday night [5 July], they attacked the kitchen and we were
forced to survive on leaves and honey. They set fire to our room so
we shifted to the next room. Police sprinkled petrol everywhere
outside.
When we woke up on Saturday [7 July] our teacher told us that they
had found lots of honey from the Red Mosque area. We made juice out
of it and our brother brought leaves for us. All of us were without
food from the day before so we ate leaves and honey juice...
Korans burning
We had been told by our teacher that they had put explosives in the
building and that we shouldn't die in this manner, but that we should
come outside to face the bullets or even surrender. It was better to
come out rather than die under the debris...
We came outside with our hands raised and saw that the doors were
closed and they were on the roof. There was no way to leave. We told
them that we had surrendered and they should not shoot at us. A
policeman showed us the way out and finally, we were taken outside...
They took us to another room and gave us food. We were crying a lot
because Korans were burning inside the Red Mosque which was on fire.
We pleaded with them to let us take the Koran. We were very sad to
see them being burnt in front of our own eyes. At sunset we were told
that we were going to be sent home, and at night, we left the area...
After meeting my father, I was overcome by grief as I had hoped to be
a martyr and come back alive.
Now they've attacked the Red Mosque and Jamia Hafsa [the seminary
attached to it], I hope the whole country will have Red Mosques. I
will work for jihad, and open a madrassa and train people for jihad.