Female religious students rally at Red Mosque

Islamabad: Thousands of female religious students wearing black head-to-ankle burqa veils held a meeting at the Red Mosque in Islamabad yesterday demanding reconstruction of the demolished Jamia Hafsa seminary for women.

The seminary was razed after an operation by army commandoes last year to flush out militants holed up inside the mosque complex. More than 100 people were killed in the raid.

The women gathered amid tight police security, three days after a similar meeting by thousands of male religious students to commemorate the first anniversary of the "martyrdom" of those killed in the military operation.

The first rally, on Sunday, saw a suicide bomber blow himself up in the midst of a police contingent near the mosque, killing 15 policemen and five civilians.

Speakers at yesterday's meeting paid tribute to those killed in the military operation, calling them "martyrs" in the struggle for Shariah law in the country.

Participants chanted slogans against President Pervez Musharraf, blaming him for ordering the commando attack on the mosque under orders from the United States.

Chants of "revenge, revenge" filled the air amid fiery speeches.

Intensified campaign

Umme Hassan, wife of Maulana Abdul Aziz, the detained former chief cleric of the Red Mosque, said the campaign for reconstruction of the Jamia Hafsa seminary would be intensified in the weeks ahead.

The gathering sought the release of Aziz, who was arrested shortly before the Red Mosque operation in July 2007 while trying to escape from the premises wearing a 'burqa'. He is facing a string of criminal cases,

Maulana Aziz's deputy and brother, Abdul Rashid Ghazi, died fighting the security forces during the operation.