Madrassa Students In Face Off With Government In Pakistan.

In Pakistan, 6,000 women madrassa students have geared up for a confrontation with the government.

Hundreds of them have forcibly occupied a children's library next to their seminary, the Jamia Hafsa, in the heart of Islamabad to protest against the government's decision to demolish more than 80 madrassas and mosques built without official permission.

Their demand is that the government should rebuild the mosques it previously demolished and abandon the drive.

"Giving orders to demolish mosques is a big sin in Islam. And so President Musharraf, who has given this order, should ask for forgiveness from Allah and from his people," said Ume Amen Rehman, Student, Jamia Hafsa Madrassa.

"Today, in Pakistan, they are promoting vulgarity and this is against the very principles of Islam. It is considered a sin in Islam and should therefore be stopped.

"We should live according to Islamic principles. Also according to the Quran,jihad is compulsory but in our country it is being seen as terrorism. To perceive jihad as terrorism is a sin and so this should be stopped," said Hamnah Abdullah.

Regulating madrassas

President Musharraf has ordered authorities to use force if necessary to get the women out and demolish the madrassas.

This is seen as the Pakistan government's effort to regulate more than 13,500 seminaries seen by the international community as breeding grounds for extremism, and media images of the girls carrying AK 47s have highlighted those concerns.

"They were having Kalashinikovs along with them. They have captured that space militarily with weapons. Action must be undertaken, but it should be methodical, so that they should not make it an excuse if any girls or children are injured." "Then they will make much more hue and cry," said Sher Afghan Niazi, Minister for Parliamentary Affairs.

But at the children's library, the women are in no mood to compromise. "We are determined to not let the government demolish our mosques and madrassas, even if it means laying down our lives in the process. We are ready to shed our blood for the cause and have no fear," Ume Amen Rehman, Student, Jamia Hafsa Madrassa

"I have a couplet for our rulers. We are not unknown to each other, neither are we unaware of the ugly ways of the world. If your sword is sharp and unrelenting, then we too have not been known to bow our heads," said Ayesha Ismail, Madrassa student.

The occupation of the library by the female students has raised concerns in Pakistan's Parliament, and clearly it is being seen as a challenge to the writ of the state at a time when the government is under tremendous international pressure to reign in fundamentalist forces. (Munizae Jahangir NDTV.Com)
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