As reported by Zaffar Abbas in Pakistan’s Dawn Newspaper, Taliban influences have been creeping closer and closer to the center of Pakistani political and social life: “A number of people were arrested shortly after the fatwa was issued but Maulana Ghazi went into hiding. During this period the authorities made half-hearted efforts to arrest him, while Maulana Ghazi effectively used his contacts with the media for publicity and quickly transformed himself into the leader of the pro-Taliban movement in Islamabad.

The latest confrontation is also of his making, as was the case in January when he led the campaign against the demolition of mosques in Islamabad described by the government as illegal or unauthorised.

On that occasion, hundreds of burqa-clad women from the adjacent madressah Hafsa, all of them brandishing batons, occupied a small children’s library in protest. And though the controversy revolving round a demolished mosque was resolved with the religious affairs minister, Ejazul Haq, coming to their support, the library still remains in the control of the Hafsa women, and has in fact been made part of the madressah.

Encouraged by the manner in which the authorities capitulated, those managing Lal Masjid increased their demands, and called for regularising a large number of mosques constructed without prior permission. More recently they decided to push the campaign a step further by introducing the Taliban-style police system based on ‘amar bil maroof wah nahi anil munkir’, more commonly known as the ‘department of vice and virtue.’

Within no time groups of men and women from the brigade started visiting shops, threatening them with dire consequences if they didn�t stop selling DVDs, CDs or music cassettes. People were also issued directives about dress codes and other ‘moral and ethical’ issues.

The latest confrontation, which again ended in victory for the Hafsa women, was also the result of this campaign during which they raided a nearby house and abducted an elderly woman as well as her daughter and daughter-in-law, accusing them of immorality.”

Creeping Coup