MOSCOW, April 24 (RIA Novosti) – The renaming of a seminary library in Islamabad after Osama Bin Laden is a challenge not only to Pakistan, but to humanity in general, prominent Pakistani political analyst Wadzhahat Masood told the Voice of Russia radio station Thursday.
“Could you tell me what kind of connection might be between Bin Laden and books, knowledge, science, if we are not talking about the science of murder?” said Masood.
“Is he a scientist, a torch of learning? He was not even a citizen of Pakistan. He committed unlawful acts, terror, hiding behind religion. Why then is a library named after him? I see it as a challenge – a challenge to the Pakistani people, world culture and all of humankind,” the activist said.
According to Masood, Pakistan is currently going through a psychological war, battling with Islamic radicals for the minds of the younger generation.
Masood said that radical religious leader Maulana Abdul Aziz, a chief cleric of the Red Mosque who named the library after Bin Laden, recently told a local TV channel that Islamic law allows Islamists to occupy any property, including state land, which can be used for building mosques.
“This is a direct challenge. But nobody – neither the Parliament, nor government institutions, nor media – confronted him openly, they did not say: who gave you that right?” Masood said.
The Red Mosque is known for its alleged links with militants. In 2007, Islamic radicals led by Abdul Aziz seized the mosque and the library. Pakistani military forces launched an counterterror operation against the Islamists. Over 100 people were killed, including civilians.
