At a time when Pakistan’s political debate is centred around restoration of democracy, the hardline cleric of the controversial Lal Masjid, located in the heart of Pakistan’s capital, says he is “against democracy” and would rather have the country governed by the rules of Islam.

Maulana Amir Siddique, the head of Lal Masjid and nephew of Maulana Abdul Rashid Ghazi, who was killed last July in the Pakistan Army operation on the mosque-madarsa complex, told The Indian Express: “In democracy, the weightage of votes by an illiterate or a drug addict is the same as that of an educated, pious person. Numerical majority doesn’t mean that the capable are being elected.”

The Maulana says he feels sorry about Benazir Bhutto’s death, but adds, “We lost thousands of our daughters and sisters in the Lal Masjid operation, who were staying in the adjacent madarsa.”

“In today’s elections, people are gaining power using money. What else can you expect from people who consume nicotine or alcohol? They get sold out to people who lure them with money,” says the 42-year-old madarsa-educated Maulana, who took charge of the family-run Lal Masjid about three months ago when it re-opened following the Pakistan Supreme Court’s order.

Though the Lal Masjid has been supported by various influential parties in the past, including General Zia-ul Haq, Maulana Siddique claims they are not with any political formation.

“We feel that democracy is not the solution, because it’s the writ of Allah that is supreme and not the writ of the people,” he says. However, he qualifies his “anti-democracy” stance by saying he believes in an individual’s democratic rights of freedom.

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