February Issue 2007

The Musharraf government has been in a state of denial. Each time a section of the media attempts to draw attention to the changing landscape of the country, as a consequence of the proliferation of madrassahs that are preaching hatred and violence to impressionable minds, it is branded “hawkish” and “sensationalist.”

And yet, every time a terrorist plot is unearthed in some part of the world, nine times out of ten, the accused have some link or other with a madrassah back in Pakistan.

The general has always spoken of madrassahs in laudatory terms, commending them for their yeoman service in providing education to the poorest of the poor. He insists that there are only a few madrassahs that are serving as militant outfits.

Well, early February, those “few” madrassahs wreaked havoc and mayhem and shook Islamabad’s very foundations: four suicide bomb attacks occurred within the span of a week (in Islamabad, Peshawar, D.I. Khan and Tank), targeting security personnel (including two high-ranking police officials), while the country was in a state of high-alert (Muharram), and in relatively high security zones (Islamabad’s Marriot Hotel, for one).

There are further reports that 2,000 plus suicide bombers are raring to take on NATO forces and their allies in the war on terror (read: Pakistan Army. A chilling thought, indeed!).

How have we come to this sorry pass, where a few thousand people are threatening the security of the country by challenging the writ of the state?

Mostly by refusing to take the bull by its horns. There has been a lot of dithering on the issue of reining in the the harbingers of these jihadis — a case of one step forward, two steps back.

Following the September 11 attacks, General Musharraf promised to weed out religious extremism and militancy by taking stock of the errant madrassahs. However, all those tall promises of registering the madrassahs, reforming them, changing their curriculum, looking into their sources of funding, etcetera, have all come to naught. Incidentally, what purpose does the religious affairs ministry serve, except to succumb to blackmail from the patrons of these extremist forces sitting in the assemblies? A minor amendment to the Blasphemy Law had to be withdrawn under pressure from the fundos. And the Women’s Protection Bill had to be severely watered down to placate the religious lobby. Little wonder then that this group has been emboldened to show fist and demand more elbow room. The sight of hundreds of danda-wielding students of several madrassahs in the capital city recently, protesting the demolition of two mosques by the CDA for occupying illegal land, must have sent a shiver down the spine of the powers that be. Or else why would they have backtracked and agreed to rebuild the two mosques, when they were planning to pull down other illegal constructions of this nature.

The general’s policy of running with the hare and hunting with the hound has made him hugely unpopular with both the jihadis and the international community and created an explosive situation within the country.

Should Musharraf then continue to play ball with the jihadis in the hope of seeking some future gains in India and Afghanistan?

The country’s interests demand that the general sever his ties with a group that is posing a threat to the writ of the government, stop viewing the religious parties as his constituency, hold free and fair elections to allow mainstream parties to contest on an equal footing, pursue peace with its neighbours and steer the country on a course of economic development. There is no other way forward..