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Last Updated: Aug 22, 2008 - 10:15:18 AM |
Zardari
made these statements against the backdrop of the fact that campaigns
for the February elections had taken place in mosques and madrassas in
the NWFP (1). In the speech, he added that his party's government would
review the curricula of madrassas in Pakistan and that any content
preaching extremism and violence would be removed.(2)
Madrassas, of which there are some 20,000 in Pakistan, are Islamic
seminaries, usually established by a cleric of some importance who also
manages the madrassa's resources, which come from voluntary
contributions. Madrassas owe their allegiance to various Islamic
schools such as Sunni and Shia. Sunni madrassas also adhere to
different doctrines, such as those of the Deobandi, Ahle Hadith and
Brelvi schools of thought. Depending on their doctrinal leanings,
individual madrassas are aligned with different federations, the most
prominent of which are Wafaq-ul-Madaris al-Arabia, Tanzeem-ul-Madaris
Ahle Sunnat, Wafaq-ul-Madaris Shia, and Rabiat-ul-Madaris al-Islamia.
Wafaq-ul-Madaris represents the Deobandi school of thought, and has the
largest number, an estimated 10,000, of Pakistani madrassas under its
control.
The number of madrassas in Pakistan grew rapidly during the 1980s, and
their alumni, the Taliban, fought the Soviet "infidels" in Afghanistan.
However, since 9/11, the role of Pakistani madrassas has come under
international criticism, especially for their enrolling foreign Muslim
students and for their training of a new breed of Taliban that is
destabilizing the democratic government in Afghanistan and providing
safe havens to Islamist militants.
The madrassas' ideological role in producing extremist worldviews in
Pakistan has worried many, especially after the suicide bombers in the
July 2005 London bombing are reported to have attended Pakistani
madrassas. An editorial by a leading Pakistani newspaper described
madrassas as "the incubator of personalities that later lead Muslim
society to extremism and violence."(3)
Over the years, successive Pakistani governments have tried to
introduce curricular reform in the madrassas. The only forum for the
government to negotiate with the privately run madrassas is the Ittehad
Tanzeemat-e-Madaris Deenia, an alliance of different federations of
madrassas. It was through this forum that the government of outgoing
Pakistan president Pervez Musharraf tried to get the madrassas
registered with the government. However, this drive for madrassa
registration did not get far; although several thousands did register,
the government still had no control over them.
The role of the madrassas was highlighted again in July 2007, after the
female students of Jamia Hafsa and male students of Jamia Faridia
madrassas – both controlled by Islamabad's Red Mosque clerics Maulana
Abdul Aziz and Maulana Abdul Rashid Ghazi – occupied a government
building for several months in Islamabad, directly challenging the
authority of the Pakistani government. The stand-off led to a military
operation in which Maulana Abdul Rashid Ghazi and dozens of madrassa
students were killed. However, this did not diminish the role of the
madrassas. Madrassas have continued to function autonomously across
Pakistan, unregulated by the government despite Musharraf's promises to
reform them.
The Madrassas are the Guardians of Pakistan's Ideological Borders
Asif Zardari's Athens speech was severely criticized by religious
groups in Pakistan, many of which operate also as political parties.
Qazi Hussein Ahmad, the Emir of Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan, said that
Zardari's speech mirrored President Musharraf's speeches of the past
few years, in which the Pakistani president tried to court the West.
Ahmad said that Zardari and other Pakistani leaders should stop hurling
abuse at madrassas and cease their attempts to term Pakistan the land
of terrorists. He also accused Zardari of adopting President
Musharraf's pro-U.S. ''thought, tongue and agenda.''(4)
Hasan Hammad, the Karachi unit head of Islami Jamiat Tulaba
(Organization of Islamic Students), which is the student wing of
Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan, said that the government was planning to
change the madrassa curricula at the behest of the U.S. He said that
any attempt to reform the madrassa curricula will not be tolerated, as
the madrassas are Islam's fortresses.(5)
Dr. Mumtaz Ali Memon, deputy emir of Jamaat-e-Islami in the Sindh
province, warned that before initiating action against the madrassas,
Zardari should learn from the fate of past Pakistani leaders, that were
never successful. He said that the madrassas are the guardians of
Pakistan's ideological borders.
Similar responses to Zardari's criticism of madrassas were voiced also
by religious and political leaders, representing a dominant theme in
Pakistani thinking.
Inter-Madrassa Cricket Tournament Condemned as Anti-Madrassa Conspiracy
Long before Zardari's Athens speech, the role of madrassas in Pakistan
had already been debated inside Pakistan and internationally. Pakistani
responses to the international criticism stem from anti-Western
feelings and from a popular commitment to the ideology of Islam as the
basis of Pakistan's foundation. Thus, even a sport like cricket is seen
as a conspiracy by those opposed to madrassa reform. In early 2008, an
attempt to organize an inter-madrassa cricket tournament was condemned
by the Wafaq-ul-Madaris al-Arabia as a conspiracy against the
madrassas. (6)
The madrassas are seen as defining the contours of Pakistani society
and nation. Qari Muhammad Hanif Jalandhari, Secretary-General of
Wafaq-ul-Madaris al-Arabia, joined the debate on the madrassas, stating
that both students and ulema have a role in defending the ideological
and geographical borders of Pakistan.(7)
A few days after making this statement, Jalandhari called a press
conference in Karachi where he criticized Asif Zardari for his Athens
speech, accusing him of engaging in propaganda and threats against the
madrassas. He also asked the government of Pakistan not to blacklist
the foreign students enrolled in the madrassas. He added that at this
time the geographical integrity of Pakistan was in danger and that the
military, religious and political leaderships should unite to defend
Pakistan instead of creating divisions by talk of changes in madrassa
curricula.(8)
Former Pakistani prime minister Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain stated that
the madrassas are the ideological military camps of Pakistan. He added:
''There is no teaching of any type of extremism and terrorism in
madrassas. None of these baseless allegations aimed at defaming the
religious madrassas have proved to be true.''(9) Chaudhry Shujaat
Hussain, whose Pakistan Muslim League (Q) party has supported President
Pervez Musharraf for almost a decade, added that the madrassas are the
world's biggest non-governmental organizations, with an enrolment of
over two million male and female students from the poorer sections of
society.
Terrorist Threats Emerging from Madrassas in Sindh, Punjab Provinces
The growth of Taliban-led militancy and the series of suicide attacks
in Afghanistan and Pakistan have drawn international attention to the
role of the madrassas in Pakistan's tribal region, on the
Pakistan-Afghanistan border, in the North West Frontier Province and in
the tribal districts, or the federally administered tribal areas
(FATAs). However, reports have also mentioned ''Punjabi Taliban,''
namely, madrassa students from the province of Punjab going to the
tribal districts and to Afghanistan to fight U.S. and NATO forces.
Around the time when the Jamaat-e-Islami leaders were criticizing
Zardari's speech, the Minister of Law and Parliamentary Affairs in
Pakistan's Sindh province, Ayaz Soomro, noted that several madrassas in
Sindh were involved in terrorism.(10) The madrassas' role was a
statement made by Maulana Siraj-ul-Haq, the Emir of Jamaat-e-Islami in
the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) on August 11, 2008, in which he
threatened to engage in jihad from Karachi, the capital of the Sindh
province, to Chitral in the NWFP if the U.S. launched an attack on the
tribal districts and put its ''unpious feet'' inside Pakistan.
Significantly, Maulana Siraj-ul-Haq made the statement during an annual
session of Jamiat-e-Tulaba Arabia, an organization of madrassa
students, located in the town of Mardan in the NWFP.(11)
Recently, there has been growing concern over the Talibanization of
Karachi, the capital of the Sindh province. In an address to a
conference of madrassa students and ulema in Karachi, prominent Sunni
scholar and leader of Ahle Sunnat wal Jamaat Allama Ali Sher Haideri
underlined the role of ulema , saying: ''It is the duty of the ulema to
put their lives in danger in order to preach and propagate Islam.''(12)
Responding to this concern, Sindh's Home Minister Dr. Zulfiqar Mirza
noted in mid-July 2008 that many new madrassas are established in the
province and the government is in a state of alert.(13)
In the Punjab province, the government is also aware of the threats
originating from the madrassas. It reviewed the role of the individual
madrassas and their connections with the Taliban this year. In July
2008, it declared 80 madrassas in the province to be dangerous, and has
now ordered regular monitoring of extremist activities in them.
The 80 madrassas identified by the province government as having the
potential to challenge the government's authority like the Islamabad
Jamia Hafsa and Red Mosque madrassas are located in the districts of
the province as follows: 12 in Lahore, one in Sheikhupura, one in
Gujranwala, two in Sialkot, 14 in Rawalpindi (twin city of Islamabad),
seven in Attock, one in Chakwal, four in Faisalabad, four in Jhang, one
in Toba Tek Singh, three in Multan, three in Sahiwal, one in Vehari,
[seven] in Khanewal, one in Lodhran, six in Bahawalpur, eight in
Rahimyar Khan, and four in Bahawal Nagar.(14)
Inspector General of Police in Punjab province Shaukat Javed stated
that Um-e-Hasan, the wife of the Red Mosque cleric Maulana Abdul Aziz,
is training girls enrolled at her Jamia Hafsa madrassa in Islamabad to
be suicide bombers.(15)
In the NWFP's Swat district, at least 26 madrassa students disappeared
recently, and are believed to haven't been taken by the Taliban to
train as suicide bombers.(16)
Notes
(1) Roznama Mashriq (Pakistan), February 14, 2008.
(2) Roznama Khabrain (Pakistan), July 2, 2008.
(3) Daily Times (Pakistan), September 12, 2005.
(4) Roznama Khabrain (Pakistan), July 3, 2008.
(5) Roznama Jasarat (Pakistan), July 4, 2008.
(6) Roznama Jasarat (Pakistan), April 5, 2008.
(7) Roznama Jang (Pakistan), July 15, 2008.
(8) Roznama Jang (Pakistan), July 20, 2008.
(9) Roznama Ausaf (Pakistan), March 31, 2008.
(10) Roznama Pakistan (Pakistan), July 29, 2008.
(11) Roznama Jasarat (Pakistan), August 12, 2008.
(13) Roznama Jang (Pakistan), July 14, 2008.
(14) Roznama Jasarat (Pakistan), July 16, 2008.
(15) Roznama Nawa-i-Waqt (Pakistan), July 4, 2008.
(16) Roznama Jasarat (Pakistan), July 8, 2008.
(17) Roznama Mashriq (Pakistan), July 10, 2008.
Source:Ocnus.net 2008
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