Pakistan Has No Control Over Most Extreme Islamic Schools

by Zofeen T. Ebrahim

(IPS) KARACHI -- While Pakistan President Gen. Pervez Musharraf has called for a "jihad (holy war) against extremism" he may find that the hardest nettle to grasp is the reform of madrassas -- Islamic seminaries -- that have been identified as being a key part of the problem.

Following revelations that three of the alleged suicide bombers, held responsible for the July 7 blasts in London, had visited madrassas in this country in recent months, Mushrraf ordered all religious seminaries to be registered by Dec. 31.

Various measures to curb religious extremism have since been initiated, such as a clamp-down on banned militant Islamist organizations, raids, confiscation of inflammatory material and arrests of their publishers and distributors as well as of congregation leaders on charges of stoking extremism.

But none of these measures has evoked as much skepticism as madrassa reform thanks mainly to feeble attempts on the part of the establishment to tackle a revered institution and one which provides basic education even to the poorest.

"Musharraf is not waging any jihad against extremism, only using the terminology to appease the west. He is only serious in getting foreign al-Qaeda militants arrested because this is what the United States wants," says Mazhar Abbas, president of the Pakistan Federation of Journalists.

"He is not targeting groups fighting in Kashmir, as tomorrow, the army may need them. That is why neither Hafiz Saeed, chief of Lashker-e-Taiba, Masood Azhar, head of Jaish-e-Mohammad or Commander Mohammad Salahuddin, chief of Hizbul Mujahideen have been arrested," added Abbas.

"Even the chief of Harkatul Mujahideen, Fazlur Rehman Khalili, is in the safe protective custody of the security agencies. They are still active in their madrassas despite the ban," says Abbas.

There may be as many as 12,000 madrassas spread across the country, but many of them are located along the Afghan border and date back to the 1980s when they provided ideological backing for the Mujahideen fighters and the Taliban in taking on Soviet troops that had intervened to support a leftist regime.

Attempts at cracking down on madrassas following 9/11 proved futile as those linked to the MMA (political party) and militant organizations refused to register faith schools and cooperate with what they declared was a U.S.-sponsored measure and interference in internal affairs.

Given a climate in which government officials were ambivalent about the profile of these institutions, it was difficult to see madrassas as breeding grounds for militants or even as purveyors of militancy.

"The government failed to do anything the first time because it did not want to do it for its own political reasons," said Zubaida Mustafa, a senior editor at the influential 'Dawn' newspaper published from Karachi.

"A military government has no political power base among the masses. It uses religious parties to achieve its own political aims and foreign policy goals. Zia-ul-Haq, the military dictator, did the same.The problem is that its (army's) protege (militancy) soon goes out of hand and the whole strategy backfires," Mustafa added.

"Registration of madrassas is yet another tool of Musharraf's to buy time from the west. This issue has been lingering on for years now and despite the formation of a cell to coordinate madrassas with the government, this task seems to be highly improbable," says Hasan Mansoor, a reporter specialising in defense and security for the weekly 'The Friday Times.'

Blaming the establishment in the past for the production of "hate material," Abbas sees recent pronouncements by Musharraf as "just another ploy to show the world that he is serious."

Without an amendment to the archaic Societies Act 1860, under which madrassas are supposed to get registered, it would be impossible to regulate them, audit their funds and see who the funders are or even to modernize their curriculum.

In 2001, an ordinance was promulgated to initiate the concept of modern religious schooling but until now only three such institutes have been established -- one each in the cities of Karachi, Islamabad and Sukkur.

"I think Musharraf is right in trying to regulate the madrassas. It will help, but only to a small extent. He must also change our (educational) curricula and stop pandering to the religious parties," says Mustafa.

Eminent economist and scholar Kaiser Bengali refuses to view madrassas as the real menace, breeding a jihadi culture, since only one percent of the students are enrolled in such schools.

"Not everyone turns into a jihadist, when he or she come out of a madrassa. But those who have the potential are selected, separated and trained," said Mansoor.

Bengali wanted focus on what he calls a "larger problem," that of apartheid in the education system that, in turn, perpetuates a class system.

Offically approved curricula in schools have been criticized for having a heavy tilt toward "Islamic ideology" and issues in textbooks that strengthen "communal and chauvinistic attitudes." History texts are distorted and exclude ancient pre-Islamic civilizations.

"They (the texts) largely bypass Buddhist, Hindu and British periods in the history of South Asian subcontinent and jump to the movement for Pakistan led by the Muslim League," opines Bengali.

Hasan-Askari Rizvi, a senior political analyst, believes that Musharraf cannot be rid of the the problem of extremism unless he gets the required societal and political backing.

But Musharraf has kept the two leading political parties capable of winning such support -- the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Muslim League (PML) -- at bay with their leaders in exile.

With talk of modernising madrassas many wonder if that can root out extremism or only worsen the problem since the alleged London bombers were young, educated in the west and technologically savvy.

"Officials, when asked how they would bring about reforms, often talk about superficial measures like starting computer classes, mathematics, science etc. in religious schools," says Mansoor.

"All that is fine, but what is more important is a phenomenal change, in the way the students are indoctrinated in religion. We have to fight an ideological battle here," he said.

Others say the government would do well to restrict material reaching the madrassas in the name of modernization through the Internet thus stoking extremism and violence through that channel.

Most jihadi organizations have websites. Many like 'Jamaatud Dawa,' have websites, both in Urdu and English and publish material in these languages. 'Hizbul Tahrir,' mainly comprises young, educated and professional people, returning from England, and runs an effective propaganda machine.

While it may be difficult to monitor Internet traffic, the Intelligence Bureau has, for the last eight months, employed filtering techniques that enable them to read e-mails with pre-designated content. Similarly, they trace hits on websites which are thought to contain dangerous material.

Mansoor is not too confident about their expertise though. "They've not been able to tap pornography sites and the jihadi websites are far more elusive. Even U.S. authorities are aware of the mushrooming presence of these extremist sites but can do little to stop them -- partly because the sites are quick to reappear with a different web address when they are disabled," he said.

"The jihadists here were indoctrinated by other means -- through the madrassas, mosques and even our textbooks used in the schools. Even television is used to promote a certain kind of irrational mindset. You don't have to be highly educated to watch TV," added Mustafa.

According to terrorism experts there are hundreds of websites, ranging from simple message boards where people can post their feelings or air their views to ones that have sophisticated multimedia centers from which you can download magazines and videos.

There are sites that display videos of hostage killings. There are sophisticated Internet networks that recruit suicide bombers and a DIY video explaining how to make a bomb and plant explosives. And there are online forums that have applauded the London bombings.

What is needed, says analysts, is to fight extremism through a long-term strategy aimed at easing poverty and despair, especially among the young.