Tackling religious militancy: Pakistan experience

The Government of Pakistan has recently come down with a heavy hand on several of the country's religious organisations on charges of breeding terrorism in the name of religion. The offices and several hundred educational institutions or Madrassas, run by these organisations have been sealed, banned and the organisations themselves outlawed. The Pakistani agency in charge of the operation claimed that the organisations were extremist outfits; in the name of religious education the seminaries run by them were busy producing militants. It is ironic that a decade ago a different government agency of the same country was itself helping some of these organisations to produce the very elements that the government is now trying to snuff. But that is a different story. Important thing is that the government of Pakistan has awakened to combat the breeding grounds of religious militancy and the threat it poses to the country's political stability.

Not too long ago in Bangladesh police had discovered explosives and other items unconnected to "religion" in several Madrassas in the country. I have also seen news reports very recently associating Madrassas run by some religious organisations with training of militants. I am not aware if these reports are getting the attention of the quarters that need to be mindful of these activities, and be wary of their consequences to the government, and the country at large -- not to speak of the international repercussions. It is also possible that we are still at denial and are continuing to delude ourselves that a "moderate" country such as ours does not have any extremist groups among us. May be we do not want to find out if there is a tumor in our body politic for fear that it will tarnish our image of good health; for fear of the surgery that we may need to remove the tumor.

Pakistan's government has gone out on a limb, politically that is, to tackle its international reputation of allowing religious militancy fomented by its religious schools. It is everyone's knowledge that majority of the redoubtable Taliban leadership was trained and educated in the seminaries of Pakistan frontiers. Critics may argue that the counter measures taken by Pakistan now to control this militancy result from foreign pressure. But this argument ignores the fact that a government of a predominantly Muslim country could not have taken such bold measures to ban and outlaw religious organisations unless they were seen as pernicious not only by the government, but also by the silent majority. May be these actions should have come sooner; but at least the government is now acting.

I do not know if actions would be taken in our country to identify and isolate religious organisations that subscribe to the principles of the types in Pakistan. The sole objectives of these institutions are to enlist and train impressionable youths for religious militancy with a long-term view of destabilising the country and ushering in government of their choice -- one run by religious bigots that we saw in Afghanistan. If we think that we are nowhere near Pakistan was or is now, we may need to rethink the potentiality.

Madrassas in Pakistan accounted for about 10 per cent of the school going population in 2002. In the same year the Bangladesh religious system represented approximately 15 per cent of the total school going population (primary through higher secondary). While the student statistics by themselves may not indicate that we in Bangladesh are a notch higher than Pakistan in religious education, we cannot ignore the potentiality of misuse of this vast youth population when trained in the wrong institutions.

Thanks to the Taliban and the western press reports that followed their ascendancy and fall later, Madrassas in the western eye came to be associated with training in militancy. No one has ever gone back in history to say that original Madrassas were set up in the Abbasid period (Golden Age of Islam) for pursuit of rational sciences, and that Ijtihad or independent reasoning was a special feature of these institutions. With demise of Muslim ascendancy in science and literature, and rise of orthodox Islam the road of Ijtihad was closed. The radical trends gave birth to religious schools founded on teachings exclusively focused on Koranic teachings. In the subcontinent, the impact was different. The Madrassa system here took upon itself opposing the western culture and education imposed by the British. The British tried and imposed some changes in the curricula through government sponsored Madrassas; but the vast majority of the seminaries were guided by the syllabus created in the seminary at Deoband, India, an institution started in 1867 that continues to influence most Madrassas in the subcontinent even today.

The syllabus promoted by Deoband made Koran and Hadith the focal points of learning, with emphasis on proper understanding of the tenets of Islam including Shariah laws. Majority of the private Madrassas in Pakistan and Bangladesh today follow the Deoband syllabus (in Bangladesh these institutions are called Quomi Madrassas). Modern sciences are not taught. The preferred languages are Arabic, Persian and Urdu. In addition, many of these Madrassas teach Islamic behaviour as the only accepted form of conduct for a Muslim. This finally led to indoctrination of the students, particularly in Pakistan, against western culture, and western domination.

The founder of the Deoband school (Maulana Thanvi) scrupulously avoided associating politics with his religious movement, which he started for spreading proper knowledge of the tenets of Islam. Ironically, however, some 130 years later many of the schools inspired by Deoband would not only indulge in politics, but also train a cadre of Mujahideens who would be called upon to wage war or 'Jihad' against the 'infidels'. Culmination of this training would be creation of the Taliban who would take over Afghanistan.

According to analysts the main reason why there was enormous growth of religious schools or Madrassas in Pakistan was the failure of the government to provide enough secular schools to accommodate a fast growing population. Madrassas filled in where the secular system failed. They even became more attractive with their relatively less formal structure, easier access, and cost-free education. Their call to serve the cause of religion would make inroads into the heart and minds of rural millions. There is no need for further analysis to draw a parallel of the Pakistan experience to Bangladesh. Situations are similar in many respects. We must have the will to recognise the potentiality of exploitation of these institutions by politically motivated organisations for lethal purposes. In Pakistan, they have recognised it.

Most Madrassas in Bangladesh are still way removed from becoming launching pads of religious militants. But Pakistan experience presents a unique example of how things can go wrong if the religious education system is not monitored properly. There have to be effective ways to regulate flow of funds, monitor syllabus, and to control spread of hatred and deleterious politics from these institutions. To prevent Pakistan experience, several actions are needed. One, recognition at all levels, particularly at the top, that an unmonitored and unregulated religious education system has the potential of breeding radicals. Two, institutions and organisations that promote terrorism or militancy need to be identified, and isolated. Three, strong deterrent measures need to be taken against any sign of militancy or bigotry in the name of religion. It is never too late to take actions.

Ziauddin M. Choudhury, a former Civil Servant in Bangladesh, works for an international organisation in the US.