Sins not committed

A good plan and a bad executor does not a stable country make

Once upon a time Aristotle measured the value of learning and said that the roots of education are bitter, but the fruit is sweet. In the case of Pakistan’s seminaries, the opposite holds true. Earlier this month the current information minister found himself in the eye of a madrassa fuelled storm when he called out seminaries for being ‘hubs of ignorance and illiteracy’.

It took just a blink of an eye for Rashid to realise that he had perhaps made a grave error in judgement and issue an apology, accompanied with a clarification that reminds one of the good Taliban – bad Taliban conundrum.

Interesting, it became apparent that the ignorant and illiterate club perhaps wields power stronger than that of the government after security forces informed Rashid that he placed himself in mortal danger, simply by speaking the truth. This wasn’t as simple as ruffling a few feathers; Rashid’s statements could have helped him earned him a place next to Salman Taseer in history.

During a session of the Senate Rashid apologised for his words while addressing Maulana Atta Ur Rehman of the JUI-F and explained that he was talking about seminaries that fuel extremism and asked for help in persuading people to take back decrees issued to kill him.

The unmistakable irony in this entire situation has to do with the fact that reformation of seminaries are a part of the great National Action Plan (NAP). Just mild criticism of the role that they have played in worsening Pakistan’s condition has led to literal fatwas against a high level government official. Instead of standing beside him, the ruling party has allowed him to go ahead and apologise.

All sympathies with Rashid

Qamar Zaman Kaira held the position of minister of information and mass-media broadcasting before Rashid. He finds the situation to be a bit ridiculous. “I have sympathy for him,” he said of Rashid.

“I believe that he was right in what he said. He clarified that he didn’t mean that all institution are like this but there is a large number of madrassas who have an issue,” he added.

Kaira pointed out that the madrassas themselves had come on board while NAP was being developed. “When we were evolving a policy it was decided and agreed upon by all five organisations which represent different sects of the madrassas. They agreed that they should reform the madrassas so Rashid’s point of view was wrongly interpreted, it was not wrong,” he explained.

Despite not saying or doing anything that went against the policy, trouble still found its way to Rashid. Kaira believes it all boils down to PML-N’s resolve. “Unfortunately his party did not back him. They should have backed him for giving the right perspective and he had to apologise for a sin which he had not committed,” he said.

Perhaps the current government can’t handle the situation. “I believe that this government is not competent enough and they are not against the fundamentalists. They cannot afford to deny them and that’s why they kept quiet and ultimately, that is the reason that their own minister is in that situation,” Kaira explained.

During a session of the Senate Rashid apologised for his words while addressing Maulana Atta Ur Rehman of the JUI-F and explained that he was talking about seminaries that fuel extremism and asked for help in persuading people to take back decrees issued to kill him

“Pervez Rashid is the spokesman of the government. He isn’t saying anything on his personal behalf. If the government can’t back their own spokesman then what policy will they follow? I don’t think they can resist the pressure,” he added solemnly.

Talat Masood, a retired general of the Pakistan army and a political, security and strategic analyst, does not have high hopes from the current government.

“The problem [of madrassas] is such a manifestation… or a reflection of how weak the state is,” he explained.

“That state is so weak against the power of the madrassas and the clergy that we are just not in a position to say anything about them. These are autonomous and independent units where no one has the right to criticise them; the state cannot interfere, cannot regulate, cannot purse a policy on its own, and they have to be left to themselves — this is the message they keep sending,” he said.

It seems as though despite their vast and divergent point of views, the government is one entity they don’t mind uniting against. “Despite the deep differences amongst the various sects on the basis of sects and sub-sects are all set aside when it comes to holding on to their autonomy and their independence and this was a classic example of that,” Masood asserted.

What was the NAP for anyway?

The retired general doesn’t see much coming out of the NAP. “After the way the government has reacted to this, I don’t expect much out of the NAP,” he said sardonically.

“They had to be so apologetic… and on the other hand the way they [the madrassas] unanimously stuck together and found an excuse to not even engage with the government. They found a convenient sort of way to disengage themselves from the government. They just needed an excuse and they got one,” he said while explaining why the NAP cannot make a dent in the damage that madrassas do.

But can Pakistan ever hope to handle militancy. Masood feels that it all goes back to the starting point — education. “This is also a very important element, you know, reforming the madrassas, reforming the school syllabi, looking at the educational intuitions. I think it is extremely important from the educational point of view and from the point of view of militancy and extremism,” he maintained.

Kaira isn’t about to sell the NAP out completely. “As far as the NAP is concerned it is the best effort that a representative of the people can do,” he asserted.

The main issue, however, is the implementation — which is almost non-existence. “The government is not pursuing it properly. Only few of the points under the plan are being worked on. The rest of the plan is, if it being undertaken then we don’t know what they are doing,” Kaira added while bringing in the issue of transparency, which seems like a recurring theme with the current government.

“Time and again we have asked them through the media, the parliament and the assemblies that they should come forward and take the leadership into confidence over the progress of the NAP,” he lamented. “But they’ve failed to do this. Their pace is too slow, they should come forward with a fast pace and a clear head. I have serious concerns about their intentions and capabilities,” he added.

A good plan and a bad executor does not a stable country make. “Maybe the current government can handle certain parts of the NAP, but overall I doubt they will implement properly the madrassas reforms, the registration process, etc.” Kaira offered.

“Even now the army chief has spoken regarding the political will, and the will of the people for the extermination of extremism from our midst. But the PML-N folk, like always, have taken the fence; they don’t come forward and I don’t see them implementing this properly,” he added.

Khurram Nayyer Ali, Central Organiser of the National Student Federation (NSF) he’s been a part of mobilising the civil society against the wave of rising extremism in the country. He doesn’t feel that the NAP was ever a part of a serious plan for change in the country.

“The NAP seems to be more focused on organisations that do not conform to the state and its ideologies, irrespective of whether those groups are militant or not, which is evident from the ongoing operation in Balochistan and grave human right violations,” he said while talking about clauses of the NAP that don’t target seminaries, but can be easily used against dissenting citizens of the country.

“I always expected that this undemocratic plan is only to justify state’s extrajudicial measures that it is fond of using against those not adjusting with its ideology or institutions,” he added.

“The case of Pervez Rashid only strengthen our view that operation is not focused against extremism and terrorism but only those militant or non-militant groups that state recognise as counterproductive to it. It is the same reason that JuD and ASWJ are not facing the heat from the state,” he exclaimed.

While Islamisation prevails the country will have to look it in the eye and take it by the horns. Kaira says the ruling party can’t possibly counter the madrassas and their mafia because of its own affiliations

The disparity is indeed staggering. Long after being declared a banned outfit the JuD has continued to organise rallies and protests, the most recent one erupting after Pakistan refused to join the war against Yemen.

Ali marks the double standards with a sarcastic smile. “It is sad but true that democratically elected members are afraid of these religious groups, as they enjoy support of more powerful players within the state,” he said as a matter of fact.

No NAP no cry?

But where does Pakistan go from here? If not NAP, then what is the solution to extremism and militancy? “I think if we want to fight militancy, we first need to accept that Pakistan is a state with many nations, and rights need to be granted to all the nations living in this country, work to end their insecurities and ensure equitable distribution of resources. The extremism in Pakistan prevailed because state used Islamisation to fight nationalism. The constitution itself is propagating extremism, where a particular sect is labelled as non-Muslims against their will,” Ali said.

“But most important is to provide opportunity to the people where they could fight democratically for whatever they believe even separatism. If they would have that democratic space they will not put up guns, take example of Scotland,” he added.

But while Islamisation prevails the country will have to look it in the eye and take it by the horns. Kaira says the ruling party can’t possibly counter the madrassas and their mafia because of its own affiliations. “There is a sufficient number in the PML-N ranks who are representatives of extremist organisations; senators, MPAs, etc, they represents different sects, different extremists point of views, and different sectarian institutions… so what can we expect from them really?” he asked.

Ali agreed that the future doesn’t have much in store.

“When Salmaan Taseer raised his concerns about the blasphemy law, even though he was affiliated with a relatively progressive party, nobody came to support him, and he lost his life because of that statement,” he recalled.

“Now what Rashid said about the seminaries is against the interests of state and the ‘mullah mafia’. Who can blame him for retracting his statement? PML-N is a right wing party, which has working relations with this mafia. I don’t see it supporting its own minister,” he added.

At present Pakistan is being ripped to shreds while the ruling party chews its own thumb over the gap between what it wants and what the security agencies have outlined that Pakistan needs.

Perhaps it’s no coincidence that the National Action Plan shortens to NAP.