Primitiveness of vision
While posing as a mainstream party under its present Amir the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) remains what it has always been — a narrow-minded religious party out-of-sync with the times, always giving importance to frivolous matters while ignoring the major issues faced by people in real life. This is why despite working for over 70 years now the party has little influence anywhere in the country. It remains a cadre based network rather than a genuine political party rooted in the masses. The Jamaat invariably tries to piggyback onto a larger party to be able to get a handful of seats in the legislative bodies.
Despite being a part of the PTI-led coalition in KP, the JI has vociferously opposed the government move to introduce shirt-and-trousers as the new uniform for school boys. The party termed the move as an attempt to ‘Americanise’ the education system. It doesn’t seem to concern JI that while it is a part of the KP cabinet out of the 29,000 schools in the province, a vast majority lacks furniture and the students are required to sit on the floor some time in rooms that do not have a roof.
The only difference between the JI and TTP is that of tactics. While both seek the enforcement of Shari’a as their goal, JI claims it wants to do this through peaceful means. This is however more a matter of semantics than of content. The streak of violence in the Jamaat finds uninhibited expression in its student wing. The IJT tries to stifle discussion and debate on the campuses where it happens to be strong. This indicates a fear that its opponents are likely to win over many to their side if allowed to argue their case. The IJT opposes girl students to mix up with male students through strong arm tactics. The Jamaat’s attitude towards women remains primitive. This was borne out during the general elections when the party actively discouraged women in KP from casting their votes. This indicates the primitiveness of the party’s vision.
