How the far-right sees this extreme-right phenomenon
Terror in Pakistan has an interesting and all too familiar starting point. It goes back to the days when Zia took the throne by storm and pointed his boots in the direction of jihad. It didn’t take long for this to become a tool of war — and it didn’t take long for the tool to turn around and bite the hand that birthed it.
Pakistan is now at war with extremism, but the very radical Islam that helped create the Taliban also found roots elsewhere. The Islamic State (IS) is borne of the same kind of ideology as the jihadis of yesteryears. And it is fast becoming a reality that the country may need to deal with sometime in the very near future.
Religion enjoys a tricky space in Pakistan’s public sphere. Religious parties with their influence can bring thousands out on the roads in the blink of an eye — these same parties have previously yo-yoed between the good terrorist, bad terrorist narrative. And with Abdul Aziz professing his undying admiration for this new wave of terror it’s imperative that we take stock of where these organisations stand.
And this is important now more so than ever before because some of these religious figures make up parts of the country’s government — a government that is fast moving away from its terror filled narrative and looking towards more liberal days.
Saifullah Rabbani, spokesperson for Jamia Binoria Karachi, said that the organisation neither condemns IS nor applauds it.
“We don’t talk against them and we don’t talk for them. We have nothing to do with them. There are many questions about what they are doing. We think that the methods they use are wrong, but it doesn’t matter what we think or say,” he said while talking to Pakistan Today.
However, Rabbani felt that IS came into existence for a reason.
“You have to see why it [IS] came into being and you need to think about that background. Someone brought them to this point that they have started behaving in this way,” he said while alluding to the west.
“Muslims leaders have done terrible things to their own people and that has also had repercussions,” he added.
“Whatever happened in Iraq based on a lie and the Da’ish was the result… and it [IS] is in reaction to that. The west put in the foundation for all of what has happened. What they did to Palestinians, to Hamas, to the Taliban, to Osama Bin Laden… this is all a reaction to that. After hanging Saddam did they really thing people would decorate them in garlands?” he questioned.
Rabbani thinks that the IS will most certainly threaten Pakistan in the future.
Religion enjoys a tricky space in Pakistan’s public sphere. Religious parties with their influence can bring thousands out on the roads in the blink of an eye
“I am absolutely sure that they will become active here and we should not live with any delusions. We know that IS is a reaction, so Pakistan too will reap what it has sown,” he said.
Surprisingly, while Rabbani does not particularly like the Pakistani Taliban, he said that he had nothing against the Afghan Taliban.
“When we meet them and talk they very openly say that they have nothing against Pakistan. They said if someone talks against Pakistan they condemn it,” he asserted.
Maulana Yusuf Shah, a spokesman of Maulana Samiul Haq, head of his own faction of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-S) took no real position on the IS and thought avoiding discussion on the subject was a better approach.
“Da’ish has no presence in Pakistan and there is no need to fan such ideas. If you fan this idea then they just might actually come here. It is important for the people of Pakistan, the media, and everyone to not fan the idea,” he insisted.
On the organisation’s official stance towards the IS, he remained elusive.
“We do not know anything about them and no one has told us anything about them. Whatever we see is on the media but we don’t know what is real and what is not. When we know nothing about them, how can we say whether we like them or dislike them?” he questioned.
“If what we are hearing in the news is true then we are against them, but if it is not true then we don’t know what their purpose is, and we cannot say anything about them,” he added.
Jama’at-e-Islami Pakistan Ameer Siraj-ul-Haq says that Pakistan has no IS in its ranks.
“This is a problem for Iraq and Syria. I think that if the government of Pakistan and all other organisations work together for peace and security then there is no danger to Pakistan,” he said.
“However, if like previous rulers pathways are created for such situations again then who knows? It’s all up to them. I don’t think anything can happen if the people of the country don’t want it to,” he added.
Like other religious leaders, Haq went on to say that the average person has no idea what is actually going on. The media only shows people what it wants to.
“There is no doubt that change is needed in Islamic countries but it has to come through democratic power and through the power of the people. Anything other than democratic methods is denounced by us,” he said.
“People in Pakistan want a democratic system and they want their own voice, this is what we have picked for ourselves,” he added.
People in the Middle East seem to be warring against each other, but Haq says that there is another enemy in the ranks. “They are killing each other and fighting with each other. This is the work of the west and it’s the oldest trick in their books because it’s what they do — they make Muslims fight one another,” he asserted.
“Did they not turn East Pakistan into Bangladesh before? Did they not make Muslims weak by making them fight with each other?” he questioned.
The head of a Sunni Barelvi Jamia in Lahore spoke on the condition of anonymity and said that IS seemed like it had been created to defame Muslims, however, people in Pakistan have a terrifying soft corner for the IS, too.
“I met a man today from the Deobandi groups and he seemed to have warm feelings for Da’ish. I feel that some people have a soft corner for them and those people are of two types, some of them stay within the frame of law and there are others that are extremists but are hidden from people. I believe both types can promote IS,” he said.
“In the past we have seen that even though it has no footprint here yet, people like Maulvi Abdul Aziz have reached out to them. Did he not invite them? Did the girls from his madrassas not write letters to them? It means that IS does have a soft corner in people’s hearts,” he said.
“I don’t know whether they will attack or not, even if they do the handlers will be Pakistanis. All the handlers have always been Pakistanis,” he said wistfully.
“I believe that other Sunni Barelvis also feel the same way,” he asserted.
Unlike other organisations that refuse to take a clear stance on IS the Pakistan Ulema Council (PUC) chaired by Moulana Tahir Ashrafi took an unequivocal one.
“Our council was the first organisation which gave a fatwa against IS, and we did this close to a year and a half ago. We believe that it is completely against Islamic teachings and all morals, whatever they are doing is entirely wrong,” he told Pakistan Today.
Ashrafi feels that the worst casualty of the Paris massacre were the Muslims. “What happened in Paris has harmed the movements of Syria and Palestine and has created problems for other Muslims,” he lamented.
“This is a test for Muslims, and because they have no international representation that can counter such a situation or release a collective statement on the issue, they continue to suffer. Apart from harming Muslims the IS has done nothing,” he said.
Ashrafi also addressed people that seem to have an inclination towards the IS, and favour their presence in Pakistan.
“Abdul Aziz can say and do anything he wants but I think that no one should take him seriously. And if there is a thing called a government in Pakistan then I don’t think they will be able to do anything here. This is on our interior ministry, it’s up to them how they deal with him,” he said.
The Pakistan Ulema Council head said that Pakistan cannot afford IS’ presence in Pakistan and people are tired of terrorism and being terrorised.
Terror and terrorist networks are all cut from the same cloth. Their methods are the same and often the result of their actions is a mimicry of many events
“I don’t think they can do anything here the way they have in Syria and Iraq. It is not possible because of our army, and because the people are simply tired,” he said.
“Of course people keep trying to hurt Pakistan but I don’ think Da’ish can hurt Pakistan. However, it is important that we keep our people aware about such organisations so that they don’t fall prey to them because of naivety,” he noted.
Noorullah Saddiqi, the spokesperson for Minhaj-ul-Quran categorically denounced IS and its practices.
“Dr Tahirul Qadri is the only leader that released a 600 page long fatwa against terrorism. He has always spoken up against all incidents of violence and bloodshed. Islam does not allow that innocent lives be taken under any circumstances,” he said.
“These are not religious people — they are murderers for hire and they are working for different agencies. People who kill innocents should not be called Muslims — what difference would it make if they were Christians or Buddhists, etc. Their actions are louder than anything else,” he added.
Saddiqi called into question the government’s commitment to fighting terrorism.
“We believe that the current government’s associations with banned organisation are not hidden from anyone. We see that 18 out of the 20 points on the National Action Plan have not been implemented,” he maintained.
If the NAP was formulated after the consensus of all political parties and there has been a failure to implement it, it is obviously the current government’s fault, according to Saddiqi.
“If no progress is made then of course we will say that the government has a soft corner for terrorists and is colluding with them. It’s not just us who’s saying this, the ISPR handout at the Corps Commanders Conference also said the same thing,” he added.
Terror and terrorist networks are all cut from the same cloth. Their methods are the same and often the result of their actions is a mimicry of many events.
“A week ago a man was caught in Peshawar who was recruiting for Da’ish and this is on record. Some female students from a madrassa were also found to be trying to join the Da’ish. Whether it’s Da’ish or the Taliban they’re all the same people — they may have different names but they’re all the same. And their agenda is to take innocent lives,” Saddiqi said.
At present it seems as though Pakistan’s family of religious parties is swinging between not wanting to talk about IS to denouncing it completely. A paradigm shift truly can be seen, because even when they want to entirely denounce the west they still choose their words carefully enough to not seem as though they are speaking in favour of them.
It’s taken us a long time but it seems like we have come a long way.
