Author: Sushant Sareen
Publication: The Pioneer
Date: January 9, 2008
Heavens won't fall if this happens a Pakistani
lawyer
Education Minister and former ISI chief Gen
Javed Ashraf Qazi is convinced that using the Army in a half-hearted manner
will be counterproductive, and if the Army has to be deployed against the extremists
and jihadis, then it must use all the force under its command to end the menace
of extremism once and for all.
This is, however, easier said than done and can actually produce a reaction
that could easily unleash a civil-war inside Pakistan. Former ISI chief Lt Gen
Asad Durrani, is convinced that there are limits to the use of force and application
of force must be part of a larger strategy, which he feels is missing. Gen Durrani
believes that rather than trying to use force against the extremists, it might
be better to let society throw up alternatives. He places his faith on the innate
pragmatism and wisdom of the people, and feels this will eventually manage to
moderate the extremists.
There are others who agree with Gen Durrani
and say that an unnecessary scare being spread over the issue of Islamisation.
"Heavens will not fall if shari'ah is imposed in Pakistan," argues
a senior advocate who belongs to a well known and highly respected political
family, and is personally an extremely moderate and liberal person. He said
most of the laws in Pakistan are already Islamised and there will be hardly
any changes in basic law that shari'ah can now bring about. He accepts that
those demanding shari'ah are basically aiming their guns at the women and culture.
In other words, the big change will be that women will face Taliban-type restrictions
and there will be a ban on TV, films and music. But in his view, this is not
such a great issue simply because eventually Pakistani society will reject all
such antediluvian measures.
The Jamaat Islami's information secretary, Amee-rul
Azeem, also scoffs at what moderate Pakistanis call 'Talibanisation'. He said
that the Taliban, including those from Lal Masjid, were only exposing and opposing
immorality, adultery and obscenity in society, something that many newspapers
in Pakistan also do. He wondered why the 'writ of the state' was never invoked
against immorality in society. Leader of Opposition Maulana Fazlur Rehman, too,
sees no threat from the radical groups. He, in fact, backs the demand for imposition
of shari'ah; only he is opposed to bringing in the shari'ah through violence
and force of arms.
The wily Maulana accepts that there is a tussle
for power and influence between the political mullahs and the militant mullahs,
but he believes that ultimately he will be able to bring the militants around.
So much so that despite being warned he is on the hit-list of the jihadis, he
refuses to believe that the radicals pose any danger to his life. He suspects
'hidden hands' (normally a euphemism for intelligence agencies, both Pakistani
and American) to be behind high profile assassinations of influential clerics
who at one point or another tried to bring about an accommodation between the
jihadis and the state.
Many senior Cabinet Ministers and Opposition
politicians are, however, not as blasé about what they see as the rising
tide of extremism. Interior Minister and former Chief Minister of NWFP, Aftab
Sherpao, is quite candid in accepting that the Pakistani society was undergoing
a transformation. He said that it is not only the Pashtun areas that are affected
by 'Talibanisation' but also large parts of South Punjab that are becoming radicalised.
Sherpao, like many other Pakistani officials, believes that only through a combination
of political manoeuvring, reform in education system and creation of economic
opportunities, can the society be weaned away from extremism and put on the
path of moderation.
The trouble, however, is that everyone in Pakistan
talks of the future and gives plans that will yield results in 10 to 15 years,
but no one has any solid idea about how to counter the immediate threat that
the extremists pose to state and society. In all the time that the state is
going to take for its action plan to show results, the moderates are losing
the battle of ideas to the Islamists. Worse, President Pervez Musharraf's policy
of enlightened moderation is seen as an imposition of Christian values on a
predominantly Islamic society and there are not too many buyers for it.
