Author: Zaffar Abbas
Publication: The Indian Express
Date: December 20, 2003
Introduction: It's 'inaction replay'.
Pakistan's fresh ban on jehadi groups is as much a dead letter as the January
2002 one
''For Muslims, jihad is the ultimate
weapon against the onslaught of the yahood (Jews) and nasara'' Islamabad
mosque told a captive audience during Friday prayers last month. ''There
is no alternative to this and the time has come for Muslims to unite and
meet the challenge.''
A few people in the front rows of
what is popularly known as F-8's chhoti masjid nodded in agreement. Others,
mostly bureaucrats or affluent men, acted nonchalantly, not finding the
courage to tell the khateeb that his duty was to lead the prayers and not
preach hatred.
The khateeb, like thousands of other
prayer leaders around the country, seemed unperturbed by the government's
most recent crackdown on militant and sectarian groups. He, as well as
most other Pakistanis, knew full well that such actions are little more
than window dressing. The fact that the ban came without specific chargesheets
or large-scale arrests gave the Islamists renewed confidence that it would
soon be business as usual.
Mystery surrounds the timing of
last month's decision to outlaw six Islamic organisations. On November
15, some 20 months after the ban on these groups in their previous incarnations,
the government suddenly realised they were flouting the anti-terrorism
act by operating under new names.
A brief order was issued to reinforce
the ban. The groups proscribed under the fresh directive were Tehrik-e-Islami
Pakistan, earlier known as Tehrik-e-Jafria, Millat-e-Islami, previously
working as Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan, and Khuddam-ul-Islam, the new face
of Jaish-e-Mohammad.
As if the police were now familiar
with the drill, more than 130 party offices all over the country were sealed
within 48 hours. Two days later, three more organisations were outlawed.
These included Jamaat-ul-Furqan, a breakaway group of Jaish-e-Mohammed,
Hizbul Tahir, a pan-Islamic group campaigning for the restoration of the
Khilafat system, and the little known Jamiat-ul-Ansar.
But unlike the previous crackdown
on January 2002, when more than 1,500 religious activists were rounded
up, this time only one prominent Shia leader, Sajid Naqvi, was arrested.
A senior Pakistan interior ministry
official privately conceded it is almost impossible to keep individuals
in jail in the absence of specific charges. So the government is apparently
trying to secure Rs 100,000 ''good conduct'' surety bonds from some 600
activists to discourage them from participating in ''unlawful activities''.
When asked why the government had
not laid specific charges against the outlawed organisations, Prime Minister
Zafarullah Jamali said he could not reveal the reason in public.
For whatever it is worth, the latest
move provided fresh fuel to the Islamists. ''It's clearly (meant) to appease
the Americans,'' was the initial response of Jamaat-e-Islami chief Qazi
Hussain Ahmed. Later, other senior leaders of the Muttahida Majlis-e-Ama
(MMA) took a similar stand.
Interestingly, Sajid Naqvi's arrest
and the ban on his party did not stop the MMA from talking to the government
even though the Tehrik-e-Islami is a member of the six-party Islamic alliance.
On the contrary, the MMA's supreme council decided to give the government
another month to respond to the alliance's proposals for resolving the
controversy over the Legal Framework Order (LFO).
A week later, the alliance invited
Prime Minister Jamali to come and asses the performance of the MMA government
in the North-West Frontier Province.
''It's total hypocrisy,'' says a
senior Islamabad-based analyst. ''Neither the government's action nor the
reaction of the MMA means anything.''
Other observers of Pakistan's religious
movements believe the rise of Islamic militancy cannot be viewed or assessed
in isolation - as long as the establishment's regional goals require active
support from Islamist groups, the latter's domestic activities can at best
only be checked, not eliminated.
Although radical Islam has a long
history in Pakistan, it was not until September 11, 2001, and the subsequent
US-led military operation in Afghanistan that local authorities became
alive to the menace of religious militancy.
In a landmark speech in January
2002, President Musharraf announced a series of measures to curb Islamic
extremism, including a ban on five militant groups. Two prominent groups
fighting in Kashmir, Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad, were also outlawed.
With the authorities taking little or no interest in consolidating the
move to curb religious militancy, these groups resurfaced under altered
identities.
When last October's general elections
produced a hung parliament, the state worked frenetically to cobble together
a multi-party grouping that would elect Zafarullah Jamali as prime minister.
These efforts included the successful wooing of Azam Tariq, leader of the
defunct Sipah-e-Shaba.
On the other side of the political
divide, the leader of Tehrik-e-Jafria, another banned group, closed ranks
with other Islamic parties in the MMA.
At the same time, Hafiz Mohammad
Saeed and Masood Azhar, leaders of the outlawed Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad
respectively, were making inflammatory public speeches and brazenly collecting
funds for their militant activities.
President Musharraf expressed grave
concern last month over the rise of religious extremism in the country.
During a meeting with newspaper editors, he reportedly said extremism is
a problem ''which will drown us''. There is little reason to doubt President
Musharraf's desire to eradicate militancy. But why should this latest ban
work when such efforts failed miserably in the past? And there is another
question perhaps only President Musharraf can answer: will it be possible
to muzzle the mullahs when the government itself solicits their support
in times of political crisis?
Or can the Islamists be neutralised
without altering the country's regional policy objectives?
(Herald)
