‘Pakistan a religiously tolerant society’

By Khalid Hasan

WASHINGTON: A seminar on Pakistan and Central Asia has been told here that militants remain a small minority in Pakistan and while Pakistani society is deeply religious and traditional, overall, it remains tolerant and moderate.

Dr Svante E. Cornell of the Johns Hopkins University’s Central Asia-Caucasus Institute told the conference that Islam in the subcontinent was spread not mainly by invasions and forced conversions, but mainly through the Sufis and their mystical, introvert interpretation of the faith. He pointed out that it is common in places like Sindh to find Sufi mystics whose followers are both Muslims and Hindus. Pakistan’s Muslims are overwhelmingly Barelvi, influenced by Sufism and tolerant of diversity within Islam, whereas a 10 to 15 percent minority belongs to the more orthodox Deobandi school, and an equal number are Shi’a. The constituency for radicalism is in other words low, he added.

He said there were also regional differences, with the Pashtun and Baluchi populations being more Orthodox than the Punjabi and Sindhi. This could also be seen in the recent elections in which NWFP, Baluchistan and Karachi, the largest Pashtun city, saw the radicals winning. The elections, he argued, were not a victory for the Islamists. First, their alliance made it possible. They ran together, not against each other as before, despite their alliance being very disparate. Only 300,000 more votes were caste for the religious parties than in the last election. He pointed out that the secular parties that had been in power, failed because of corruption and mismanagement.

As in Turkey religious parties as the Refah Party were the beneficiaries of these shortcomings. Another factor, he stressed, was that Gen. Pervez Musharraf tried to undermine the PPP and the PML (N), which created a void with the MMA benefiting from it. There was also an economic sting in the NWFP and Baluchistan as a result of tighter control of the border impeding cross-border informal trade, or smuggling. In view of all that, the gains of the Islamist parties were “surprisingly low.”

Cornell said it is clear that the support for jihadis in Kashmir has done great damage to a cause widely perceived as just, by introducing alien elements that Kashmiris loathe as much or almost as much as the Indian army. Likewise, in Afghanistan, the Taliban proved to be a great mistake, as Pakistan could not control them. To support the Taliban was a pragmatic, geopolitik decision on the part of Pakistan to further national interests. It was not some religious fervour that spurred the use of radicals, he added.

The Central Asia expert also argued that Islamisation of the Pakistan army was “probably exaggerated.” While it was true that Gen. Zia-ul-Haq “islamised” the army and the fact that it had its share of Islamic-minded elements, at the same time, the Pakistan army was a “very hierarchical and collegial” organisation where control was exercised from top to bottom. He said Islamisation was to some extent both a fashion and a manifestation of “political correctness” among officers. Now, however, most of Zia’s “wave” was beginning to peter out.

In Cornell’s opinion, Deeni Madaris were problematic, generating hundreds of thousands of semi-literate graduates who are incapable of participating in public or business life. Normal graduates can’t find work, so they turn to what they take to be jihad. He noted that the government’s crackdown was more on Growing sectarian violence and less on the jihadi groups. He pointed out that the unpopularity of the government as being seen as an “American stooge” was “very problematic. There was also a need for the jihadis since no face-saving solution to Kashmir is being offered. He felt that the Pakistan, especially its army, needs to be provided with a face-saving Kashmir solution.

Cornell said while the government had failed to repeal the blasphemy laws, there was a general failure on the part of secular, mainstream politicians to stand up to radicalism. He also pointed out that the government was unwilling to stop jihadi groups from operating in Kashmir.

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