Roots & causes of religious extremism

Ever since Pakistan joined hands with US in war against terror, the problem of terrorism and extremism has increased manifold instead of declining. As the dark forces of extremism and obscurantism are now knocking at the doors of Peshawer, there is dire need to revise our counter-terrorism policy. Instead of serving American interests we need to evolve a “national counter-terrorism policy” taking into account our own vulnerabilities, strengths, needs and interests. Military regime’s unitary policies and strategy to solve the issue of extremism through military means has further aggravated the situation. The presence of American forces and repeated military attacks of US drones on non-combatants in tribal areas and regimes high-handedness has made the matters worse. Attention should be paid to addressing the root causes of terrorism through economic progress, social and infrastructural development of backward areas in the tribal region. Causes of extremism in Pakistan are multifaceted and deep rooted which have taken place for a variety of reasons: political and social perpetration by tyrannical and aggressive governments and groups of rebels, within a socio-political environment of oppressive cultural norms, social injustice, ideological contradictions, rigid religious beliefs and foreign interference. The socio-political roots of religious extremism and fundamentalism in Pakistan can be traced back to the political turmoil created after the death of Quaid-e-Azam, who envisioned Pakistan as a welfare modern Muslim state and not a theocracy. Jinnah’s famous speech to Constituent Assembly on August 11, 1947 amply substantiates his vision about Pakistan: “You may belong to any religion or caste or creed – that has nothing to do with the business of the State.” In 1949 with the adoption of the Objectives Resolution by the Constituent Assembly which was tasked with framing the country’s first Constitution. Pakistan became an ideological State on the basis of the Muslim experience in India. What helped in this was the unclear theory of the State in Islamic history. After 1949, the process to transform Pakistan into a religious state ipso facto made the clergy the guardian of the new founding principle.

The problem intensified during the Zia regime under his Islamisation policies. For the first time in history of Pakistan, terror through intimidating policies was used as a conscious policy to legitimise the rule of General Zia. In the pursuit of such policies, the democratic constitution of 1973 was set aside, religion politicized and steps were taken to restructure the state on theocratic lines. The religion card was used as one of the main weapons to pressurize the opposition and to justify the holding of non-party based elections. This period also witnessed the undermining of state institutions by introducing measures to subordinate the judiciary, press and other civil society institutions, under executive. The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in December 1979 was a watershed development that brought the superpower rivalry into Pakistan’s neighbourhood. In great powers’ proxy conflict, US sought to enlist Pakistan in strengthening Afghan resistance to the Soviets. Zia regime offered to play role of a front-line state in the Afghan guerrilla war, and sought political, economic and military support from US. It was considered necessary to mobilize religious feelings and jihadi spirit for Afghan resistance. Consequently extremist elements were encouraged and jihadi sentiments were supported, along with liberal funds provided to groups and institutions for training Afghan and other Muslim nationals from a host of countries to wage war against Soviets. Religious schools multiplied in Pakistan during this period and by the time Afghan war ended in 1989, jihadist culture had acquired deep roots in Pakistani society. The militant religious groups, by this time also succeeded in enlarging the political space for themselves, which later aided the mushrooming of sectarian and religion-based violence across the country.

External powers have also played an important role in accelerating extremism in Pakistan. Soviet intervention United States supported and sponsored the Pakistani government and also the Jihadi groups during the period 1979-1989, which in post-1990 period became a threat for the security and stability of Pakistan. Similarly Iran after Iranian revolution of 1979 has openly been supporting the elements in Pakistan and also in Bangladesh to promote their version of Islam. This led to strengthening of religious parties with extremist leaning and boosted the madrassa culture in Pakistan. After Soviet withdrawal and diminishing of US interests in the region, Pakistan was left in a complete lurch for dealing with the menace of terrorism and extremism spread over the decade of its war against Soviets. Sectarianism was one of the inevitable outcomes of Zia’s Islamisation programme and the US’ encouragement of religion to counter Soviet intervention in Afghanistan. The rise of religious influence can be understood from the number of religious schools which in 1970s were around 900 and by the end of Zia era had grown to 8,000 and around 25,000 unregistered ones, educating over half a million students. These madrassas also drew foreign aid, and were sharply divided on sectarian lines. Ultimately the autonomy of traditional religious institutions, lack of unanimous regulatory policies for madrassas, and Zia’s Islamisation of society, injected the poison of sectarianism, fanaticism and bigotry, pitting sect against sect and region against region.

Attacks of 9/11 once again brought Pakistan into spotlight for its geo-strategic location and proximity with Afghanistan. The military regime of General Mushrraf which was desperately looking for a legitimacy cover conceded to US demands. This U-turn in erstwhile policy of supporting religious and jihadi elements disenchanted and alienated religious segments of the society specially ones in NWFP and tribal areas of Pakistan. Subsequent US attacks and Taliban’s retreat into tribal areas of Pakistan led to rise of extremism in Pakistan. Major cause of creeping Talibanization and extremist tendencies in Northern and tribal areas is the way in which Mushrraf regime conducted war against terrorism in the region. Lal Masjid operation further deteriorated the situation and a spate of suicide attacks ripped through the country bringing security and intelligence apparatus to a virtual halt. Law and order broke down, attacks on security personnel increased, police contingents were ambushed, torching of CD and barber shops, ban of female education and challenging the writ of the state have been the order of the day. In order to ameliorate the swiftly deteriorating situation we need to reexamine the current counter-terrorism policy by initiating a debate in parliament. The effort to solve the problem through use of might and force has failed in Iraq, Afghanistan and in FATA. Reliance on military means will only fuel extremism. What we need is an honest national counter-terrorism policy with patience, prudence and farsightedness.