The Hindu : Opinion / News Analysis : Mullahs, Musharraf & a `change of heart'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Apr 22, 2005

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Opinion - News Analysis

Mullahs, Musharraf & a `change of heart'

B. Muralidhar Reddy

"Instead of empowering liberal, democratic voices, the Government [of Pervez Musharraf] continues to rely on the religious right to counter civilian opposition."

THE DAY India and Pakistan released the joint statement articulating their quest for peace, International Crisis Group — a trans-national non-governmental organisation operating in 50 current or potential conflict countries — released its report titled, "The State of Sectarianism in Pakistan."

It portrays an alarming picture on the fundamentalist forces operating in the country. The report claims that a "widespread and well-organised terror infrastructure" exists and that the seminaries provide an endless stream of new recruits.

The report has no direct reference to the India-Pakistan peace process and the threat, if any, these forces posed. Still it is relevant in the context of a significant assertion made by the Pakistan President, Pervez Musharraf, at his interactive session with senior Indian Editors that since Agra July 2001, he has had a "change of heart" and it was on account of 9-11. The ICG report documents the track record of the Musharraf regime in tackling extremism since the twin towers of New York came tumbling down. The Pakistan President does not emerge with flying colours. The Pakistan Foreign Office has characterised the report as "exaggerated" and complained that it has failed to take note of a number of measures initiated by the Pakistan Government in the last four years to tighten the noose around the sectarian and extremist outfits. The ICG report apart, a number of NGOs within Pakistan such as the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) and some of the mainstream Opposition parties have echoed the same sentiments.

`Dismal record'

"Despite his repeated pledges, Musharraf's record in fighting home-grown terrorism is dismal: far from restraining religious extremism, the military government has actively encouraged it, co-opting the religious right to bolster its legitimacy and relying on it to counter democratic opposition. Dependent on alliances with the religious right, the military's politics of patronage has favoured the mullahs, raising their public profile and influence," the ICG alleged.

"Instead of empowering liberal, democratic voices, the Government has co-opted the religious right and continues to rely on it to counter civilian opposition. By depriving democratic forces of an even playing field and continuing to ignore the need for state policies that would encourage and indeed reflect the country's religious diversity, the government has allowed religious extremist organisations and jehadi groups, and the madrasas that provide them an endless stream of recruits, to flourish. It has failed to protect a vulnerable judiciary and equip its law-enforcement agencies with the tools they need to eliminate sectarian terrorism," the ICG report said.

The refusal of Gen. Musharraf to reconcile with the two mainstream political parties — the Pakistan People's Party led by Benazir Bhutto and the Pakistan Muslim League led by Nawaz Sharif — has been widely criticised in the country.

"The political use of Islam by the state promotes an aggressive competition for official patronage between and within the many variations of Sunni and Shia Islam, with the clerical elite of major sects and sub-sects striving to build up their political parties, raise jehadi militias, expand madrasa networks and, as has happened on Musharraf's watch, become part of government. Like all other Pakistani military governments, the Musharraf administration has also weakened secular and democratic political forces," the ICG report said.

Legacy of Zia era?

Gen. Musharraf's managers contend that extremist and sectarian militancy in the country is a legacy of the Zia era. They have argued that Gen. Musharraf is in the process of reversing the entrenched mindset of two decades. But as the ICG report has pointed out and others such as the HRCP concur, administrative and legal action against militant organisations has failed to dismantle a "well-entrenched and widely spread terror infrastructure."

The ICG has warned that the Government's "unwillingness" to demonstrate political will to deal with the internal jihad could cost it international support, much of which is contingent upon Pakistan's performance in the war against terrorism.

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