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Musharraf expels foreign students in madrasas

B. Muralidhar Reddy

"Pakistan has broken Al-Qaeda network"

RAWALPINDI: Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf on Friday announced that 1,400-odd foreign students at the religious educational institutions (madrasas) in the country have been told to pack up and leave and insisted that unlike 2002, he was ready to "rock the boat" in his battle with extremists and fundamentalists.

In an interaction with foreign correspondents on the challenges faced by Pakistan in tackling fundamentalism, Gen. Musharraf was at pains to emphasise that unlike 2002, today he was in total command of the situation in the country and the world has to take his latest crackdown on militancy seriously.

In his hour-long introductory remarks prior to the interaction, Gen. Musharraf said when he learnt that a record number of foreign correspondents were roaming in the streets of Islamabad to understand the phenomenon of extremism in the country, he decided to meet them in a bid to explain them the efforts by his Government to take on the fundamentalist forces.

"Take crackdown seriously"

In response to specific questions on the difference between the crackdown he had ordered in 2002 and now, Gen. Musharraf said the world and media should not judge the performance of his Government through the eyes of the past. "Today, it is a totally different environment", he quipped.

Elaborating on the point, Gen. Musharraf said three years ago, the economic situation of Pakistan was not stable. Besides, he did not enjoy the confidence of the world as a military ruler and his country was engaged in a 10-month military standoff with India.

"If I had operated strongly (against fundamentalists) the boat would have capsized". When a western journalist asked why he was not serious in his earlier attempt to curb militancy, Gen. Musharraf retorted, "You have to be realistic and take cognisance of the ground situation. By taking stringent action against fundamentalists, I would have risked the prospect of a million Talibans on the streets of Pakistan".

Democracy

Gen. Musharraf ticked off another journalist who wanted to know why he was not in favour of strengthening democratic institutions and democracy. "I think you are referring to my uniform. That is the only issue. But two-thirds majority in Parliament has sanctioned it. If this is not democracy what else is it? You want me to dissolve the National and Provincial Assemblies. Is this your definition of democracy? Please understand that Pakistan has a certain environment and we have democracy".

He said, in the next few days, he would promulgate an ordinance to regulate the functioning of religious schools and it would be mandatory for them to register with the Government by December 31. "At the same time I urge you to be realistic. If 5,000-odd seminaries refuse to register, I am not going to close them down. We would like to adopt a strategy of persuasion".

He said the Al-Qaeda has become an "international phenomenon" and urged the world to join hands in addressing the state of mind called "Al-Qaeda phenomenon" through just resolution of the underlying causes of terror — political disputes.

Asserting there was no network of Al-Qaeda in Pakistan, he said the "Al-Qaeda phenomenon" meant an individual who has followers, carries out terrorist action in London or elsewhere and claims that he is a member of the Al-Qaeda or is a branch of the Al-Qaeda.

"The world must understand that this Al-Qaeda has become a phenomenon — it has no command structure originating from Pakistan and conveying messages to the whole world to do this act and do that act under total coordination of some commander. It is a phenomenon where everyone has started calling himself Al-Qaeda, whether he has done it in London or Sharm-el-Shek," he argued.

Gen. Musharraf said military action alone would not lead to ultimate success in the fight against terror as they only gain time for other instruments to be used to change this phenomenon.

"The other instrument is resolution of political disputes. I have been calling for this during the last few years — resolve political disputes because that leads a person to extreme acts because he is feeling deprived and hopeless".

The root cause

Addressing extremism in the long-term also involved the issues of poverty and education. "It may be a long-term strategy but what I am saying is to kill this phenomenon, which is a state of mind — we act with the military to gain time by hitting and curbing terrorists and Pakistan will remain in the lead role. But to attack the phenomenon in the mind, the whole world has to act to resolve political disputes and social issues. The sooner it is understood, the better for the entire world."

He claimed that as a result of Pakistan's sustained and effective campaign against terrorism, the Al-Qaeda is unable to operate from the country.

He brushed aside suggestions that the Al-Qaeda has its headquarters in Pakistan.

"This is absolutely and totally baseless," he asserted and said that in reality, Pakistan had dismantled the organisation's ability to exist and operate as a homogeneous body. "If Al-Qaeda cannot act here, how come they are carrying out terrorism in the world," he asked.

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