PROF. S HAROON AHMED
Founder member of the international group, Physicians for Nuclear Disarmament
In Pakistan, where none of the religio–political parties were able to win even a single seat in the assemblies, jihadis and fundamentalists were still very powerful. They were patronised by one or the other power base — now popularly referred to as ‘agencies’, or funded from abroad.
According to a recent estimate, we may have 80 plus religious parties in Pakistan. In 1947, there were 245 madrassas, which increased to 2,861 in 1988 and 6,761 by the year 2000. The people of Pakistan had no say, nor liked the armed presence of such parties within civil society.
Then came Sept. 11 and in it’s search for Osama bin Laden, the US attacked Afghanistan. Pakistan was inducted into the alliance and bases were provided. In the early stages of American bombing on Afghanistan there was considerable confusion. "The bombing in Afghanistan will usher civil war in Pakistan" was one very strong view. However, the collapse of the Taliban as easily as it came, blew the air out of the vociferous outpourings of religious parties.
In the atmosphere post–Sept. 11, the terrorist attack on the Parliament in New Delhi on December 13 was a rude shock. It was the very last thing that any government or citizen in Pakistan would have expected. Temperatures within India have been raised to near uncontrollable levels. Memories of Kargil are still fresh. In Pakistan there is a strange quiet and detachment — neither the government nor the public expects a war!
However, the posture that India has taken is very threatening for all of South Asia. The hot pursuit, limited war, war with conventional weapons, or all out nuclear Holocaust are stages which can quickly follow each other if skirmish is sparked off accidentally or stupidly. And then there will be no going back.
Many among the liberal intelligentsia would like to see in the present circumstances a unique opportunity to resolve the issue of ‘cross border’ interference. It is in this context that President Musharraf’s address of Jan. 12 must be seen.
Even if his stance has been forced, it is a serious development. The establishment may or may not like it but the common man in Pakistan wants Musharraf to pursue his earlier and recent pronouncements against jihadis, madrassas, ritualistic mullahs and their so-called religious–cum–political parties. He has said that the jihadi outfits have brought Islam a bad name and killed more people than reformed them. It is in the interest of the silent majority in Pakistan and in South Asia that the road map towards a democratic process within Pakistan charted by this government is not abandoned or diverted.
Archived from Communalism Combat, January-February 2002 Year 8 No. 75-76, Cover Story 5