MADRASSAS IN PAKISTAN
Saifullah Khan

Madrassas are Islamic religious schools, whose traditions date back almost a thousand years. Within Pakistan, there has been a relative boom in their number over the last two decades or so. During the 1980s, the madrassa system underwent a complete change. The war in Afghanistan brought from across the border millions of refugees and the radicalism of a jihad movement. Thousands of new madrassas were formed, supported by donations from the US Government. The schools also acted as orphanages for the many parentless victims of the war. Students from these madrassas were responsible for routing the Soviets from Afghanistan.
After the Soviet withdrawal, madrassas still continued to flourish. Today, there are thousands of such schools within Pakistan lacking state supervision. It is up to the individual schools to decide what to teach and preach. Many provide only religious subjects to their students, with the exclusion of basic skills such as simple math, science, or geography. The poor cannot afford private schools. With no better options, poor parents send their sons to madrassas, where they receive at least some education. Most madrassas provide food and clothes, and even pay parents to send their children, further increasing their enticement.
The primary worry with the explosion of madrassa system is not with the schools in general, but the implications of the radical minority of them. There are about 12,000 madrassas in Pakistan, with more than 1.5 million students enrolled. Around 10-15 percent of the schools are affiliated with extremist religious/political groups, who have co-opted education for their own ends. These schools teach a distorted view of Islam. The schools produce a stream of unemployed young men, wholly dependent on the support of others. They have skills only to be imams or assistants at mosques as there are not enough jobs in these areas for them. Either more schools must open, thus expanding the problem, or the young men are sentenced to perpetual unemployment. The idea that a course of study exclusively focused on religion is the only way in Islam is a misreading of both accepted teachings and history. More than 40 years ago, an eminent Pakistani scholar, Maulana Abul Ala Maududi, warned against an education that focuses solely on religion at the exclusion of outside knowledge. He said, “Those who choose the theological branch of learning generally keep themselves utterly ignorant...[of secular subjects, thereby remaining] incapable of giving any lead to the people.”
To overcome the political, religious and economic problems originating from madrassas, it had become imperative for the government to reform them. A project titled “Madrassa Reforms” was launched in 2002-03 with the directive of the President for a period of 5 years at a capital cost of Rs. 5759.395 million. The government’s scheme requires that the schools’ curriculum include modern disciplines, that they disclose sources of funding, get permission to enrol foreign students, and stop sending their students to militant training camps. On Jan 8, 2004, the government approved a sum of US$100 million to reform the madrassas by introducing subjects taught at normal schools across the country. Formal education has now been introduced in these private seminaries and the government is providing them grants, salaries for teachers, cost of textbooks, teacher training and equipment. Under the madrassa reform programme, formal subjects including English, mathematics, social studies general science and computer science are being progressively introduced from primary to secondary levels.
There is a misperception that madrassas turn out jihadis. The madrassas in general have provided relief and sustenance to the poor children of Pakistan, though a small number of them preach extremist ideas. Dr. Matthew Nelson, a renowned scholar of School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) London, has denied the much talked about role of madrassas in producing terrorists. His analysis is based on research conducted over two years (2003-2005) in all the four provinces of Pakistan including Azad Jammu and Kashmir. He rejects the widely held axiom that madrassas promote religious/sectarian divide. According to his study, 89% of the world’s 79 leading Muslim terrorists had not received their education exclusively in madrassas.
The madrassa reform programme of the Pakistan government has produced very healthy results. Madrassas continue to approach the government for financial assistance, which is promptly being provided on the condition that the institutions cooperate in the governments reforms programme. The government’s aim is to eliminate the small amount of militancy left that may be attributed to madrassas.



Promoting Interfaith Harmony
Khalid Khokhar

Pope Benedict XVI’s recent speech has stirred a wave of tension and anger amongst Muslim throughout the world. Last year in the same month, the publication of twelve blasphemous cartoons ridiculing the Prophet of Islam (PBUH) in Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten also ignited a simmering controversy culminating into protests, demonstrations and rallies against Danish Government. It is very unfortunate that the Pope’s comments have been aired at such crucial time when Palestine, Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Syria and Lebanon are at the heart of terrorism and its resolution must take precedence over all other issues. A statement of regret by Pope Benedict XVI on 17 September, 2006 has quieted some Muslims' anger, but his clarification fell short of a real apology. The President of Pakistan has rightly said in that “This is the time to build bridges, not to burn bridges”. It is the duty of moderate and enlightened elements both in the West and the Islamic world to work for the promotion of inter-faith harmony through dialogue. In fact, things seem to be getting worse from the point of view of the Muslim world’s relationship with the West.
The incident of 9/11 on WTC acts as a prototype of a major paradigm shift - from cold war to combating Islamic terrorism. Due to globalization of the world, surfacing of religious and cultural prejudices has become a dangerous development further fading away the optimism in the post Cold War era. Interfaith dialogue brings people of different religious faiths together for “conversations”. Such dialogues have become an increasingly important tool for those who seek to end violent conflict worldwide. As a progressive Islamic state of 162 million, Pakistan has endeavored to promote peace and stability in the Islamic world and discouraged the polarization between the world of Islam and the West. In this context, the President of Pakistan has propounded the concept of "Enlightened moderation", which envisages a two-pronged strategy - to curb militancy and terrorism, and establish constructive and cooperative relations between the Muslim countries and the West. The first prong of the strategy calls on the Muslim countries to vigorously undertake internal reform of their societies, ensuring socio-political and economic progress of their populations. The second prong entails that West, on its part, should put in their efforts towards the resolution of the long standing disputes because they fall into a core of terrorism and extremism. In order to have a peaceful and secure world, we need to promote tolerance, understanding and respect for each others values, culture and trade. In other words we have to develop interfaith harmony so that Samuel Huntington’s thesis which predicts a ‘clash of civilizations’ has to be rejected. We are not living in an era of crusade. This is the 21st century and there is no clash of civilization going on. Let us not take the world back to the crusade therefore, recent provocation against the Muslims in the form of Pope’s comments against Islam is most unacceptable to the Muslim world.
The need to promote cooperation and understanding among religions and cultures was all the more essential. The necessity for dialogue among different faiths needed to be driven forward and transformed into “bridges of friendship”, to ameliorate the sufferings of those who were the victims of intolerance and interfaith friction. Pakistan believed in building linkages with other faiths and hoped that Muslim Ummah would pursue the goal of interfaith harmony. Islam is religion of peace and propagates moderation and tolerance. It does not allow violence under any circumstances. Such a task inevitably involves: creation of a work ethic through new educational programmes; and increasing the participation of women in the nation's labour force - recognizing them as contributors to the economy and community. To conclude, it is only through education and dialogue, we may shape a new world order.
 

World’s 47th Corrupt Country
Amjed Jaaved

In its annual report on quality of governance, the World Bank has ranked India forty-seventh in the list of 200 countries surveyed for the level of corruption, quality of governance and enforcement of rule of law. The Bank’s director of global governance, Daniel Kaufmann has predicted that India’s fast growth rate of eight per cent will falter unless the rampant corruption is curbed.
Kaufman pointed out that concomitant growth of corruption pari passu with fast economic growth was a lame excuse. He pointed out that several countries (smaller than India) like Slovenia, Botswana, Estonia, Tanzania, Ghana, Mozambique and Nigeria had made substantially arrested corruption and demonstrated improved governance. India could emulate them in improving her score on level of governance. sThe report observes that rule of law is a sine qua non of democracies. But, India has a poor record of enforcing the rule of law.
There are several stages of economic growth. Attaining eight per cent growth is no guarantee for self-sustained high growth in future years. To avoid slow-down in existing level of economic growth, India should launch an all-out war against corruption in various sectors of her economy.
Kaufmann elaborated those widespread practices of graft eventually slow growth in the long term (above 10 years). Corruption leads to poor enforcement of the rule of law, weakens regulatory systems, adds to political instability and makes the government less effective. The cumulative effect of these factors worsening of the quality of governance in a country.
It is significant to note that, despite its tall claims, India has not been able to reduce corruption during the past year. Earlier, Transparency International, in its annual report (London, October 18, 2005) had ranked India 88th in the list of 159 countries surveyed for the level of corruption.
The organisation had observed that there was a correlation between poverty and corruption. The nations perceived as the most corrupt ranked among the world's poorest, which showed how corruption and poverty fed off each other.
The Transparency International conducts its surveys in cooperation with Indian NGOs like ORG-Marg Research. The survey reflects how various classes of Indian people view government’s performance in various sectors. The survey tries to quantify the over-all amount of bribes paid to various government departments. Indian police is generally perceived to be the most corrupt. However, corruption is accepted as a ubiquitous feature of other law-enforcing or nation-building departments.
The critics in Indian media are rueful at India's current rating. They point out that the survey draws inferences from a limited number of households contacted through questionnaires. They assert that India truly deserves the number one position on the corruption scale.
According to analysts, the mechanisms of public accountability in India have collapsed. Corruption has become a serious socio-political malady as politicians, bureaucracy and armed forces act in tandem to receive kickbacks. The anti-corruption cases, filed in courts, drag on for years without any results. To quote a few cases: (a) There was no conviction in Bofors-gun case (Rs 64 crore), because of lethargic investigation (the case was filed on January 22, 1990 and charge sheet served on October 22, 1999). Among the accused were Rajiv Gandhi, S K Bhatnagar, W N Chaddha, Octavio, and Ardbo. The key players in the scam died before the court's decision. (b) No recoveries could be made in the HDW submarine case (Rs 32.5 crore).The CBI later recommended closure of this case. (c) No progress on the Taj-heritage corridor case, Purulia-arms-drop case and stamp-paper case.
Indian Express dated November 11, 2003 had reported that the stamp-paper co-accused Assistant Sub-Inspector of Police (ASI) drew salary of Rs 9,000, but his assets valued over Rs 100 crore. He built six plush hotels during his association of six years with the main accused Abdul Karim Telgi. The ASI was arrested on June 13 and charged under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act. Investigations by the Special Investigating Team (SIT) probing the stamp scam had found that the ASI Kamath accepted Rs 72 lakh from the scam kingpin, Abdul Karim Telgi, on behalf of IGP Sridhar Vagal.
The problem is that the modus operandi of corruption ensures that it is invisible and unaccounted for. There are widespread complaints that the politicians exercise underhand influence on bureaucracy to mint money.
World Governance Survey has rightly observed that in India ‘Right from birth to death, nothing happens without bribery and corruption.People can neither live nor die with dignity’