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Thursday March 28, 2024

Legitimising militancy?

By Wajid Shamsul Hasan
July 09, 2016

Despite repeated promises by the government for the registration, regulation and re-radicalisation of madrassas and seminaries nothing substantive seems to have so far materialised. Both internal and external funding of these madrassas continues unabated. Even banned organisations are visibly collecting donations from public. Most blatant has been disclosure of KP government’s funding of a religious seminary. It has caused deep concern in Washington as well.

I have never been anti-American people. However, I have always doubted the intents of the successive administrations in Washington towards Pakistan. This view was candidly endorsed the other day by the Foreign Affairs Adviser Sartaj Aziz when he said “Americans come to us when they need us and leave us when they don’t.” It is a fact and nothing to grumble about as the American administrations and their leaders have thought it wiser and in their national interests, to sacrifice principles at the altar of expediency.

I have often wondered why American officials -- whether in DC or in Islamabad -- never get tired of orchestrating “do more mantra.” Even during the recent visit of Senator John McCain — though he praised Pakistan Army’s efforts in eliminating the jihadi terrorists in the north — strains of do more could not be missed. It seems to be very strange demand when they also acknowledge our enormous losses in men and material. I have often raised this question with my American friends. Their pet answer has been “stop running with the hare and hunting with the hounds.” I had to refresh my understanding of the phrase. It means to put simply—playing with both sides. They also want us not to differentiate between “favourite” and ‘not favourite’ among Taliban.

We go to Washington DC on bended knees and largest beggars bowl to plead with them to give us money to buy F-16s that we desperately need to target and bomb the terrorists holed up in the impenetrable mountainous terrain. And Americans just say no. Why? Haven’t we suffered enough for them?

However, there is something amiss that makes them demand from us to do more. I sought an answer the other day from a well-informed diplomat in London. He put it straight and referred to PTI leader Imran Khan’s defence of KP government’s budgetary allocation of Rs300 million for the religious seminary. My friend was sarcastic. “It is same story everywhere—playing with both sides.”

I was reminded that last year in the Anti-Terrorist Court hearing martyred Benazir Bhutto’s assassination case, two FIA officials appearing before the judge informed the court about the alleged involvement of that seminary’s students in the killing of Benazir Bhutto. They also presented related evidence to support their statements. They disclosed that students of the seminary were involved in the murder of PPP leader. I told my friend that the seminary administration had denied it. Not only that, Imran Khan too acted a sort of spokesman for it to deny the allegation. My friend smiled and said “that’s what is meant by running with the hare and hunting with the hounds.”

However, former president Asif Ali Zardari too has expressed concern and dismay over KP’s government's allocation of Rs300 million to the privately-owned seminary known for its alleged links with Taliban militants. Zardari believes it as “nothing but legitimisation of militancy and militant Taliban that will undermine the nation's resolve to fight militants to the finish.” One can understand his anguish over the use of public funds for "legitimising a private seminary known for promoting private jihad project.”

Incidentally the news of the official KP dole-out happened around the time when a group of the militant Taliban reportedly claimed responsibility for the recent target-killing of Amjad Sabri Qawwal in Karachi -- made it all the more relevant. Facts cannot be denied that the man running the seminary was an acknowledged sympathiser and undeclared spokesperson of the Taliban. One also remembers the seminary head’s age old affiliation with Taliban. During the government-TTP talks in 2014, the Taliban actually named him to negotiate with the government on their behalf. It is also widely known that a number of militant Taliban leaders have been students of this seminary." Latest news is that the head of the seminary has warned Mr Zardari of serious consequences. And when he warns he means business.

It should be noted that the Maulana heading the seminary had always denied any link with the Taliban. He said if a person belonging to an institution commits any crime, the institution he belonged to cannot be held responsible for his crime. He said Taliban used to study in this seminary and that was the reason that they named him for talks with the government.

Regretfully same Imran logic has been the wisdom of Punjab government’s huge funding of Hafiz Saeed’s Markaz-e-Taiba. Since Shahbaz took over as Chief Minister of Punjab in 2008 — flow of money has continued to this largest centre of militants at Muridke -- a 200-acre power base of the Jamaat-ud-Dawa and LeJ an internationally declared terrorist organisation. Like Imran Khan Punjab government too says that it funds Muridke’s Markaz-e-Taiba to aid its services to the educate/train its students and as well “continue its humanitarian work.”

Exact amount paid to the Markaz over the years is not known but it received regularly huge budgetary grants since many years from the PML-N government in Punjab. And on being declared a terrorist organisation, the Punjab government reportedly took over the “administrative control of the welfare institutions being run by (the JuD) in compliance with Security Council resolutions of the United Nations” since the end of 2008.

For people who know this claim of takeover is far from truth. Though on paper there is a Punjab government administrator in-charge of JuD’s Markaz, it however continues to be run by the original office bearers of JuD under the supervision of Hafiz Saeed. The Markaz has been known for imparting jihadi education. It is believed that Osama bin Laden provided the initial $100,000 for the construction of a mosque inside the Markaz. Generous donations from some Muslim countries and individuals belonging to a certain religious sect facilitated the establishment of the campus.

It is generally perceived that the two governments have been paying protection money to the terrorists to leave their leaders safe and spare their provinces of militants wrath. Remember allegations by PPP and ANP that their parties had been singled out by Taliban to scare them from campaigning freely in last elections. The recent disclosure by Ali Haider Gilani, son of former Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani that he was kidnapped campaigning for the PPP in 2013 elections by al-Qaeda in collaboration with Punjab TTP—bears testimony to the above allegations.

The author is former High Commissioner of Pakistan to UK