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| Afghanistan/South Asia |
| Admissions surge for Karachi madrassas |
| 2004-02-13 |
| Registration required Despite the authoritiesâ campaign against foreign students in Karachiâs Salafi seminaries, the flow of these students has not ebbed. That this year has seen a liberal inflow of such students to Karachi is clear from admissions to the Abu Bakar Islamic University, the seminary from where Hambaliâs brother was arrested last year and deported to Indonesia. Nearly all the religious schools in the city have seen the admissions graph go up. The admissions, which ended last month, have seen some 20,000 students join various seminaries, more than half of these registered with Jama Binoria, which is one of the leading chains of these schools in Karachi. Last year saw about 14,000 admissions. Binori is where Osama Bin Ladin first met Mullah Omar, it is also home to a group of scholars like Mufti Shamzai who make up the Shura council that influences all the Deobandi outfits in Pakistan, whether political parties like the JUI or Jihadi outfits like Jaish-e-Mohammad. The overwhelming response has overshadowed the governmentâs campaign against foreign students in the cityâs Salafi seminaries. Last year security agencies arrested six Indonesians and 13 Malaysian students from two seminaries in Karachi. One of them was Rusman Gunawan, brother of Hanbali, a leader of the Indonesian Jemaah Islamiyah. Figures obtained by TFT from the officials of Abu Bakar Islamic University, located in Karachiâs Gulshan-e-Iqbal, show a total of 142 foreigners, around 15 per cent of the total number of students have taken admission there. Out of this number, 69 (49 per cent) foreign students came from Thailand, while 17 each belong to Malaysia and Uganda. Eight pupils each come from Indonesia and Somalia, five each from the Philippines and Ghana, four from Cambodia, two each from Djibouti, Nigeria and Maldives and one each from Niger, Cameroon and Kenya. Interesting about all the Thai students, itâs safe to assume that the nascent Jihad in southern Thailand is being assisted by graduates of such madrassas, and when Talibs of 2004 graduate theyâll be heading home with some uncomprimising ideas The operators of the Deobandi seminaries, which are in a majority and admit a major chunk of students, say they had to close the admission process well before the scheduled time. âThere were too many students. We didnât have the resources and the space to accommodate all those aspiring to be admitted,â most administrators at various schools told TFT. âWe are gaining momentum again and our seminaries are flourishing. We are back to the days before the government started putting curbs on us,â he says. Jama Binoria represents the Deobandi school of thought and is one of the leading organisations in Pakistan. It has a total capacity of 9,000 students in its 19 branches, 17 of which are in Karachi. âThis year more than 12,000 candidates applied for admissions to our schools. We had to turn down thousands of requests for lack of accommodation facilities and resources,â Iqbal says. Estimates show at least 10 percent of all seminarians in Karachi are from outside Pakistan. And this percentage excludes the Afghan students. While a huge number of Afghans take admissions in seminaries, they are generally counted as local students rather than foreigners. There are also at least 26 Shiite seminaries in Karachi. Together, they admit nearly 4,000 students. This year they also turned down more than 500 requests, according to Allama Abbas Kumaili, a leader of the Jafaria Alliance. The seminaries, particularly Deobandi schools, were targeted in the governmentâs initial campaign after September 11, 2001. Jama Binoria became prominent in Karachi after 1996 when the Taliban movement intensified in Afghanistan and a large number of its students went to join the Taliban. Officials of the Binoria schools have adopted a strict policy of saying nothing on record of the Taliban and jihadi movements. But a former student, who called himself Jamal, proudly says, âWe were the first who rallied in favour of Osama, because he is our hero.â An Islamic government âis the destiny of this countryâ, he declares, adding that what he calls the Islamic political movement would gain impetus in Pakistan in the near future. |
| Posted by:Paul Moloney |
| #3 The Flypaper Strategy redux infinitum. Create concentrations, nexii, to accentuate the efficacy of the response... |
| Posted by: .com 2004-2-13 1:14:09 PM |
| #2 This year more than 12,000 candidates applied for admissions to our schools Keep in mind, though, that Pakistan's population is about 150 million. |
| Posted by: Mike Sylwester 2004-2-13 8:10:52 AM |
| #1 Pakistan; the only place in the world where students of religion know how to reload an RPG in less than 20 seconds. |
| Posted by: Rafael 2004-2-13 1:25:14 AM |