(Ay Pee) -- Sultan Mehmood Gujar was a solid supporter of Islamist hard boyz fighting in Pakistain, Afghanistan and India and even donated money to them, until he attended an innovative 40-day lecture series by a moderate holy man aimed at countering violent extremism.The course, given to the public at an Islamic school in a hotbed of militancy in Pakistain, had a profound effect on the 46-year-old property dealer, convincing him the hard boyz were wrong to claim they were waging holy war, or jihad, justified by the Koran, the religion's holy book. "I was shocked to discover that what the hard boyz were doing was against Islam," said Gujar, sitting on the floor at the madrasa in Okara city where the lectures were delivered. "Now I call them terrorists, not jihadis."
Fazal ur Rehman, the holy man who runs the 400-student madrasa, recorded each of the 2-hour lectures he and others gave this past summer and would like to distribute the DVDs to reach a wider audience. But he lacks the money.
The U.S. has created a new unit in Pakistain that aims to leverage such grassroots efforts by working with local moderates to counter violent extremism -- the first of its kind set up by an American embassy anywhere in the world, according to U.S. officials here. The existence of the unit has never before been reported.
The three-person unit in the U.S. Embassy public affairs section was established in July. It plans to work with local partners, including moderate religious leaders, to project their counter-extremist messages and push back against the myrmidons' extensive propaganda machine, said U.S. officials.
It will use TV shows, documentaries, radio programs and posters. It also intends to ramp up exchange programs for religious leaders and public outreach to conservative Moslems who previously had little contact with American officials.
"There are a lot of courageous voices speaking out against extremism here in Pakistain," said Tom Miller, head of public affairs at the U.S. Embassy. "Our job is to find out how we can amplify those narratives."
The unit is just now ramping up operations, said officials. It was funded with an initial budget of $5 million that officials hope will grow. Officials declined to provide details on specific programs they are funding or plan to fund, for fear that publicly acknowledging U.S. involvement would discredit their partners.