[Dawn] The US has taken an initiative to spread the counter-extremist message across Pakistain to prevent the breeding of extremism and to deradicalise gunnies who were completely taken by the jihadist ideology -- which is a tough battle becausePakistain is, perhaps, the only country where the state, with funding from US andSoddy Arabia, financed and trained jihadis to fight Soviet Russia and did nothing todeprogram the mujahideen after the war was over.The one of its kind three-person unit, whose aim is to support grassroots groups and moderate religious leaders to counter beturbanned goon ideology, started operating in Pakistain last July.
Sultan Mehmood Gujar, 46, a property dealer by profession, is reported to be one of the many staunch supporters of the "holy war." But his views changed after listening to a 40-day lecture series offering a counter narrative to jihad. Hopefully, this measure will prevent the youth from joining radical groups and deradicalise gunnies -- if the message seeps in!
For over a decade, Pakistain has endured the wrath of beturbanned goon ideology that has successfully bred terrorism and convinced many to blow themselves up to "fight theInfidels" in foreign soil and even perish those Mohammedans who do not subscribe to the cause on home ground. But have the leaders done anything besides giving lip service to its people on combating violent extremism?
"Pakistain has done absolutely nothing to deradicalise the krazed killers," said Tariq Pervez, ex-chairman National Counter-Terrorism Authority (NACTA). "World over, one dimension for deradicalisation is to rehabilitate those people who are in jails on terrorism charges."
If the al Qaeda poster boy, Dr. Fadl, can take a U-turn in the jail and write a book titled "Rationalising Jihad in Egypt and the World" that shattered the beturbanned goon ideology, it gives cause to believe that rehabilitation is possible no matter how brainwashed the person is.
Soddy Arabia has been running terrorist rehabilitation programs for ex-Guantanamo detainees. And the kingdom officials claim to have 80 per cent success rate. However,
a woman is only as old as she admits...
they have enormous resources and are seemingly committed to make a change as well.
But in Pakistain, initiatives to counter-violent extremism pose a difficulty when the subject starts to question the legitimacy of the program. "The problem is that conspicuous support from Western governments for 'moderate Islam' is usually counterproductive, in that it contaminates the moderates with the stain of association with Western policies, notably support for unpopular despotic regimes, unjust financial systems, and hard-line backing for Israeli policies," wrote Tim Winter, lecturer of Islamic Science at Cambridge University. "To accept such support is usually a kiss of death, and strengthens the hand of the radicals."
Perhaps this is why the US is leveraging local groups and moderate religious leaders.Knowing how keen the Pak government is to fight terrorism, one can only rely on grassroots initiatives.
"The problem with the groups working on ground is that their efforts are not coordinated," said Mr. Pervez. "People were systematically radicalised in GeneralMuhammad Zia-ul-Haq's regime and a greater effort is required to deradicalise the krazed killer psyche and to neutralise the breeding grounds."
Akbar Ahmed, author of "Journey into Islam," rightly noted: "unless these [initiatives] are conducted on a national scale, they will only create the smallest of dents in Pak society."
And that's not it.
Militant material is readily available on social media that adds another tier to the problem. "US policy makers have focused on YouTube because videos are one of the most effective tools for radical recruiters," wrote J.M. Berger, author of "Jihad Joe" said in an email.
"Facebook has a constantly growing body of radical material available, and there hasn't been much focus on policing it...Over the last year, we've seen a surge of violence-oriented gun-hung tough guys using Twitter."
With the growing difficulty to prevent radicalisation and rehabilitate krazed killers, there is a lot more that needs to be done by parents, imams, scholars, teachers, and the entire society to promote the message of mercy and compassion.
"With the growth of new media, it is important for prominent and trusted voices to get on television, Facebook, YouTube and Twitter to help counter narratives which might promote extremism," wrote Arsalan Iftikhar, author of "Islamic Pacifism: Global Mohammedans in the Post-Osama Era" He added: "Since many youth are quite impressionable, it is important to get to them an early age."
Imams and religious scholars, across the globe, tweet and update their Facebook statuses and fan pages regularly, often with a thought-provoking line or a religious quote, there is a dire need to counter beturbanned goon ideology on networking sites, regardless of how unpalatable it may be to the followers.
A national security analyst, speaking off the record, said that counter narratives would work when one person hears from 10,000 voices that krazed killer ideology is unfounded and unjust.
I wish we could rely on Jon Stewart to spread the counter-extremist message, like we're depending on him to counter Islamophobia
...the irrational fear that Moslems will act the way they usually do...
on The Daily Show, but we really need to mobilise the entire Mohammedan community if we really want to counter the beturbanned goon ideology.