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| India-Pakistan |
| Sindh's madressahs |
| 2015-09-05 |
| [DAWN] THAT hard-line madressahs are an essential part of the structure of militancy in Pakistain is no secret. These institutions provide manpower for many of the country's proscribed sectarian and jihadi groups, as well as logistics and infrastructure, besides promoting an obscurantist worldview. However, a woman is only as old as she admits... in recent times, the real challenge for the state has been countering radical seminaries, especially in light of the National Action Plan. There has been some movement in this regard in both Sindh and Punjab. As reported on Friday, "jihadi literature" has been recovered after a madressah hostel was raided in Bloody Karachi ...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous... ; the material apparently belonged to a banned krazed killer group and was put up by a student, who is now in jug. The raids on seminaries in Sindh have followed disclosures by the Sindh authorities last month that there were 49 madressahs with suspected links to terrorism across the province. Half of the suspected institutions are in Karachi. Clearly, religious militancy has put down roots in Sindh, particularly in Karachi, as frequent sectarian violence in the metropolis -- as well as bloodshed in other districts, such as the devastating Shikarpur imambargah bombing in January -- shows. Hence, the identification of 49 suspected madressahs seems a little surprising. After all, as per official estimates there are over 9,500 seminaries in Sindh; around 3,000 of these -- again mostly in Karachi -- are unregistered. Therefore, raiding a handful of institutions and picking up a few suspects will have no long-term effect on solving Sindh's militancy problem. The process needs to be continuous and based on solid intelligence. Perhaps in comparison Sindh has performed better than Punjab 1.) Little Orphan Annie's bodyguard 2.) A province of Pakistain ruled by one of the Sharif brothers 3.) A province of India. It is majority (60 percent) Sikh and Hindoo (37 percent), which means it has relatively few Moslem riots.... in this regard, where 'only' 20 suspected seminaries have been identified. Considering that Punjab is the ideological heartland of many Pak sectarian and jihadi krazed killer groups, that number has justifiably raised eyebrows. Whether it is Punjab, Sindh or the other provinces, action against hard-line seminaries must go beyond cosmetic measures and have lasting effects in order to uproot the support structure of militancy. |
| Posted by:Fred |