The Hindu Business Line : `Enlightened moderation' in Pakistan, really?

Local press terming Hindus, Christians and Jews as `enemies of Islam', a general free hand and support to extremist outfits, Shariat courts and blasphemy laws clearly loaded against women and minorities, all make any talk by Gen Pervez Musharraf of `enlightened moderation' in Pakistan nothing more than a cruel joke, says G. Parthasarathy.

EVER SINCE it was established that the terrorist bombings in New York and Washington were engineered the from Taliban-ruled Afghanistan, the Pakistan President, Gen Pervez Musharraf, has coined two phrases to describe his approach to Islamic extremism of the Taliban variety. He constantly proclaims his goal of making Pakistan a "moderate Islamic country" based on "enlightened moderation".

Speaking at the Third Extraordinary Summit of the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) in Mecca on December 7, Gen Musharraf loftily proclaimed: "Senseless acts of terrorism committed by a handful of misguided individuals claiming to act in the name of Islam has maligned our noble faith. We must condemn and reject all forces of terrorism and extremism, banning organizations which preach hate and violence". Yet, anyone who reads the Urdu newspapers of Pakistan and publications brought out by groups such as the Lashkar-e-Taiba (now going under the name of Jamat-ud-Dawa) cannot help noting that extremism and religious bigotry thrive in Gen Musharraf's Pakistan.

These publications regularly refer to "Hindus, Christians and Jews" as "enemies of Islam". Fanatic members of these terrorist outfits cross the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir, or India's porous borders with Nepal and Bangladesh to incite communal passions and indulge in terrorist violence across India.

While Gen Musharraf claims that he has banned groups such as the Lashkar-e-Taiba, the suicide bombers in London were trained in the madrassas of this terrorist group that openly collects funds and preaches hatred, from its sprawling headquarters in Muridhke near Lahore.

Its supporters have been arrested in California and Virginia in the US and in places ranging from Chechnya to Australia, for sponsoring terrorism. The Afghan President, Mr Hamid Karzai's Government repeatedly refers to the presence of the Taliban leadership in Pakistan, where the Taliban receives arms and financial support. Two senior Taliban leaders who were killed in a bomb explosion near Peshawar recently had been living comfortably in Peshawar ever since the Taliban was forced out of Kabul in 2001. Similar support is provided by the ISI to the fundamentalist leader of Afghanistan's Hizb-e-Islami, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar.

The extremist Lashkar-e-Jhangvi that regards Shias as "Kaffirs" gets a free hand to attack Shia leaders and places of worship even in the Northern Areas of Kashmir, now under Pakistani occupation. Gen Musharraf's embrace of "enlightened moderation" that has resulted in groups and organisations such as the Jaish-e-Mohammed, the Lashkar-e-Taiba and the Al Rashid Trust (banned internationally for financing terrorist activities) taking the lead in post-earthquake relief efforts in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK), has prompted international concern.

While his proclaimed efforts to make Pakistan a model "moderate Islamic State" has only promoted terrorist violence worldwide, what has been the impact within Pakistan of Gen Musharraf's policies of `enlightened moderation'?

What directions have "enlightened moderation" led Pakistan to on issues of women's rights and religious tolerance? While Pakistan's Constitution may grant equal rights to women, the Shariat courts and blasphemy laws are clearly loaded against women, or minorities receiving a fair deal.

Two recent cases of gang rape have highlighted Gen Musharraf's approach to issues of gender equality and justice. On June 22, 2002, Mukhtaran Mai was gang raped following a sentence handed down to her by a Village Council that claimed that her brother had been involved in an act of "sexual indiscretion". The five rapists were sentenced to death by an anti-terrorism court, but later acquitted by the Lahore High Court on June 10, 2005. Her grit and determination in seeking justice, exposing the inequities of medieval tribal laws and bringing the rapists to trial won Mai international acclaim. But when Mai sought to visit London for a meeting with Amnesty International, Gen Musharraf banned her visit abroad to "protect Pakistan's image" of "enlightened moderation".

Mai was finally permitted to travel abroad after a huge international outcry. Similarly, the gang rape of a young doctor Shazia Khalid in Baluchistan by a group allegedly led by an army officer sparked a tribal uprising in the Province. The army officer is still free, with Gen Musharraf arbitrarily pronouncing him innocent. After further uproar and threats to her and her husband, Dr Khalid left for Canada. How did Gen Musharraf respond to these developments?

He told Washington Post in a recorded interview that claiming rape was becoming a "money making concern" in Pakistan and that many Pakistanis feel that claiming rape was an easy way to get a Canadian visa! Not surprisingly, women's groups worldwide and Canada's Prime Minister expressed outrage at this manifestation of the General's "enlightened moderation".

It is not Mukhtaran Mai and Shazia Khalid alone that face abduction, or rape in Pakistan today. A Hindu couple in Karachi, Sano Amra and his wife Champa, returned home recently one evening to find their three daughters aged 21, 19 and 17 missing.

When the couple tried to file an FIR they received threats to their lives from neighbours. The daughters were ultimately found and said to be claiming that they had converted to Islam and were living in a madrassa. When the couple got to see their daughters they found them clad in burqas, quite obviously under strain and weeping with bloodshot eyes. Members of the Hindu Community in Karachi have noted that twenty Hindu girls have been converted to Islam in similar circumstances in the past five years.

Sano Amra is a lonely figure today, still determined to secure justice and the return of his daughters. But in the era of "enlightened moderation" in Pakistan there is scant hope that he or others similarly placed will obtain justice. If there was one individual who really protected "Pakistan's image" abroad as a country where religious freedoms were perhaps respected, it was their star batsman Youssef Youhana who proudly made the sign of the cross to worldwide television cameras whenever he scored a century or half-century.

But, according to reports from Pakistan, Youhana has converted to Islam largely because of peer pressure and now plays under the name of Mohammed Youssef. His parents are said to be distraught. His action coincides with reports of increasing intolerance towards Christians in Pakistan, with Mullahs preaching hatred against Christians who are now being increasingly targeted under the draconian Blasphemy Laws.

Just last month, mobs in Nankana district burned down three churches, a missionary-run school, two hostels and several houses of members of the Christian community. Burning of chapels and attacks on Christians have been a regular feature of life in Pakistan in recent years of "enlightened moderation". Is Gen Musharraf himself responsible for today's violence and bigotry in Pakistan? The answer perhaps lies in the confusion in Pakistan about the role of Islam in national life. While Mohammed Ali Jinnah may have envisaged that his country would be ruled according to secular norms in his August 11, 1947 speech, the question that then arises is why should there be a separate Muslim majority state in the sub-continent, if Islam has no role in national life?

Further, following the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, the ruling military elite believe that "radical Islam" is a useful tool to "bleed India" and seek "strategic depth" in Afghanistan.

Hence continuing support for violent and extremist groups ranging from the Lashkar-e-Taiba and the Sipah-e-Sahiba. It is not Gen Musharraf alone, but the entire military, intelligence establishment which rules Pakistan, that makes any talk of "enlightened moderation" nothing more than a cruel joke.

(The author is a former High Commissioner to Pakistan.)