Is this a knee jerk reaction to avoid any blame? I think so. These people will be detained for months & then let go once the pressure goes down. It is no solution to the problem, it is like creating more problems day in day out.
Re: 200 detained
a-jee, did you catch a prof. haqani's interview on the NPR about the whole blaming the madrassa system unfairly? he kept constantly bringing it up that most madrassas are just educational institutions with no connection whatsoever with violence. it was the government which has always armed and trained the so called jihadis to fight its battles, and have used a few select madrassas for this purpose.
Re: 200 detained
queero, I did and I mostly agree with him. He is very true that the level of hatred taught in the madrassas is probably no different than what is being taught in the secular schools. Even though I don't consider the 'curricula' in secular schools promoting hatred of the west (maybe hatred of India) but the general environment, the view of the teachers are none but that of resentment towards the west. Any discussion in a secular classroom about the west is likely to highlight the injustices of the west and totally ignore the other values like democracy, freedom of religion and speech etc. Though madrassas do promote a culture of intolerance towards other sects and other religions rather than being the hallmark of Islamic tolerance. Whereas the secular school tend to shy away from such notions because of the diversity of the students attending.
Also, I agree with his conclusion that Pakistan's military government is onboard in rooting out Al Qaida & any 'foreign' militants but when it comes to the home grown crowd, especially those that might come in handy later in Kashmir they haven't done jack. Sooner or later they will have to make a decision on 'em.
Though, where he came short was to recognize the contribution of American agencies that in some cases turned a blind eye towards such 'jihadis' and in other cases supported them logistically and morally throughout the eighties. He made the Pakistani government totally responsible.
Re: 200 detained
Just another day in paradise......
knee jerk reaction is the right phrase. Mush & Co in their narrow vision of stage managing Pak political affairs are in bed with the right (MMA, Jihadis etc etc) and will always try to diffuse pressure points rather than deal with them ona strategic policy level. This is out of compulsion for their longterm insecurity with regards to India, Afghanistan and now uncle sam. If Iraq has proved anything it is that a superpower cannot be defeated militarily, but they sure can bled slowly via insurgencies and gurrilla warfare. So we will hv to live with this once in a while stage managed dramas starring General Musg in the lead role and MMA wallas as the dummy villians.
Re: 200 detained
WTF is this?
Who has been detained then and on what grounds?
Re: 200 detained
On grounds of being against Musharraf most likely. Looks more and more like a show.