Re: Secular Pakistan
The people in Swat - many of whom were clothed - well fed - and had assets - heard the Taliban on the Mullah Radio preaching Islam and initially invited the Taliban and supported them - women gave their jewelry - asked their sons to join the Taliban etc.
If you’re arguing that the entirety of Taliban/fundo supporters are bred out of poverty, in-education and despair, then your strategy of tackling the problem might work. However the Swat example does not bear this out. These were people who listened to Mullah Radio and agreed with it. WHY? Because there wasn’t an alternative to Mullah Radio.
I’m not saying that we shouldn’t work for poverty alleviation, education, shelter. All I’m saying is that in addition we need to preach a brand of Islam which does not hand out death penalties for every other crime, which does not prescribe hadd punishments as the only punishments. It is the Islam that I know. Perhaps it is the Islam you know as well.
I know a couple of friends who are working in Swat - and the stories they tell are horrendous. People supporting the Taliban and then living in fear under them. They would take the names of families who would send their daughters to school and warn them of dire consequences.
[http://www.dawn.com/2010/12/06/woman-from-swat-recounts-ordeal-under-taliban.html
E](http://www.dawn.com/2010/12/06/woman-from-swat-recounts-ordeal-under-taliban.html)ven on this forum, you have people who use the internet - so I’m assuming they’re sheltered - educated and fed. And they support a very strict implementation of Sharaih in Pakistan.
Poverty is part of the problem for sure but not the only part.
I think part of the discussion should also be - who do you consider an extremist/fundo. I hate using words like these because they seem very western words to describe our situation. So I’d like to refine my understanding of extremist/fundo. So lets see if we can agree on some basics - I’m not sure - and would love your input:
The Taliban want their version of Shariah implemented in all of Pakistan. True/False, other
An extremist is a person who wants all hadd punishments to be implemented in Pakistan - fornication, adultery, homosexuality, apostasy, blasphemy, interest. True/False, other
A fundamentalist is the same as an extremist, except that an extremist would espouse violence as a means of achieving their goals. True/False, other
A moderate fundamentalist - is someone who does not ascribe hadd punishments for most sins/crimes. e.g. Ghamdi True/False, other
A moderate - someone who would be willing to overlook some parts of Islam in favor of “modernity” in this context which would mean more “freedom” for women and almost complete lack of support for hadd punishments. True/False, other
A liberal/secular extremist person would be someone who wants a complete divorce of state and Islam. True/False, other
I think most people in Pakistan would fall in the moderate fundamentalist / moderate category. I was talking to my mother today and she wasn’t okay with death penalties for various crimes that we are told usually do carry the death penalty in Islam. Of course her, and the 300 odd people I know on facebook are not a representative sample of Pakistan, but I’d like to think that there are many more people like these in the country who have an attitude of live and let live. Who even in the face of traditional interpretation of the Quran & Sunnah are able to say no to hadd punishments.
The comment that the Musharraf silent majority may or may not exist as a majority, but they certainly are silent - is correct. I think there is a silent moderate majority - the aim should be to make an alternative narrative that still lets people call themselves Muslim and also lets them say no to fundamentalism. Because the dominant narrative right now is Quran + Sunnah - our interpretation = TRUE MUSLIM everyone else does not know - is not qualified to know. Making this alternative narrative would ensure that people are not further radicalized. Along with this a culture of discussion - and protest needs to be encouraged by strengthening civil society. I’ve only been to a few protests - but if I was in Lahore when Taseer was killed I would have gone to the small gathering outside the governors house. These were not people who had been brought together by political parties (which allegedly the Qazi supporters were) these were people who I think are the silent majority.
Thank you for the comments though - the discussion is enlightening. I might not have completely understood what you’re proposing - if you think I have not - please do elaborate more. I know your time is valuable and appreciate your input.