Tackling Extremism in Pakistan

The turbulent and tumultuous history of the Indian subcontinent has given it unique characteristics. From the numerous invasions from the North, the religious movements, conflicts between races and religions, the colonization by the British, the uprising against the British in 1857, and the freedom movement of 1947 to India-Pakistan wars, the Kashmir issue, the Soviet Afghan war, and the recent US/NATO Afghan war, all have left their marks and have shaped the society in a way where the extremist behaviour is dominant. Pakistan, being financially and militarily weaker than the bigger India, is more prone to extremism. Lets look at some of the elements that contribute to the promotion of extremism in Pakistani society and then the strategy to contain it. Although extremism starts right from the cradle, lets start with the educational institutions.

Syllabus of Government Schools and Colleges

The educational syllabus in the government sector schools and colleges of Pakistan does not promote thinking, analysis, brain-storming and research. Memorizing and cramming remain the main mode of learning. Apart from a syllabus that curbs the creativity and discourages unbiased analysis, the students are beaten into submission through physical punishments. Physical punishments in government schools are so rampant (at least they were in 1990s) that they look almost legal. It is lamentable that such illegal practices are routine in the institutions where the future generations of Pakistan are educated and trained. Some physical punishments were specifically designed to hurt the self-esteem of students. This educational milieu creates a mind-set which is susceptible to develop the extremist tendencies. Social workers, philanthropists, journalists and educationists regularly evoke this issue on different media platforms from time to time but nothing concrete is done. In fact nobody has seriously analysed as to why this is happening. Is it financially beneficial?

Extremists For Sale

As long as there is a demand for religious extremists in local and foreign markets, "the factories" would keep on producing them. Non-state actors are in vogue and they make a good job of proxy war of terror against civilian targets. But amateur civilian fighters mostly end up as "cannon fodder" when confronted with professional armies. Armed with AK-47 assault rifles, or rocket launchers or a Rocket-Propelled Grenade (RPG) at best, they are expected to confront data-linked jet fighters, night-vision equipped gunship helicopters and armed unmanned air vehicles dropping satellite-guided bombs and firing laser-guided missiles. Net-centric or data-linked warfare is very effective in fighting the insurgent groups, something that was not available to Soviet forces during the Afghan War of 1979-88.

A professionally-trained standing army, adequately equipped for the job, would fare much better than amateur civilian fighters. Given the ambiguity of the term “civilian combatant”, the civilian fighters may not benefit from the Geneva Conventions as do the professional soldiers in case of capture. They may be denied the status of the Prisoner of War (PoW) and treated as rebels having no rights at all.

Had it not been for the problem of faith, a standing army could be recruited from foreign nationals. France has a whole army branch of foreign nationals called Foreign Legion and it can be a role model for countries that want to hire foreign soldiers. Before President Charles De Gaulle, Foreign Legion was a totally separate army. It was Foreign Legion who fought the wars in Algeria and Vietnam (1950s French Vietnam War).

The British Colonial Policy

If the religious extremism is defined as an act of violation of the law of state on a religious pretext, then we can see that this problem was present in the British colonial period in all its glory. How British government tackled this issue is an interesting research. Right from start, the British East India Company classified the local population into martial and non-martial races for recruitment as soldiers in the Army. While they judged Ghorkas, Sikhs and Pathans (among others) fit for military service, they viewed people of Chitral [0] and Kashmir as not fit for army [1]. During the Hunza campaign (1891), senior officers of the Kashmir Army served under junior officers of the British Army [1].

The time to determine the ruling class came in 1857. All the absolutely trusted families and tribes (or regions) were given favorable positions. Certain tribes from Kohat and Balochistan helped the British in defeating the 1857 uprising whose center was at Delhi [2]. These tribes certainly entered into good books of the British. The difficult Peshawar-Kohat road, which was built by the British in 1850s as part of the forward policy towards securing border passes, is also a testimony to the British goodwill for the Kohat tribes.

The British colonial administration did not rely on the contemporary events alone. They studied the history of the Indian subcontinent in extreme detail (translating ancient scripts etc) and drew their conclusions about the characteristics of the different races and tribes. For example, how the frontier tribes acted during the invasion of Nadir Shah Afshar (1739) and during the Jihad of Syed Ahmed Barelvi against Sikhs (1820s). Syed Ahmed along with his followers was evicted from the Yousufzai territory after an issue of the locals not marrying their daughters to the his followers [3]. He took refuge in Balakot (Hazara) but was killed by Sikh Army there in 1831 and a large number of his remaining followers were slain by Yousafzais [3,4]. Hoti tribe of Mardan [3,5] and the Sirdars (local chiefs) of Peshawar and Kohat (the Barakzai brothers) also opposed the Jihad movement. Later on, Dost Muhammad Khan (ruler of Afghanistan, one of Barakzai brothers) did not help the Indian insurgents in the 1857 uprising, securing an enduring friendship with the British.

Based on the history of India as mentioned above and experiences gained in wars and expeditions in India and in the 1857 uprising, the British also classified people and tribes who were fit for the intelligence field work. This is evident from the recruitment into the Army Scouts. The experience of 1863-64 Umbeyla campaign (against the Mujahideen of Sitana) showed them that the Yousufzai inhabitants of Rustam (Mardan) and Swabi region made good spies [inferred from 4]. Topi served as the camp of the British Army Scouts [4, page 416] during the Umbeyla (or Ambeyla) campaign. While the recruitment policy served the British well, times have changed since the colonial era. We definitely do not have to limit ourselves to the British policy of selected families and selected regions.

Great Game of the Frontier

The rise of religious movements like the one of Syed Ahmed Barelvi, Haji Sahib Turangzai, Akhond of Swat, Syeds of Kaghan (Hazara of KPK) and many others was in fact beneficial to the Sikh or British rulers in the frontier region. The rise of religious leaders forced the local sirdars and tribal chiefs to side with the Sikh and British rulers for the sake of their own survival. If the British had really wanted to finish off the Mujahideen (called as Hindustani fanatics by the British) bases in the hills of frontier region, they would have done so but they did not(*). They kept that dangling sword on the heads of tribal chiefs and sirdars who remained on the British side till the very end. This recipe is valid even today.

(*) The rulers of Afghanistan in those times like Dost Muhammad Khan and Abdur Rehman Khan were allied to the British to such an extent that their foreign policy was dictated by the British. What is not widely known is that not only the Durand Line but also the border between Russia and Afghanistan was decided by the British. Russia and Great Britain had marked their respective spheres of influence. For fight against the British, the frontier tribes looked towards Afghanistan for support but as mentioned above, Afghanistan was already in an agreement of friendship with the British. British gained the friendship of Afghanistan by supporting its claim to the city of Herat against Iran. Iran could not afford to lose British support because it was fighting another war with Russia in the Southern Caucasus (Azerbaijan region). 

Settlement of the Tribal Areas

The combination of religious movements and Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR) formed an effective strategy of control over the frontier tribes in the British colonial era. Unless alternative means of control are devised, the situation is very unlikely to change, that's why the British-devised FCR is still enforced despite numerous voices against it. It is a law of medieval ages where collective punishment (to the whole tribe) is given for the crime of an individual if somehow the criminal can't be found.

An obvious solution to the problem of state control in tribal areas is to upgrade the status of all agencies and frontier regions as settled areas with the application of Pakistan's law and establishment of police, paramilitary and army posts. This way the state would get the means of control that would prove better than dependence on FCR and the loyalty of tribal chiefs. Both FCs (Frontier Corps and Frontier Constabulary) would then be merged and their sole job would be the security of the border with Afghanistan. This plan would not be feasible if the military establishment of Pakistan considers the tribal areas as a buffer zone between Afghanistan and settled areas of Pakistan. In the past, Afghanistan itself was a buffer zone between Russia and British India (perhaps both did not want border with each other).

Checking Extremism

Putting an end to the religious extremism is next to impossible due to lack of will on the part of leaders of the third world. They need religious extremists to control and punish their local secular rivals. To control and punish the local religious extremist rivals, they collaborate with foreign powers of a different religion. Lets turn some pages of history to get some enlightenment.

Around 1823-24, Habib-Ullah Khan (HUK), a nephew of Dost Muhammad Khan (Amir of Afghanistan), had raised in rebellion. Dost Muhammad Khan exploited religious sentiments of the masses against his rebel nephew. He granted lands to clergymen (or mullahs) in the areas controlled by his nephew [6]. Then he sent two of the clergymen to his camp as negotiators for peace. These started preaching to his men that they are not on the right path. One clergyman claimed to have seen the Prophet (PBUH) in his dream and that he wants you to join the right camp. Irritated, the men of HUK executed the clergyman. Upon this, Dost declared that men of HUK are saint-killers, that HUK is a drinker etc. At the same time, Dost himself adopted an ascetic and religious way of life. He sent his wife to famous holy shrines to get the pirs (custodians of holy shrines) on their side. Apparently she was visiting shrines because she had no offspring [6].

In 1829-1830, Afghanistan's Amir Dost Muhammad Khan's brother, Sultan Muhammad Khan lost Peshawar to Syed Ahmed Barelvi (the leader of Jihad against Sikhs). They knew the power of religion and thought it impossible to defeat him using their own people. They turned to an outside power, the Ranjit Singh of Punjab. Sikh Army broke the power of Mujahideen through exterminative expeditions [3].

Lessons From The European History

If leaders have the will, then its possible to envisage and execute a bold scheme. In the medieval times, Templar Knights was a militarily and financially strong religious military order which was originally created to provide protection to the pilgrims on their way to Palestine. Grand Master of Templar Knights was a French. When the Palestine was taken over by Salah-Uddin (Saladin) in 1192 A.D., there was no more 'raison-d'etre' for Templars. The King of France, Philippe, decided to strike on Templars and finished them in France.

Among other religious military orders of that time was Hospitaler Knights (Knights of St John), who like Templars had participated in the Crusades of Palestine. How the European kings dealt with Hospitaler Knights seems obvious, they were given an island in the Mediterranean (Malta) as their own territory. The German religious military order, called Teutonic Knights also ceased their military activities around 14^th century after having subdued the pagan tribes of the Baltic (Northern Crusades). The Spanish religious military orders (like the Knights of Santiago) were brought under the control of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain after the reconquesta was over in 1492 A.D.

Extremism in Modernization

Extremism is not just limited to religion. It can be very well present in the emancipation and modernization campaigns. It was this kind of extremism that caused the downfall of the Amir of Afghanistan, Aman Ullah Khan (1920s). He wanted to modernise his country and in doing so, made himself vulnerable to the critism of the religious authorities. He sent Afghan women to Europe for studies in 1920s on government scholarships. Local officers tried to stop the vehicle in which women were leaving but they were late by a small margin [7]. His pace of progress was too much for the Afghans who were forced to support Nadir Khan as the King of Afghanistan and thus Aman Ullah Khan was dethroned. The political opponents of Aman Ullah Khan used the prophecies of Naimat-Ullah Shah Wali as it appealed to the religious minds of the natives [7]. These prophecies resurge whenever people need to be motivated for an uprising.

Another example would be the radical modernization of Turkey by Mustafa Kamal Pasha in almost the same period as Aman Ullah Khan but Turkey had been through a lot of turmoil in the First World War and the Mustafa Kamal had already established himself as savior of the nation and therefore his modernization met with success. We can also cite Ranjit Singh, the Maharaja of Punjab. He wanted to modernize his army but sometimes had to give way to the deep-rooted traditions. He wanted his Sikh soldiers to do away with their turbans but could not get them to do it and had to cancel this scheme [6]. A moderate modernization program tailor-made for the local conditions is the only way forward.

[0] The Making of a Frontier by Colonel Algernon Durand, 1899.

[1] Where Three Empires Meet by E.F.Knight, 1895.

[2] History of The Siege of Delhi by An Officer Who Served There, 1861.

[3] From The Black Mountain to Waziristan, by Colonel H.C. Wylly, 1912.

[4] Life of Field-Marshal Sir Neville Chamberlain by G.W.Forrest, 1909.

[5] http://www.khyber.org/people/a/Syed_Muhammad_Hubaan.shtml

[6] Soldier and Traveler: Memomirs of Colonel Alexander Gardener, 1898.

[7] Zawal-e-Ghazi Aman Ullah Khan, Aziz Hindi, 1934 (Book in Urdu).