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| Radicals gaining strength in Pakistan: report | | |
New York, Oct 9
Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf's reluctance to crack down on radical religious schools and curb Islamabad's support for Taliban militants in Afghanistan has strengthened religious fundamentalists in the country, according to a media report.
Time magazine, quoting observers, says Musharraf's "retreats" on contentious issues have only strengthened radicals.
"The universities reflect what you are seeing in the larger political landscape," says Samina Ahmed, South Asia director for the International Crisis Group, a think tank.
"The moderate parties have been deprived of their experienced cadre of potential recruits, but the religious parties haven't." Political parties have been banned from campuses since 1992 following violent clashes which left may students dead and the magazine says that his given the space to fundamentalist religious organisations to swell their ranks which could have an effect on the course Pakistan takes when they start playing a part in politics.
The magazine says that a fundamentalist student's organisation Islami Jamiat-e-Talaba (IJT) dictates not only the behaviour pattern of students but also the course of study, recruitment policies and curriculum in Lahore University.
Musical concerts are banned, and men and women are segregated in the dining halls. Many female students attend class wearing headscarves that cover everything but their eyes," it says. PTI
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