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| Hardliners versus moderates in Pak Army | | Fundamentalists rank next only to military establishment | |
B L KAK
NEW DELHI, NOV 26
Pakistan military is confronted with a serious challenge from trhe home-made Islamic fundamentalism. The Pakistani Army, of course, holds the key to power. But fundamentalists have become so powerful that they are now ranked next only to the Army in muscle power.
These and other details of the enhanced menace of fundamentalism and sectarianism are contained in a report purported to have been prepared by Pakistan-watchers for the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW).
According to the report, if the meeting of religous parties and groups recently convened by Pakistan's Interior Ministry was to seek their cooperation to create a tolerant society, the tone and tenor of belligerent religious leaders' statements and utterances left none in doubt about their unwillingness to oblige the government in Islamabad.
And why should they go about as "moderates" when the Pakistan Army, too, is known to have a large number of "hardliners"? The report, in fact,has made a pointed reference to the "tussle" going on between the "hardliners" and "moderates" among the military generals themselves on key issues of concern to Pakistan, such as Kashmir, US-backed war on terrorism and Afghanistan.
If the report were to be believed, Pakistan's Interior Minister repeatedly appealed to the religious leaders at the meting to shed their militant image and respect the law of the land. But immediately after the conclusion of the meeting, fundamentalists reaffirmed their commitment o the motto of their respective outfits: "Catch them young".
The report contains several instances to prove that the damage caused by religious organisations in Pakistan is at a more fundamentalist level. And the poison of communal hatred and of anti-India feelings, the report points out, is injected into children through the vast network of religous schools across Pakistan.
The report says that while the products of seminaries have already infiltrated the Pak Army, the "tussle" between "hardliners" and "moderates" in the armed forces has of late begun to engage the atention of various media, political and official circles. Considerin g the fact that Pakistan continues to be a fertile ground for extremist religious groups and their militant wings, the possibility of further hardening of attitudes of fundamentalists cannot be ruled out.
The Pak fundamentalist groups, pampered over the past one and a half decades for their participation in the 'proxy' war in Kashmir, seem to be comin g into their own. The report says: "Helped by the "rogue" elements in the Army establishment, they are now setting the agenda for the new phase of militancy and terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir as well as within Pakistan. They are convinced that jihad is the only way to 'liberate' Kashmir, and no wonder they have contemptuously dismissed the peace moves by the governments of India and Pakistan". |
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