Govt should raid all madrassas in every city; operation will not succeed until these madrassa hideouts are wiped out.
GUJRAT: About half a dozen army operations have been conducted in tribal areas with billions of rupees being spent. No doubt they were successful, but surely it was not a 100 per cent successful venture.
We are all aware of the fact that the environment of militancy is a gift of the Zia regime. The seeds of militancy which were sown in that era are still being harvested in the whole of Pakistan.
During the Afghan-Russian war, madrassas played an extremely vital role by providing militants the ground to breed. Madrassas were transformed from being educational institutes to militant hideouts. They provided the militants an area to store weapons and explosives.
The government should raid all madrassas in every city; the operation will not succeed until these madrassa hideouts are wiped out. They act as a breeding ground for militants and will keep producing more if they are not stopped!
Another point is that the government should formulate a syllabus for madrassas with the help of religious scholars, which should consist of non-sectarian literature. If such reforms are introduced and implemented, we will be saved from further militancy and sectarian violence, which has caused widespread destruction across the world.
Ali Raza Khatana
Published in The Express Tribune, July 17th, 2014.
Like Opinion & Editorial on Facebook, follow @ETOpEd on Twitter to receive all updates on all our daily pieces.
