One hand clapping

We welcome the news that the government has shut down 254 registered and unregistered madrassas. These include those that are considered ‘suspect’. This suggests that the government is moving forward in countering terrorism. The figures show Sindh has seen 167 closures as well as 72 unregistered madrassas, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa 13 — and just two in Punjab, zero in Balochistan. The statistics were revealed to the National Assembly on February 24 and they say more about what is not being achieved than what is.

Other meaningless numbers in the context of the National Action Plan (NAP) relate to hate speech and publications. Thus we learn that 2,471 cases have been registered, 2,345 people arrested and 73 shops selling hate and sectarian material closed down. A startling 10,177 people have been arrested for the misuse of loudspeakers and 9,945 cases registered against them. Fine figures indeed, but there is a missing number. The number of successful prosecutions of any of those detained under NAP. We would be altogether more sanguine were there to be evidence that this is anything other than a tick-the-box exercise.



Of even greater concern is the figure for action against madrassas and seminaries in Punjab. Our credulity is considerably stretched to learn that just two have been closed. It is no secret that Punjab is home to the largest concentration of extremist organisations, banned groups and madrassas and seminaries of doubtful aspect and funding. A suspicious mind might be drawn to the conclusion that Punjab is seemingly within a cordon sanitaire because the ruling dispensation has a large slice of its vote bank therein. A lack of action cannot be linked to a lack of awareness as to exactly what is where — 100 per cent of seminaries have now been mapped in Islamabad and Punjab. If the government wishes to convince the populace that the fight against terrorism and extremism is being conducted equitably across the country, then it needs to deliver something more than the sound of one hand clapping.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 26^th,  2016.

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