Extremism on campus

Participants in educational institutions should be involved in the process of true and open learning.

The issue of militancy and all that it involves is obviously a pressing one given the threat it poses to national security and everyday life in the country. But a far bigger threat may lie in the more insidious extremism that flows across the country and has entered all walks of life, including university campuses where the future of thousands of young people is shaped as they prepare to take their place in society. A poster campaign at the Punjab University indicates the extent to which dangerous ideas continue to be perpetuated on campuses. The posters advertise a competition for poems eulogising the late Osama bin Laden and his life. There is no mention on the hand-bills as to who is behind the mysterious competition. But it is suspected that it has been organised by a student group known for its conservatives leanings. The group is known to include many members who support at least ideologically, al Qaeda and the Taliban. Even the official position on this is ambiguous. Though the group has denied being behind the poetry writing contest and says it does not stage activities in secret, it is thought to have at least supported the idea. It is also strange that the posters have apparently been allowed to remain in place by the university administration.

While only 12 per cent of Pakistanis supported Osama, according to a survey by a Washington-based think tank, the fact also is that most opposed the US action that lead to his death. What is even more significant is that the group on the campus appears able, through various tactics, to win over the minds and hearts of students and thus influence wider thinking in the country. It has, over the years, mastered many means to achieve this. These range from open opposition to any activities it deems immoral, to the luring over of vulnerable students to its camp. There needs to be a far greater effort to tame the influence of the group and, by doing so, work towards the elimination of the extremism that runs through the arteries of our nation, especially its educational institutions where, if anything, participants should be involved in the process of true and open learning.



Published in The Express Tribune, July 3^rd, 2011.