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from: Pakistan's fight against the Taliban: The crumbling centre | The Economist
The crumbling centre
Pakistans religious mainstream makes common cause with militants
Pakistan's fight against the Taliban
Jan 13th 2011 | from PRINT EDITION
The assassination on January 4th of Salman Taseer by Malik Mumtaz Qadri, a commando in his security detail, contained a chilling message: the Barelvi sect of Islam has become a militant new force in Pakistani politics. Most Pakistanis are Barelvis. They have traditionally disavowed violence, followed the peaceful Sufi traditions of the subcontinent, and paid homage to scores of saints, big and small, at tombs across the country.
Mr Qadri is also a Barelvi. But when he determined to punish Mr Taseer for supposedly committing blasphemythe governor of Punjab province had campaigned against Pakistans blasphemy lawMr Qadri seems to have been influenced by the rise of firebrand Barelvi mullahs calling for all blasphemers (on their definition) to be killed. After Mr Qadris arrest, Barelvis marched in their thousands, along with co-religionists of other sects, parties and persuasions, shouting death to blasphemers. Lawyers showered rose petals on the murderer, and the policemen guarding him have uploaded approving videos of him on YouTube. A full-blown, all-party religious revival has erupted, a disturbing turn for both state and society.
The Talibanwho hail from the hardline Deobandi sect of Islam, close to the Wahhabism espoused by Osama bin Ladenhave stoked the mainstream resurgence. Facing defeat by Pakistans army in the tribal areas of the north-west, the Taliban struck urban targets, including police stations and the armys general headquarters. When the government persuaded Barelvi mullahs to condemn suicide-bombings as unIslamic, the Taliban assassinated them and bombed their mosques and Sufi shrines.
Yet the trauma has made the Barelvi leaders more militant, not less. The anti-blasphemy bandwagon makes common cause with the Taliban. Other groups have sensed an opportunity for an Islamic political revival, including non-Taliban Deobandi and Wahhabi groups. Two such groupings play a critical role in Pakistani politics.
The Jamiat i Ulema e Islam (JUI), a Deobandi outfit, is led by a pragmatist, Maulana Fazal ur Rehman. The JUI contests elections in the tribal areas, and is a coalition partner of the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party. But Mr Rehman must heed hardliners inclined to abandon parliamentary politics and switch loyalties to the Taliban. So the JUI is against the war on terror because it is an American war. It has also condemned Mr Taseer.
The other grouping represents Lashkar-e-Taiba, notorious anti-India jihadists. The organisation is banned, but charities front for it. Both groupings hate America, retain close links with the ISI, Pakistans powerful military intelligence agency, and detect Western plots behind Mr Taseers campaign to amend the blasphemy laws.
Anti-American sentiment, in turn, provides the excuse for the government and army not to do more against the havens in North Waziristan of the Taliban, al-Qaeda and Taliban associates in the Haqqani network. The army says that, apart from being stretched by having to hold former Taliban areas and to defend its border with India, it cannot go into Waziristan without full public backing. This week Americas vice-president, Joe Biden, was in the capital, Islamabad, urging action. Pointing to a rising tide of anti-American passion, the government and army appear to have shrugged their shoulders.
from PRINT EDITION | Asia
The crumbling centre
Pakistans religious mainstream makes common cause with militants
Pakistan's fight against the Taliban
Jan 13th 2011 | from PRINT EDITION
The assassination on January 4th of Salman Taseer by Malik Mumtaz Qadri, a commando in his security detail, contained a chilling message: the Barelvi sect of Islam has become a militant new force in Pakistani politics. Most Pakistanis are Barelvis. They have traditionally disavowed violence, followed the peaceful Sufi traditions of the subcontinent, and paid homage to scores of saints, big and small, at tombs across the country.
Mr Qadri is also a Barelvi. But when he determined to punish Mr Taseer for supposedly committing blasphemythe governor of Punjab province had campaigned against Pakistans blasphemy lawMr Qadri seems to have been influenced by the rise of firebrand Barelvi mullahs calling for all blasphemers (on their definition) to be killed. After Mr Qadris arrest, Barelvis marched in their thousands, along with co-religionists of other sects, parties and persuasions, shouting death to blasphemers. Lawyers showered rose petals on the murderer, and the policemen guarding him have uploaded approving videos of him on YouTube. A full-blown, all-party religious revival has erupted, a disturbing turn for both state and society.
The Talibanwho hail from the hardline Deobandi sect of Islam, close to the Wahhabism espoused by Osama bin Ladenhave stoked the mainstream resurgence. Facing defeat by Pakistans army in the tribal areas of the north-west, the Taliban struck urban targets, including police stations and the armys general headquarters. When the government persuaded Barelvi mullahs to condemn suicide-bombings as unIslamic, the Taliban assassinated them and bombed their mosques and Sufi shrines.
Yet the trauma has made the Barelvi leaders more militant, not less. The anti-blasphemy bandwagon makes common cause with the Taliban. Other groups have sensed an opportunity for an Islamic political revival, including non-Taliban Deobandi and Wahhabi groups. Two such groupings play a critical role in Pakistani politics.
The Jamiat i Ulema e Islam (JUI), a Deobandi outfit, is led by a pragmatist, Maulana Fazal ur Rehman. The JUI contests elections in the tribal areas, and is a coalition partner of the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party. But Mr Rehman must heed hardliners inclined to abandon parliamentary politics and switch loyalties to the Taliban. So the JUI is against the war on terror because it is an American war. It has also condemned Mr Taseer.
The other grouping represents Lashkar-e-Taiba, notorious anti-India jihadists. The organisation is banned, but charities front for it. Both groupings hate America, retain close links with the ISI, Pakistans powerful military intelligence agency, and detect Western plots behind Mr Taseers campaign to amend the blasphemy laws.
Anti-American sentiment, in turn, provides the excuse for the government and army not to do more against the havens in North Waziristan of the Taliban, al-Qaeda and Taliban associates in the Haqqani network. The army says that, apart from being stretched by having to hold former Taliban areas and to defend its border with India, it cannot go into Waziristan without full public backing. This week Americas vice-president, Joe Biden, was in the capital, Islamabad, urging action. Pointing to a rising tide of anti-American passion, the government and army appear to have shrugged their shoulders.
from PRINT EDITION | Asia
