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Ending Terrorism in Pakistan - page 2
Teaching tolerance and embracing pluralism
Teaching tolerance of all sects and religions is a must for a peaceful, multicultural,and multi-religious society. Embracing pluralism should be the desired goal and accomplished through education. All madrassahs that brainwash impressionable minds with dangerous ideas should be put under government supervision. Unfortunately, most Pakistanis read the Holy Quran but don’t understand it because it is in Arabic, a language that they don’t know. They should read it in Arabic with translation in a language that they understand. That way they will no longer be swayed by misinterpretations of their holy book by fanatics. If they read the Quran with an understanding of its meanings, they will learn tolerance and respect for other religions. They will come across many verses that the narrow-minded, self-righteous people, who want to preach hate of other religions, never share with them:
- “Those who believe [that is, Muslims], the Jews, the Christians, and the Sabeans – whosoever believe in God and the Last Day and do good deeds, they shall have their reward from their Lord, shall have nothing to fear, nor shall they grieve” (2:62).
- “We bestowed from on high the Torah, in which there is guidance and light. . . . If any fail to judge by what Allah has revealed, they are unbelievers” (5:44).
- “And do not argue with the followers of earlier revelation otherwise than in a most kindly manner” (29:46).
- “For each one of you [several communities] We have appointed a Law and a Way of Life. If God had so willed, He would have made all of you one community, but He has not done so that He may test you in what He has given you; so compete in goodness. To God shall you all return and He will tell you [the truth] about what you have been disputing” (5:48).
- “O mankind! We created you from a single [pair] of a male and a female, and made you into nations and tribes, that you may know each other [not hate and kill each other]. Verily the most honored of you in the sight of Allah is the most Righteous of you. And Allah has full knowledge and is well acquainted” (49:13).
- There is no compulsion in religion [no forced conversions].
[The words in square brackets inside the above quotations are added for clarity.]
All of the above-noted and similar verses from the Quran call for mutual respect and understanding among various religions. It was this very spirit that infused Pakistan’s founder Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s vision. His famous words and the Quranic verses cited above should be our guiding principles – words to live by. Jinnah’s following words are well-known, but we have strayed far away from his vision of Pakistan with tragic consequences:
“You are free; you are free to go to your temples, you are free to go to your mosques or to any other place of worship in this State of Pakistan. You may belong to any religion or caste or creed -- that has nothing to do with the business of the State. As you know, history shows that in England conditions, some time ago, were much worse than those prevailing in India today. The Roman Catholics and the Protestants persecuted each other. Even now there are some States in existence where there are discriminations made and bars imposed against a particular class. Thank God, we are not starting in those days. We are starting in the days where there is no discrimination, no distinction between one community and another, no discrimination between one caste or creed and another. We are starting with this fundamental principle: that we are all citizens, and equal citizens, of one State. . . . Now I think we should keep that in front of us as our ideal, and you will find that in course of time Hindus would cease to be Hindus, and Muslims would cease to be Muslims, not in the religious sense, because that is the personal faith of each individual, but in the political sense as citizens of the State.”
http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00islamlinks/txt_jinnah_assembly_1947.html
Pakistan’s tragedy is that the preachers of hate have hijacked Islam. Not only are they preaching intolerance of other religions, but also fierce hatred of other sects within Islam. In addition to horrible killings of Christians, the hate-mongers routinely kill Muslims of minority sects, such as Shias. Ahmedis, who would like to be considered Muslims, are denied their request and targeted with persecution. All of these are examples of terrorism that is tearing apart the country’s social fabric. Pakistan’s Blasphemy Law has been abused in many instances to inflict cruel punishment on people who might have been totally innocent. This law incites the persecution of minorities. Its repeal should be given serious consideration to free the government of Pakistan of the taint of state-sponsored terrorism.
Increase funding for education
To end terrorism, the immediately implementable and enduring remedy is increasing budget allocation to education. At present it is at shamefully low of just about 2% of GDP. Pakistan ranks at 113th position among 120 countries that were polled in a study and has the second largest out-of-school population (5.1 million children) after Nigeria. This situation is an international embarrassment. Pakistan’s literacy rate of 56% is lower than that of India (71%) and Bangladesh (61%). Why does Pakistan fare so badly? Many different reasons are given by analysts. One point of view is that there is no lack of resources. There is a lack of will on the part of the political leadership. Instead of funding education, Pakistan spends an extremely high percentage of its national wealth on enriching the world’s weapons manufacturers and starves its own people’s needs. Because the country’s political leaders are mostly from the elite, wealthy class, the status quo does not hurt them, so they think, and they are not anxious to make a change. Their children can attend elite private schools or go abroad for studies. The appallingly low quality of education in the neglected public schools gets no government attention. Other countries of comparative resources and socio-economic situations, such as Cuba, Vietnam, even Somalia, solved the problem of illiteracy within 20 to 25 years of their independence. Collecting income tax from 98% of Pakistan’s population (only 2% pay taxes) and channeling a significant part of it to education can work miracles in ending terrorism via hope for the future and reducing despair – the breeding ground of terrorism.Once again, we need to heed the words of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, who said something on September 26th, 1947, that is still relevant today, perhaps even more relevant today: “Education is a matter of life and death for Pakistan. The world is progressing so rapidly that without requisite advance in education, not only shall we be left behind others but may be wiped out altogether.”
To sum up, first we have to take away all forms of weapons from the terrorists so that the harm that they inflict is vastly mitigated. This goal can be accomplished by fixing a firm deadline by which everyone living in Pakistan should surrender their weapons. Strict punishments should follow in all cases that violate this law. There is a huge difference between attacking with a knife and attacking with high-grade, extremely lethal weapons. After arms are no longer in the hands of the society’s dangerous elements, the slow but necessary process of education can begin. These are some of the steps that must be taken to end the deeply troubling and tragic scourge of terrorism in Pakistan.
Abdul Jabbar, Ph.D.
Emeritus Professor of English and Interdisciplinary Studies
City College of San Francisco, California 94112, USA
E-mail: ajabbar@ccsf.edu
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