Pak. bid to rein in 'jehadi' schools

By B. Muralidhar Reddy

ISLAMABAD, MARCH 22 Amid growing concern that the religious schools in Pakistan are ending up as `jehad factories', the military government has decided to streamline the education system in the seminaries.

A Cabinet meeting chaired by the military ruler and Chief Executive, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, here on Wednesday night directed the Ministry of Religious Affairs to evolve a `comprehensive syllabus' for adoption by the religious schools.

However, the government has decided to leave it to the discretion of the schools whether or not to accept the new syllabi.

The number of educational institutions run by religious institutions vary between 40,000 and 60,000. There is growing concern about the role being played by some of these in promoting sectarianism and the cult of violence in the name of `jehad'. Majority of those on the rolls of the militant outfits operating from the Pakistani soil and engaged in fighting against the government in Kashmir are believed to be the products of some of these schools. These people played a crucial role in the proxy war between the US and the erstwhile Soviet Union in the Afghan war in the eighties.

Besides evolving a new syllabus, the Government has decided to constitute a Federal Madrisah Education Board to bring the educational system of the seminaries on par with the national education. The basic objective is to prevent the students from getting into the trap of `extremist elements'. The government has also decided to set up three model religious schools.

``We want to absorb the students of Deen Madaris into the mainstream, giving them access to the job market. We do not want to be intrusive and interfering. This programme will thus be optional and voluntary. This will help bring one million students of Madaris to the mainstream of our social and economic life which they deserve. We need to create a harmonious Islamic society that discourages intolerance of other views'', Gen. Musharraf told his Cabinet colleagues.

Attempt to thwart rally

The military government in Pakistan appears determined to thwart the plan of the political parties opposed to it to hold a rally in Lahore.

The rally being held under the banner of Alliance for Restoration of Democracy (ARD) is in support of the demand for immediate announcement of a timetable for holding of elections by the military government. The rally coincides with the Foundation Day of Pakistan.

The manner in which the government has rounded up hundreds of political activists of parties engaged in preparations for the rally and detained some of the top leaders in Lahore has surprised observers.

The chief spokesman of the military, Maj. Gen. Rashid Quereshi, HAS justified the `crackdown' on the plea that the government can not allow `interruption' in the process of re-building of the economy, maintenance of law and order and national reconstruction.

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Section  : International
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