Date:02/08/2002 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2002/08/02/stories/2002080204161200.htm

National

Crisis group report questions Musharraf's commitment

By Amit Baruah

NEW DELHI AUG. 1. The International Crisis Group (ICG), a Brussels-based think-tank, believes that Pakistan military's confrontation with its former religious allies is at best a short-term response compelled by circumstances and foreign pressure.

In a report titled "Pakistan: Madrassas, Extremism and the Military'', the think-tank said it was doubtful whether the Musharraf regime had either the "intent or will" to set the Pakistani society on a course that would lead to political pluralism and religious tolerance.``On a key test — reform of madrassas, Pakistani religious schools that breed extremism of many hues — the military Government thus far has acted weakly,'' the report said. ``The Musharraf Government has, however, relied mostly on cosmetic measures to advance its stated goal to crack down on militants and reform madrasas. Since international pressure rather than a desire for change has shifted its stance, the Government remains reluctant to initiate fundamental changes in the very policies it promoted that have spawned militancy.''

Pakistan, it said, was one of only three countries to have recognised the Taliban Government and withdrew its support only after the Taliban were vanquished. Significantly, the report said, the Musharraf Government was not deterred from acting against militants because of the threat of a domestic backlash. "In fact, events after September 11 underscore the lack of popular support for extremist political parties and jehadi groups and the extent of their dependence on the military. "Despite an upper hand and unfettered executive powers," the report said the Pakistani regime had "failed to take decisive action against the militant groups or reform the madrassa system. The military's Kashmir policy is mainly unchanged. Although Indian military pressure and international diplomacy forced the Government to announce a halt in cross-border infiltration, this is a tactic, not a permanent change in Kashmir policy or the military's ties with the jehadis. As the military's domestic legitimacy declines, the Musharraf Government's objective is survival, not creation of a democratic, tolerant culture by eliminating extremism,'' the report said.

It argued that the half-hearted manner in which the Government had apprehended sectarian and jehadi activists explained the lack of a violent response. ``The Government seems to exercise more control and leverage over home-grown militant groups than those run by Arabs or Afghans.

There has been no backlash from banned Kashmiri groups about the curbs on cross-border militancy imposed by the Government. "Cross-border infiltration into Kashmir, which has triggered a dangerous military standoff with India, appears to have considerably reduced — at least for a time — because of international pressure and the danger of war with India. Non-Pakistani groups, whose members have scattered after the Taliban's fall, however, remain a threat,'' the report said.

It claimed that these "foreign groups" did not have the same nexus with the Pakistani military and its policies as the local jehadis. The Government has, therefore, taken on the foreigners more forcefully and with tangible results. "Pakistani religious groups are unwilling to challenge the Government, continue to support the military's nationalistic policies, and remain dependent on its patronage.

Even if they resent Musharraf's pro-U.S. stance, they, unlike the foreign jehadis, are unlikely to take on the Government,'' the report said.

At the root of the madrassa problem in Pakistan lay the politics of civil-military relations. "Successive military governments have legitimised the dominance of the armed forces over civilian society by co-opting relatively marginal groups such as the clergy and attracting the support of major powers.

Gen. Musharraf is similarly co-opting the clergy and attracting the support of important external actors, in particular the U.S., by assisting operations against the remnants of Al- Qaeda. This bodes ill for Pakistan's long-term future.

``The extremist philosophy espoused by some madrassas has thrived in the absence of a legitimate political process. The militant clergy and the Pakistani military share a common hostility towards India and a common perception that Pakistan should be ruled not as a democracy but as an authoritarian State,'' the ICG added.