Next On The Block
Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf, an ally of the West, a strongman who although a devoted Muslim himself would like his country to be more democratic than theistic, and a long-time stronghold of orthodox madrassas;a man who skilfully plays both ends against the middle constantly faces the reality of stringent Islamist threats against his rule. He faces criticism from the West who accuse his administration of not doing enough to defeat its internal Muslim fanatics, and along with them the training of new Islamist recruits flooding Afghanistan.Now, among other internal dissents he faces a small but growing contingent of hardline Islamists who decry the relaxation of Islamic morals and insist on the necessity to bring Pakistan to the purity of Islam with the formal installation of shariah law and all that this implies. Pakistan faces dissent from a rebellious mullah, a Taliban starting-force of their own in waiting who has given due warning: "I announce the setting up of a shariah court from today. I hereby declare the start of Islamic law from this mosque".
This promise challenging the authority of Pervez Musharraf's administration comes from cleric Abdul Aziz of Islamabad's Red Mosque, and he has sent students from his madrassa out into the community to warn and punish those who do not strictly observe Islamic law by purportedly accepting Western values and commercial interests. Abdul Aziz has forewarned the government not to storm his mosque filled with women in burkas and male students defiant of the government and prepared to do whatever their leader exhorts them to.
Thus far they have kidnapped a woman accused of operating a brothel, and threatened shop owners who sell music videos and DVDs. They mount regular morality patrols to target these commercial establishments whose business offends their code of morality. "If [storming the mosque] is the government's last option, then our last option can be suicide attacks. We have tens of thousands of people who can shake the government with fidayeen [suicide] attacks" promised Aziz.
There is real fear that the republic of Pakistan with its 160 million people has the potential to fall under the thrall of Talibanization, leaving moderates like General Musharraf a vague memory of what the country used to be. Because of this fear 600 human rights activists marched in Islamabad last week, urging the government to put a stop to the mosque's activities and the harassment and terrorizing tactics of its students against ordinary Pakistanis.
Now Nilofar Bakhtiar, Pakistan's tourism minister has been targeted by the radical cleric who has accused her of a "great sin" under Islam. Ms. Bakhtiar, taking part in a charity parachute jump in France last month to raise funds for victims of the October 2005 earthquake in Pakistan, hugged her elderly French instructor in an excess of gratitude after her jump. "This was 'an illegitimate and forbidden act,' the clerics declared and issued a fatwa against Ms. Bakhtiar, essentially threatening her life.
"Without any doubt, she has committed a great sin", say her accusers, demanding she be fired, given another, unspecified punishment and that her family "force her to ask for forgiveness so that she does not repeat this un-Islamic act." The Red Mosque's clerics and followers are feeling particularly empowered, since the government has not yet acted in any manner to remove them as a threat to the population at large.
Their anti-vice, pro-Shariah activities in this moderate country promise more trouble for the future.
Labels: Religion
posted by Pieface @ Wednesday, April 11, 2007
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