Attack, injured, dead,
destruction, violence are such kind of words which one daily notes as the
headline of a newspaper. The first picture one spots in the morning is that of
blood and demolition. The people are crying on the media for security and
protection, even the basic need but, which is not being delivered. The bomb
blasts leave the bodies in such a devastating condition that they are even
unable to be recognized. The condition is on such a peak that the people are not
even safe in their own homeland. Hence, extremism is proving as a bane of our
society.
Samuel Huntington (Political Scientist) was factual in his view that the element
of intolerance will result in the Clash of Civilizations. There is an increasing
difference in the entire world regarding their ideologies and principles. This
difference leads to the birth of extremism; one of the worst killing agent for
the world especially Pakistan, which will be our main topic of discussion.
What is extremism? This is the first question that comes in our mind, but still
no one has come up with a parameter to define it. Some say it is the peak of
patriotism while others claim it to be terrorism. Some define it to be in favor
of one’s protection of identity (ethnocentrism) while others regard it against
the humanity. It supports the one doing it, while it proves to be a harmful act
for the other. Regarding the definition of this term, it ends up in a state of
confusion.So, as it cannot be boxed up in a specific limit, one can say that
“It is the theory or mindset which is based upon uncompromising policies which
are in favor of one but against the other”
Now, here the question arises that what are the conditions which cause such a
situation?What are the agents which create such a condition that leads people’s
mindset to such an extreme level? These whys and wherefores can be on
individual, national and even international level. If the case study of Pakistan
is directly taken into account, being the topic of our discussion, one can see
that there are numerous reasons for such extremism like deprivation of basic
needs, injustice,non-democratic and unaccountable governments, intolerance,
external hands, psychological grounds, misinterpretation of religion and the
concept of jihadetc. Basically these reasons are in the form of a cycle where
one leads to the other and the others and finally the point which is the
initiating as well as the ending socket. If this cycle is viewed by taking
example of Pakistan and extremism it can be seen as: injustice causing
intolerance, which is ignited by foreign hands resulting into psychological
issues which lead one towards extremism. This extremism then affects the
remaining which face the same cycle and then it gets transferred to others along
with the increase in the intensity. Finally, the whole society is a target to it
and becomes unable to control.
In the contemporary times, extremism is mostly associated with the word
religious extremism. But here the word extremism can have various meanings like
in political, economic and social context. In Pakistan, every type of extremism
is existing and is affecting the country and the nation to its full extent. Even
though Pakistan incepted as an independent state but from the very beginning, it
has been influenced by extremism.
Initially it was attacked by the political extremism when the representatives
acted as politicians and not as leaders. The struggled for power to gain and
fulfill their own personal interests. The National interest was not even in the
count of priority. Their lust for power continued in the name of democracy. This
act led the country towards destabilization and derailed the system of the
country. Politicians exploited the locals as well as the resources of the
Nation. The only cause of this uncertainty is illiteracy that has been
prevailing since inception till current times. Not only Politicians are
responsible for this political extremism, but the military is equally involved.
The Civil-Military relations have always been in the race of competition to gain
power. The switch of the power form democracy to military and vice versa has
created a state of confusion, owing to which it is still indecisive that whether
Pakistan is a democratic or a militarystate. Pakistan has become a football in
the hands of politicians and military; those are neither winning the game nor
are losing it. In addition to this civil-military competition, the religious
scholars are strengthening the instability by taking active part in politics and
exploiting the locals in the name of religion, the best element for
manipulation. The Lawyers Movement in 2008, also known as Penguin Movement is an
example of extremism, which was not in favor of Judiciary, generally, rather
formed two camps namely pro-judiciary and pro-governmental. This motion led to
Judicial Activism which strengthened the Suo Moto power and eventually shifting
the power from Parliament to Judiciary, resulting into an over-independent
institution. Additionally, the recent long march by Imran Khan and
Tahir-ul-Qadri is in the name of their parties like PTI and PAT respectively. If
they are standing for the benefit of Pakistan, then they must and should have
united together for the long march. But both the parties, having same
destination and agenda, are moving separately with regard to their own party,
leaders and agendas.
Moreover, there has existed the Socio-Economic extremism since the birth of
Pakistan. There was a system of Feudalism, which gave birth to the caste and the
class system. People were differentiated on social (caste) and economic (class)
basis. Apart from being human and Muslim, there was a sense of differentiation
as per the stamp of any caste. Strikingly, from being in the same country, there
was rich-poor gap among the people. Both these systems were based upon the
policy of hierarchy and the head was exploiting the sub-ordinate. Not only the
local masses but the resources of the country were also abused. The country,
meanwhile, started facing the crisis of unemployment. Thesecircumstances led to
the entry and dependency of foreign aid. These states of affair have topped to
such a peak that today Pakistan is suffering from energy crisis, unemployment,
foreign debt and many more. Moreover, the international financial institutions (IFIs)
like World Bank and IMF are giving loan to Pakistan so that it can pave a way to
development and stability, but the self-centered politicians are utilizing this
wealth for their own personal use. Owing to this, Pakistan is unable not only to
repay the loan but also catch way for progress. This situation is leading
Pakistan towards the split of economic extremism.
In addition to the afore-mentioned two types of extremism, there is an
additional third category which is actually considered to be the real
connotation of extremism i.e. Religious extremism. When Pakistan was created in
1947, the founder Quaid-e-Azam clearly declared a division and distinction in
religion and politics. He claimed religion to be a private matter of the
individual. Religion was to be kept separate from politics. Later Islam was
injected into politics through objectives resolution, Islamization phenomenon
and other such activities. Various constitutional amendments supported the
divisions among people created based upon religion like the second amendment in
1973 constitution to declare Ahmadis as Non-Muslims. The Mullahs were totally
against the creation of Pakistan, but later when it came into being these
Mullahs pressurized to make laws under their own declared Islam. These types of
investments have resulted into division and intolerance among the nation.
“From the beginning men used God to the unjustifiable.”
In Pakistan, religious extremism can be sub-divided into two as: on country
level between the Afghan and the Pakistan Taliban, and the other on religious
ground between various sects in Muslims especially Shia and Sunni. Starting with
the country level, one should remind the history of it. Once in history, a war
was fought in Afghanistan on behalf of USA against USSR in 1989 known as Afghan
War. In this there was no sense for the involvement of Pakistan, but it has to
be fought on behalf of USA, owing to the reason that USA was giving Pakistan a
handsome amount of foreign aid. This aid was necessary because Pakistan was
dependent on it for its survival since 1947, when Pakistan sided with USA in
Cold war. This war declared USA as victorious but Pakistan was left alone in the
lurch of the aggrieved Talibans, who started fighting against Pakistan. There
started the emergence of Pakistani Taliban who started fighting with the Afghan
talibans, leaving the whole country in the catastrophic condition of bomb blasts
and various attacks. Second is the division on religious basis especially
between the Shias and Sunnis. Even though the religion is same i.e. Islam but
numerous sects have emerged. There is a factor of intolerance among these
factions and there is a continuous fight of killing among them. This point of
difference was actually the clash between Saudi Arabia (Sunni) and Iran (Shia),
but the militants brought it in the boundary of Pakistan. Now the Shias of
Pakistan, especially the Hazara community, are insecure of their identity and
protection. Their ceremonial events are being attacked. Not only the Shias but
the Sunnis are often attacked in return on their occasions. This intolerance has
made them forget their religion and it’s saying that
“Killing of an innocent is the killing of whole humanity”.
Pakistan is known in the Western world as a home for religious extremism. The
major example of it is named as Lal Masjid operation, which was done against the
terrorists residing in Lal Masjid Islamabad. These groups used women and
children for the attacking purpose on video parlors and various night clubs.
They had numerous kinds of weapons with them, being used for distinct purpose.
It was, however, brought to an end in 2007 by an operation. But still there are
many groups residing in different parts of Pakistan where the government is
trying to evacuate this disease like the recent operation Zarb-e-Azab in
Waziristan.
The fourth type of extremism, which is widely experienced in Pakistan, is the
extremism in power usage. A person holding an office or position is awarded
certain powers along with some responsibilities. Whether it’s an educational
institution, a formal government office or an informal private department, all
are granted powers and responsibilities. But in Pakistan, the powers are abused
while the responsibilities are ignored. Powers are granted to help people, but
these individuals misuse the powers for their luxurious life. In fact, the
higher the position the more is the responsibility, but in Pakistan the higher
the office the more comfy life one enjoys. This situation suppresses the local
public, who has to wait in a long queue to get their basic needs. Even if it’s
the matter of case in court, paper re-checking in board office or even a student
of a college has to wait and waste the time to meet its own college department
or principal just because they are busy in their self-created important meeting.
The head is never available for the sub-ordinate, owing to which there is a lot
of time wastage. Every individual faces a gap on its own level, whether it’s a
student, worker, poor or anyone.
In the afore-mentioned paragraphs, a brief scenario has been explained regarding
the situation of extremism in Pakistan. Now, hereby, the after-effects shall be
discussed. The main aftermath of extremism is on an individual, leading to a
society and finally influencing the state. This extremism in Pakistan has
targeted mainly the class system, caste system and the religious sects. There is
a state of intolerance among the individuals, who are not ready to be together.
This intolerance is influencing the above level of government in which laws are
made not for the whole nation but rather for a specific division. The whole
nation is losing the element of unity and nationalism, upon which Pakistan was
created by taking hold of it from Hindus and British.
Therefore, it has been proved above that extremism is totally mortifying the
country and the nation. It is exterminating the fabrication of the society.One
should analyze an authentic methodology to deal with the evil of extremism.The
recent Pakistan Protection Act (PPA) 2014 is an attempt against extremism and
terrorism. In this act, the punishments have been made harsher. Now the state is
not responsible to prove the terrorist but rather the accused has to prove
himself innocent. This act has been just passed by the Government. One can just
hope for its successful implementation. In addition to such actions by the
country, an individual can play its part by being active and responsible. Every
individual should be active in their responsibility even if it is their work,
profession or duty. Moreover, an intellectual movement has started named as
KHUDI. It is run by the youth of nation. It was initiated by Maajid Nawaz. In it
seminars, workshops and various such activities are conducted to make the people
especially youth aware of the situation. It discusses delicate issues and
demands actions from the elected officials. We hope this motion proves positive
for the country. Moreover, Pakistan should adopt a balanced foreign policy
towards each country. It should reduce its dependency on the Western Aid and IMF
and World Bank, rather should utilize its own natural resources and manpower.
According to Benazir Bhutto,
“A people inspired by democracy, human rights and economic opportunity will turn
their back decisively against extremism”
Pakistan, its government, its public, its officials and everyone belonging to it
should understand the conspiracy and propaganda used against them by the West
through New World Order, as they just want to ruin the image of Islam and
Muslims by declaring them extremists and terrorists. In fact, one can observe
that all the extremist and terrorist activities are against the Muslims like in
Palestine, Bosnia, Iraq, Syria, Ukraine, Crimea, Iran and many more.
Pakistan should understand the cultural attack by India as Rahul Gandhi once
said,
“Our Culture is enough to destroy Pakistan, there is no need to wage a war
against it”
Pakistan should understand the Holy Quran which ALLAH bestowed upon them
(Muslims) for their benefit in every right and wrong times. Regarding the
current situation of extremism, Pakistan should just only understand the
following verse of Quran,
"Let there be no compulsion in religion: Truth stands out clear from error;"
(2:256).
Religion should not be compared and contrasted with the state. It’s a private
matter. One should just assure that the state is not against the religion, but
the compulsion of religion in state should be avoided. As one can see the
example of Turkey, which is a Muslim country, there is nothing against Islam but
still it practices secularism for which there is no extremism. This can be
understood by the saying of Mustafa Kamal Ataturk of turkey,
“Religion is a matter of conscience. One is always free to act according to the
will of one’s conscience. We (as a nation) are respectful of religion. It is not
our intention to curtail freedom of worship, but rather to ensure that matters
of religion and those of the state do not become intertwined”
Last but not the least, accepting and fulfilling one’s responsibility is the
best way to control extremism. When everyone will assure its duty in its own
place, security and satisfaction will create a healthy environment for the
progress and prosperity of country. An individual should focus on duty rather
than rights for which everyone will ensure the contentment of other. This will
result into tolerance and unity, which is the biggest asset of a nation.
In a nutshell, one can say that Extremism is the worst evil for a society. It
mislays the production of a society. It reduces the means and sources of
evolution and expansion. In Pakistan, this evil has been proved a huge menace
and termite which is constantly eating the unity and strength of a nation. Being
a responsible citizen and individual, one should fulfill its responsibility to
reduce and eradicate every type of extremism from Pakistan, in order to ensure
its development, improvement, advancement and progress. As the evolution of a
country is the headway of its citizen. Pakistan should respect its independence
and respect the leader who made it possible, the Great leader Quaid-e-Azam
Mohammad Ali Jinnah who declared in his 14th August 1948 speech,
“I have full faith in my people that they will rise to every occasion worthy of
our past Islamic history, glory and traditions.”
Moreover, Mehdi Hassan declared in his sonnet that,
Ye watn tumhara hai,
Tum ho pasban is ke