Pakistan: 'Bastion of freedom'

Laughable or lamentable: a perceptive account of the "laissez faire" in "Brave New World" of Pakistan.

Understanding the jihadi mindset

Dr Tariq Rahman reviews Sohail Abbas's book ‘Probing the Jihadi Mindset’ (2007). As many authors has pointed out, these are educated urban youths rather than illiterate rural masses who are more susceptible to the appeals of jihadism. Feeling detached from their physical surroundings, they seek refuge in meta-physical connections. It is pretty obvious from the dominance of Pathans, Punjabis and Mohajirs - and virtual absence of Seraikis, Baloch and Sindhis in the rank and file of jihadis. Some interesting excerpts from the article:


The jihadis were not completely uneducated. Whereas the illiterate population of Pakistan is 45.19 per cent, among the jihadis 44.3 per cent were illiterate. In the Haripur sample, however, only 23.2 per cent were illiterate.

Even more interesting is the fact that, contrary to common perception, most jihadis had not been educated in madressahs. While 35.5 per cent did attend madressahs they stayed there mostly less than six months (indeed merely 14 per cent stayed beyond that period). In the Haripur sample, 54.5 per cent had received no religious education while 45.5 per cent had — but again, even those who did receive religious education received very little of it. In short, as Dr Sohail Abbas concludes: ‘They were recruited largely from the mainstream of the Pakistan population. Their literacy level is above the average of the general population’.

This, indeed, is what reports on 9/11 tell us. Those who join radical Islamic groups are predominantly educated in technology and science. They do not necessarily belong to madressahs though, considering that the proportion of these religious seminaries to state educational institutions is so small, there is a proportionately large number of madressah students in radical Islamic circles in Pakistan.

According to the survey, 48.5 per cent of jihadis said that their families were more religious than those around them. However, they were not motivated for jihad by the family. In most cases (59.6 per cent in Haripur and 39.7 in Peshawar), they were motivated by religious leaders.

The peer group also had a strong influence and, of course, there was self-motivation. Indeed, not surprisingly, the jihadis saw themselves as the most religious member of the family. Some tried to change the family’s religious orientation stopping others from going to the tombs of saints because they believed it was forbidden.

Another interesting aspect of the jihadis’ attitude towards their families is that they did not bother about hurting or worrying their families. Nor, in the case of married men, did they think as to who would look after them. In short, ideology was so strong in their minds so as to break family bonds which are otherwise powerful in Pakistan.

These people also appeared to be less sociable than other Pakistanis. About 49 per cent reported limited social contacts. Maybe, in the absence of places for socialisation, the mosque filled in that gap in their lives. In any case, according to the survey, they were more emotionally unstable (29 per cent) than ordinary men (only nine per cent). Villagers, it appears, are more stable than the inhabitants of urban slums possibly because the villages are still rooted in a strong kinship network and tradition. In the city one is living in a void and feels rootless.

Women in Black

Here is one of the best articles I have come across in the wake of viglantism of Hafsa femme fetalls in the capital of "land of pure" - right under the nose of "His Enlightenend Moderation". The current vigiliantism on part of Beard & Burka brigade is just one of the symptoms of contradictions that run deep into the very foundation of Pakistan.


... while the Islamists have got their martyrs and are always ready to commit more cadres to die in the cause, the liberals work on Russell’s formula: “I would never die for my beliefs because I might be wrong”.

Neither would I. But this formula works in civilised environments. In a place where some are prepared to die for an absolutism, however misplaced their concreteness might be, some others also need to stand up and commit to defending the right of many to not die for beliefs because they might be wrong. This is a contest between the absolutism of the absolutist and the absolutism of the relativist.

The relativist has to fight to retain the absolute right to his relativism.

Colonial confluence

Jasanoff's book seems worth a read! An approach different from both "White Man's Burden" and "Orientalism".

Pakistanis need to consider this fluidity of colonial exchanges if we are to effectively reconcile with our past and move forward constructively. As Jasanoff aptly states: “Empires are a fact of world history. The important question for this book is not whether they are good or bad but what they do, whom they affect, and how.”