Adhik Vaishakh Amavasya,Nij Vaishakh Pratipada, Kaliyug Varsha 5112
By Balbir K Punj
The guilty verdict — followed by the death sentence — that was handed down to 26/11 terrorist Ajmal Amir Kasab coincided with the failed car bomb plot targeting New York’s Times Square. By now we know much about Kasab — he came from a poor family, was indoctrinated to become a jihadi, and was sent to kill as many Indians as possible and sacrifice his life in the process. Had it not been for the courageous efforts of the officers of Mumbai Police, Kasab would never have been caught alive.
On the other hand, the would-be New York car bomber, Faisal Shahzad, is the son of a former Pakistani Air Force Vice-Air Marshal and the nephew of a former Pakistani Army Major-General. He was hardly poor. He received Islamic education in Pakistan and was able to migrate to the US with an H1-B visa. He worked for a well-known cosmetics company, was married to a Pakistani woman who was educated in the US, and had been in and out of Pakistan several times before he was caught by American investigators. The last time he went back to Pakistan he spent five months in that country, purportedly under the pretext of visiting his relatives. Last year, Shahzad was accorded American citizenship.
In the flow of information about the would-be car bomber, there was one report that was telling. The report quoted a Pakistani official as saying, “It is not that they (jihadis) don’t speak English or aren’t skilled. But in their hearts and in their minds they reject the West.” The official further added, “They can’t see a world where they live together; there is only one way, one right way.”
Shahzad and countless others who are committed Islamists are essentially the products of a system that the military dictator Zia-ul Haq had introduced in the schools and madarsas of Pakistan. This indoctrination made the people who went through the system believe that there was only one path forward — the path of jihad to establish a global Islamic caliphate. It followed that those who did not subscribe to this path had to be either converted or eliminated. The sense of horror that ordinary people feel with respect to the killing of innocent civilians is completely absent in the case of jihadis. For, they believe that god has given them the mandate to maim and kill as many kafirs or non-believers as possible.
This Islamist attitude is not particular to Pakistani jihadis. Over the last few years, several radical Islamists have been arrested from Europe and the US who were plotting to attack passenger aircraft, scheming to plant bombs in passenger trains, and seeking to destroy various high-profile landmarks. Islamists have been active in countries ranging from Spain, England and Germany to Singapore, Indonesia and India.
Six months ago, the world was stunned by the discovery of a Nigerian youth who tried to blow up a passenger aircraft with a home-made bomb that was hidden in his underwear. He almost succeeded but for the vigilance of a co-passenger. Thus, today, Islamist organisations are spread far and wide, and operate under various covers. They are also constantly in touch with each other and provide their brethren with logistical and ideological support.
In our country, Muslim youth from Kerala have been the target of Lashkar-e-Tayyeba recruiters. Many of them have been inducted into the global jihadi network. There are other sources of recruitment as well. The case of Ms Madhuri Gupta, the Indian diplomat who has been caught supplying secrets to Pakistani intelligence while on her posting at the Indian High Commission in Islamabad, is an example of how jihadis can recruit people from any background to their fold. Ms Gupta seems to have little remorse for betraying her country. For years she hid the fact that she had converted to Islam. Surely, this cover helped her carry out her treacherous activities.
The UK shoe bomber, who was caught before he could blow up an aircraft, was also a convert. Whereas the Nigerian underwear bomber came from a well-to-do family and was highly educated. There is a common thread running through these individuals. The only reason these people took to terrorism was religion.
Denouncing terrorism and seeing it as un-Islamic will not take us far as long as there is an increasing number of Muslims who believe that jihad is the only way forward. Will the leaders of Islam come forward to condemn not only terrorism but also the mindset that fuels jihadis?
The mindset that pits the jihadi way against ours could, to an extent, be curbed if Muslim youth are allowed to mingle with their peers from other religious backgrounds, are allowed to have access to secular education, and given the freedom to participate in the festivals of non-Muslims. Madarsa education has been criticised in several countries, including Pakistan, for breeding die-hard extremists. In India, constant efforts have been made to promote ‘secularism’ by extending state aid to madarsas. Could there be a bigger contradiction?
Even after 26/11, have we really woken up to the basic cause of this terror regime that lures young Muslims? The ‘secularists’ believe that by mandating curricula in science and mathematics the mindset of exclusivity that is enforced in madarsas could be tackled. The fact that many of the apprehended terrorists have been found to be quite educated — several of them having received their education in the West — does not seem to cross the policymakers’ minds.
Irrespective of the introduction of subjects such as science and technology or history and geography in madarsas, as long as the indoctrination of Muslim youth continues, things will remain the same. On the other hand, science and technology could prove to be useful tool for the jihadis in executing terror strikes. In fact, by introducing computer studies and other technical subjects in madarsas, we are only providing modern tools to a rabidly medieval mindset. We cannot hope to win the war against terror without understanding its anatomy.
Source: Daily Pioneer
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