Extremism thrives in the city of shrines

Nasir Khan

• Last Updated: October 10. 2009 1:34AM UAE / October 9. 2009 9:34PM GMT

Students at a madrasa in Multan read the Quran. Poor families reportedly send sons to such religious schools in return for a monthly stipend. Visual News for The National

MULTAN, PAKISTAN // Last month, the chief minister of Punjab, Shabaz Sharif, was given a highly confidential briefing by the Criminal Investigations Department of the Punjab police.

He was warned about growing extremism in southern Multan and told that at least eight suicide bombers who had attacked the country over the past year had emerged from this belt.

He was also told that the ammunition used in the February bomb blast at a mosque in Dera Ghazi Khan, which killed 30 people, had been stored in a school house in Multan.

The city of Multan, located in the southern part of Punjab, is commonly known as the city of sufis because of its large number of shrines. But in recent months Multan and its surrounding areas appear to be rapidly developing into a centre for extremism and fundamentalism.

As the army pounds militants in Swat and unmanned drone attacks continue to target extremists in Waziristan, southern Punjab is becoming the new birthplace of terrorism.

Rasool Baksh Raees, a political analyst, said one of the main reasons for this was poverty. “The cities of southern Punjab are among the most impoverished cities in Pakistan,” he said. “Illiteracy is rampant and the residents are as poor as can be.”

Layyah, a city located in the Multan district, has a literacy rate of 20 per cent – less than half the national average – and 91 per cent of the population live below the poverty line. A recent study by the Lahore University of Management Science also revealed that the incidence of poverty in South Punjab is 50.1 per cent.

Multan has hundreds of madrasas, mainly teaching the Wahhabi faith, the same conservative brand of Islam which Osama bin Laden reportedly adheres to.

A short distance from the city centre, amid cramped kiosks and houses with peeling paint, is the Jamia Hadayat-ul-Quran madrasa.

Founded almost 34 years ago, this madrasa is headed by Mufti Hadayutullah Pasruri, a conservative who believes a militarised version of jihad is the most important purpose of a Muslim male’s life and that every Muslim woman is expected to send her husband and sons for jihad.

More than 500 students study under his tutorship, not all of them by choice.

A source at the madrasa revealed that each family that sends a son to study at the madrasa is paid a small monthly stipend. “It’s a small amount – only about a thousand rupees (Dh55),” he said. “Given the grinding poverty in this region, such an amount represents the difference between starvation and being fed.”

The mufti denied this claim, insisting that the students all arrive voluntarily, though several other staff at the madrasa also confirmed the informal “selling of students”, some as young as six, into the system.

Shakeel Anjum, a local journalist, said that for many families, the incentive to send their sons to a madrasa is purely financial. “A young boy is taken off their hands, they no longer have to feed him or clothe him and in return they get money,” he said. “Parents think of this as a win-win situation.”

In one of the classes at the madrasa, the scene was familiar.

Young boys in shalwar kurtas were seated in rows, rocking back and forth as they recited the Quran. A bearded teacher stood over them, and watched to make sure no whispering was taking place.

All of a sudden, he interrupted the class and launched into a monologue: “And what you are reciting right now is the word of Allah and Allah mandates that you dedicate your life to doing jihad for his sake,” he said. “And jihad is your duty and your responsibility.”

Officially, the madrasa defines jihad as “spiritual uplift”, but students at the madrasa clearly stated that they would be willing to kill non-Muslims or bad Muslims for the sake of Islam.

One student at the madrasa, 15-year-old Hafiz Sabir Hussain, said that he would be more than willing to kill himself, if it meant killing the enemies of Islam. “I believe that’s my duty as a Muslim,” he said, “to harm non-Muslims and wavering Muslims.”

The funding of madrasas such as this one is a contentious issue.

Mufti Hadayatullah claimed that his madrasa was only getting money from the local community, but the leader of another madrasa, Mufti Abdul Qavi, clearly stated that his madrasa, along with other madrasas in the city, were obtaining funding from abroad.

“There are four main schools of Islamic thought in Multan,” he said. “The Deobandi school of thought based on an anti-Shiite mentality; the Salafi school, which is supported by Saudi Arabia; and the Barelvi school, which is made up of pacifists.

“The supporters of each school are spread throughout the world, and each madrasa obtains funding from their supporters in other countries.”

Mr Qavi admitted that funding has decreased since President Pervez Musharraf’s time, when, under pressure from the US, he restricted money coming in from abroad.

Mr Qavi also revealed another source of funding: recruiters from Waziristan. “The process of recruitment of students involves recruiters being in touch with the principals and administrators of madrasas.

“The students who appear suitable for militant training are then sold by administrators to the recruiters, and are then sent to training camps,” he said.

One day during the holy month of Ramadan, two lorries, each containing 52 young boys, left Multan at 3am for Waziristan.

The next day, the parents of one of the children arrived at Mr Qavi’s office, howling and wailing. They wanted their child back, and threatened to go to the media if he was not returned.

Mr Qavi said he informed the relevant madrasa authorities, and within two days, the boy was back in Multan.

Refusing to say whether or not the children were sent to Waziristan, Mr Qavi said: “This incident should make a few things clear to you. Children are being sent to Waziristan in large numbers, and they are being sent without the consent of their parents.”

The chief of police in Multan, Asif Ikram, said the police were aware of madrasas acting as recruiting grounds for militants but were unable to act until sufficient evidence was obtained.

“We know these activities are taking place but unless we intercept a lorry loaded with children heading to Waziristan, we can’t do much,” he said.

* The National