An editorial published April 16, 2009 in the Pakistani newspaper Daily Times has warned of the likelihood of the fall of Pakistan's Punjab province to the Taliban, due to the threats originating from the numerous local madrassas.
Following are some excerpts from the editorial: [1]
"In Five Towns in Southern Punjab, Including [the Town of] Multan, Barbershops, Music Stores, and Internet Cafés have Reported Threats from Taliban"
"A Punjab police officer [is quoted] as saying, 'If you want to destabilize Pakistan, you have to destabilize Punjab.'
"Another police officer who has seen the rot beginning to spread in south Punjab is quoted as saying that, 'at least in five towns in southern Punjab, including [the town of] Multan, barbershops, music stores, and Internet cafés have reported threats from Taliban.'
"Some villages around [the town of] Dera Ghazi Khan are so deeply infiltrated by militants that they are already considered no-go areas. More significantly, at least 20 Taliban killed in American [missile] strikes in the tribal areas since last summer were Punjabis.
"Ominously, 'the Pashtun Taliban and Arab militants, who are part of Al-Qaeda, have money, sanctuary, training sites and suicide bombers; but Punjabi militants can provide logistic support in cities like Lahore.'
Punjab may not be as badly off as Swat which the Taliban has actually 'won and annexed,' but the signs of the coming surrender are imminent, in the form of a weak and intimidated police and increasingly more willing citizens. Increased religiosity among frightened citizens causes rifts and obfuscates the issue.
"Is Punjab somehow removed from ground zero in the tribal areas? Not at all. The madrassa is dominant in Punjab, but overwhelmingly so in south Punjab. According to a 2005 count, the Deobandi madrassas produce four times more graduates than do the Barelvi madrassas. The largest number of madrassas are located not in Lahore, but in [the town of] Bahawalpur.
"Cities with the Largest Concentration of These Madrassas… Are About to Undergo Talibanization of Their Cultural Life, [Thus Causing the Talibanization] of the Province's Industrial Heart"
"South Punjab has already succumbed, because its madrassa hinterland was used by the state in the past for its covert wars [against India]. When a leader from this region [militant commander Maulana Masood Azhar] got caught in India, he was sprung from a New Delhi jail with a hijacked plane [to Kandahar in 1999].
"Take a look at the cities with the largest concentration of these madrassas: Bahawalpur, then Lahore, then, surprisingly, Bahawalnagar, and then Faisalabad with its Ahl-e-Hadith headquarters… are about to go under Talibanization of their cultural life, [in effect causing the Talibanization] of the province's industrial heart.
"Punjab Has Large Cities and Will Therefore Take Time and More 'Local Allies' Before it is Tamed [By Taliban] - But The Process Has Begun"
"Punjab began to be 'tribalized' after General Zia-ul Haq began Islamizing the country through madrassas. People started turning away from the normal sources of legal existence and increasingly identified Islam with tribal traditions. Women began to be sacrificed at the altar of male honor, and the clergy challenged even General Zia's Shari'a [imposed during his presidency in the 1980s] because it was not truly Islamic in their eyes. General [Pervez] Musharraf's interregnum highlighted these trends, but with the rise of the Taliban the trend has been redoubled...
"Punjab has large cities and will therefore take time and more 'local allies' before it is tamed - but the process has begun..."
Endnote:
[1] Daily Times, Pakistan, April 16, 2009. The text has been lightly edited for clarity.
