Madrasa reform being opposed in Pakistan too: Fundamentalism, Corruption and Sectarian divisions are responsible

Urdu Section

16 Oct 2009, NewAgeIslam.Com

Madrasa reform being opposed in Pakistan too: Fundamentalism, Corruption and Sectarian divisions are responsible

Presently, the question is not about whether madrasas are encouraging terrorism or not?  The question of great concern is why madrasa officials are afraid and not interested in affiliation with a central Board. Some of them are talking about the danger of increasing corruption; in fact, they are afraid of losing their hold of proprietorship, status and authority as they will have to follow a code of conduct and certain terms and conditions. The corruption prevalent in the payment of teachers' salary and the manner of imparting education will be exposed. The proposal of madrasa board may also expose the dishonesty of our Islamic scholars. This makes the prospect of reform very bleak as the ruling political parties are helpless before them and cannot afford their displeasure and annoyance. -- Tahir Khaleel. (Translated from Urdu by Raihan Nezami) URL: http://newageislam.net/NewAgeIslamArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=1928 -------     Madrasa reform being opposed in Pakistan too Apart from fundamentalism and obscurantism, Corruption and sectarian divisions too are responsible by Tahir Khaleel (Translated from Urdu by Raihan Nezami)   It may be simply a co-incidence that, at a time when the formation of Madrasa Education Board and the affiliation of other madrasas to it is being debated in India, the same conflict has erupted between government and madrasa authorities over the issue of registration of madrasas to Madrasa Education Board in Pakistan too. This is basically due to corruption and sectarian differences in Pakistan. Right now, the formation of Madrasa Education Board itself is a great controversial issue in our own country.   To everyone's surprise, when the government in Delhi called a meeting recently to discuss various points related to the issue of the formation of central madrasa board, another problem raised its head:   Who will be the chairman and from which sect will he be selected?   It is a misfortune that corruption and sectarian divisions have been two major factors responsible for the poor condition of the Muslims of subcontinent. Government intervention is looked at in both countries with suspicion. Though our neighbour is an Islamic democracy, a section of their ulema, too, nurse suspicions about the intention of Pakistan government agencies.  It seems as if the journey of our countries' development halted at a point in the past. Perhaps we are still living in 1857. This feeling is quite painful when I consider it and try to fix its responsibility. The so-called Islamic leaders look self-centred and inclined towards their personal gains and lust for money and avarice.   Read the following analysis by Tahir Khaleel and consider sincerely the truth behind this explosive issue. -- Editor, Daily Hindustan Express   The Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Geelani had stated in the national assembly in connection with the recent accusation of corruption that the ministers will have to explain their viewpoint in the parliament. The orders were issued in the previous convention of the cabinet to speed up the work on the Accountability Bill. The importance of transparency in democracy and the effectiveness of accountability were stressed in a workshop held recently in Islamabad organized by the American organization (National Democratic Institute) to develop a democratic culture in different parties.   Various government personnel were caught under charges of corruption when Transparency International issued mind-boggling facts and figures with reference to Pakistan in a survey conducted till the date 17th of June 2009. This report discloses the fact that the percentage of bribery has increased upto 400%. In the year 2006, a sum of one billion dollars was spent due to corruption which has now increased to four billion dollars. The police and power departments have maintained their status quo of first and second positions respectively.   According to the survey report, National Accountability Bureau should be an autonomous body under supreme judicial control. The judiciary was at third position at corruption list in 2006, but it has rectified its position and after the judicial reformation, it presently holds the seventh position in 2009.  It is told in the survey report that the departments of police, power, health and land are the most corrupt respectively. The government and army should not interfere in the economic and business activities, but take strict accountability of the government officials owning greater responsibilities.   The international organization for elimination of corruption says, the country cannot be freed from the clutches of corruption in the presence of NRO which has encouraged corruption in all departments.  The functioning of the government is being criticised in the media from all corners. The government should take effective steps to eradicate corruption and try to find out the responsible persons for the rise of corruption in order to punish them.       Recently the US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton expressed her views in an interview to New York Times that the war against terrorism would have yielded better results, had the U.S spent more money on schools and education for girls in Pakistan than on their army. The U.S has already spent seven billion dollars on Pakistan army after 9/11 incident. She further said she had once advised the then president of Pakistan Parwez Musharraf to pay more attention on investment in the educational field; this would have diminished the possibility of extremism in our Youth. She held the Islamic madrasas responsible for the growth of suicide attacks. She thinks if children are provided better opportunities at school, they will not want to go to madrasas.   Recently, the home ministry has investigated ways and means to implement modern and scientific syllabi in madrasas to bring them into mainstream. Some analysts assume that the ancient Islamic institutions which are purveyors of knowledge and learning are encouraging enmity and extremism. According to a recent survey, extremism is not as big a phenomenon as was thought earlier.   It is a fact that majority of extremists who participated in jihad of Kashmir and Afghanistan in 1980's, were moderately educated. A few suicide bombers were madrasa-educated and belonged to illiterate and deprived families. Some of them were trained in the madrasas situated in the remote areas of Waziristan.   The government intends to implement better employment-producing syllabus that is financially acceptable. For this, they are paying attention over mainly two points to achieve it. First, all the madrasas should be registered. Secondly, they should be upgraded to the national standard. They had introduced Pakistan Madrasa Education Ordinance in 2001, but it could not be passed due to sectarian differences. The organization formed for Madrasa reforms in 2006, too, met the same fate.   The American Secretary of State is absolutely correct in her opinion. The educational enhancement will not only eradicate illiteracy, but it will also improve living standards of people with a chance of minimizing extremism. The educational backwardness is one of the many reasons for population explosion. According to a report, the population of Pakistan has crossed 188 million, which was only 40 million at the time of the formation of Bangladesh. The imbalance between resources and population has given rise to many problems like poverty, unemployment and extremism. At present, Pakistan is the 6th largest country in population. If the present trend of population explosion continues at the same speed, it will attain the 4th position in the world.    Presently, the question is not about whether madrasas are encouraging terrorism or not?  The question of great concern is why madrasa officials are afraid and not interested in affiliation with a central Board. Some of them are talking about the danger of increasing corruption; in fact, they are afraid of losing their hold of proprietorship, status and authority as they will have to follow a code of conduct and certain terms and conditions. The corruption prevalent in the payment of teachers' salary and the manner of imparting education will be exposed. The proposal of madrasa board may also expose the dishonesty of our Islamic scholars. This makes the prospect of reform very bleak as the ruling political parties are helpless before them and cannot afford their displeasure and annoyance. URL: http://newageislam.net/NewAgeIslamArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=1928