Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry, while addressing a consultative conference on terrorism in Islamabad on Thursday, said that extremism in Pakistan is rooted in schools and colleges, not in madrassas, reports Dawn.
The federal minister said that during the 80s and 90s, teachers were hired in schools and colleges as part of a plot to “basically teach extremism”.
He continued by saying that the students of “ordinary schools and colleges” had been involved in notable incidents of extremism in Pakistan and not of madrassas. The minister further said, “You closed their (school and college students’) minds. If you cultivate a society where an opposing view is immediately declared kufr (heresy) … how can you present an opposing view?”
“Religious extremism was seen more in regions that are in India now. Areas over here (Pakistan) never had religious extremism to the extent [seen today],” he said, regretting that “Pakistan faces a grave danger today.”
“We don’t have any potential threat from India. We have the sixth largest army in the world, we are an atomic power, and India cannot compete with us,” he continued. “We face no danger from America. We face no danger from Europe. The biggest danger we face [today] is from within [Pakistan].”
“Whoever has even little understanding of Islam and is aware of the way Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) spent his life, how could he adopt extremism?” said Chaudhry, adding, “The problem is with those who interpret religious injunctions.”
Talking about state’s role in curbing extremism, Fawad said, “[The] state should have only one business, and that business is the enforcement of the law. If a state is unable to enforce the law, its existence is questioned, as, in this scenario, it gradually moves towards civil war.”
He said that it is the state’s responsibility to ensure that no group uses violence to impose its own point of view. “If the state weakens and violent groups gain strength, there lies a problem.”
