Radical Islam Terrorism in South Asia, Pakistan - Essay Example

RADICAL ISLAM TERRORISM IN SOUTH ASIA, PAKISTAN al Affiliation RADICAL ISLAM TERRORISM IN SOUTH ASIA, PAKISTAN The intensity of Terrorism in South Asia has become a critical matter due to the negative impacts it has had not only in the country but also in the global arena. Islam extremism has led to an increase in cases of war which has resulted to loss of life and economic gains. Therefore, it has become a crucial matter to establish the major causes of terrorism in this country and the possible remedies to the problem. While terrorists have always defended their action citing oppression and exploitation by non-Islams, there is evidence that some terrorist acts have selfish motives and that such groups are financed by the leaders to pursue certain political interests within the country. Terrorist have become a weapon of war while hiding behind a selfish religious background that does not play by the rule of religious laws. Political and economic waves within the country that have fuelled radicalization can be linked to poor leadership within the country. Autocratic leadership, corruption and high poverty levels in Pakistan have further fuelled the problem. From this perspective, the increase in radical Islam terrorism in South Asia is a consequence of weak leadership. The essay seeks to identify the various causes of terrorism within the country and possible approaches to contain the problem. Since its founding in the 1950s, Pakistan has had a long history of terrorism. The government estimates over 35,000 deaths of Pakistanis and an economic loss of about $68 billion within the country as a result of Islam extremist war. Although the country has had a consistent 6% growth in its economy, the country remains heavily indebted due to over expenditure in non-developmental projects such as Security due to its rivalry with nearby countries such as India1. Pakistan is a country that was founded shortly after India gained independence within areas that had high concentration of Islams.2 The Muslims intended to establish their own territories and to become a liberal state where they could worship freely and uphold their traditions. The Muslims felt that their social interaction with other religions was becoming a threat to their religious value and they were falling in the risk of religious dilution. As they refer to Islam as a “way of life”, they felt that acquiring freedom would be the best approach to sustaining their values in globalising world. The terrorism in Pakistan has had both internal and external implication in the world. Within the country, terrorism has subdivided the country into two religious groups depending on their support for radicalisation. The non-violent Sufis are non-violent and have consistently refused to subscribe to the ideologies of the ‘holy war”.3 On the other hand, Jihadists have supported radicalisation stating it as the only justified process to acquire dignity in life after death. The leaders of the Islam groups such as Osama Bin Laden have cited that terrorism is a vehicle to defend the Islam religion and to restore dignity for the holy people. Therefore, non-violent Sufis have come under sharp threat from the violent groups as the brand them as religious traitors. In many cases, the Taliban in Pakistan have attacked the Sufis as one way of coercing to join in the holy war. Secondly, the terror groups have attacked other countries such as India and US, citing them as oppressors who have consistently exploited the Islamic groups4. Therefore, terrorism has had a wide range of impacts within Pakistan as well as outside Pakistan, making it a subject of international focus across the world. The evolution of radicalism in Pakistan started as soon as the country was found shortly after the Independence in India. Although the Indians lived with the Islams during the colonial period, it was a difficult choice that they submitted to. Notably, the Pakistan region was majorly occupied by Muslims while the rest of the places were occupied by the Indian people. Although there was evidence of inter-relationships, although constrained, the Islams remained traditional and were unwilling to interact with the Indians. When the country gained independence, the Islam leaders were prompt to pursue for the separation of the two communities, citing differences in the way of their culture. In 1947, the Mohammed Ali Jinna was keen to make a speech to assert the need for separation of Indians and Islam’s. He stated that “The Hindus and Muslims belong to two different religious philosophies, social customs literatures. They neither intermarry nor inter-dine together and indeed, they belong to two different civilizations which are based mainly on conflicting ideas and conceptions.”5 The implication of this statement is that Muslims and Indians were incompatible, a statement that Indian leaders had criticized citing the peaceful coexistence of the two groups. Therefore, religious radicalism started as a result of the push to unite Pakistan through religious grounds. While many Muslim groups had not pushed for the creation of Pakistan, the leaders intend to create an Islamic bond that perceived other religions as enemies of the Muslims. In the creation of Pakistan, the activities were marred by disputes over Kashmir one of areas bordering the two separate countries.6 The Muslims believed that this region belonged to their land while the Indians saw a part of their land. Since then, Kashmir has become one of the causes of conflict between India and Pakistan. The Indo-Pakistan wars of 1947, 1965 and 1999 led to the organization of terror groups as the vehicle to pursue balance in the territories7. The leader incited the religious adherents in Pakistan to stand for their rights and to fight against Indians who had refused to give them a fair share of resources and land during the 1947 division.8 Therefore, the Pakistan people have used radicalism as a channel to fight for their rights by repeatedly attacking their enemies. Even after the UN intervened in the boundary conflict, the Muslims remained tight together and the previously formed radical groups were not dismantled. Therefore, the Indo-Pakistan war was the foundation, or the first phase of formation of radical groups that have become rogue today. The efforts of the Pakistan leaders to establish the country as Islamic state has contributed to the radicalisation process. As enlightened leaders emerged in the country, they decided to break the disunity that existed between different Islam groups as one way of creating popularity, essential in pursuing their political goals. The Pakistan general Ayub noted that Pakistan came into being on the basis of an ideology which does not believe in differences of color, race or language. It is immaterial whether you are a Bengali, or a Sindhi or a Pathan or a Punjabi – we are knit together by the bond of Islam.”9 The political motive was not to uphold religious but to create unity using the common Islamic aspect of all the people in Pakistan. Consequently, there arose Pakistan became a unified state that confided in Islamic bond to assume a conformity. While such unity is essential within a country, it evades personal reasoning and engages populist thinking within a country. For instance, any criticism directed to Pakistan was interpreted as criticism for Islam’s. Therefore, therefore, the leader formed the mentality that it was all about the Islam’s against the world. The result was extreme radicalization grounded on religion and determined to restore dignity for the group. The autocratic leadership in Pakistan further fuelled the radicalization programs in the country. The violent Islamic groups have become the vehicles to pursue political interests. When the leaders within the government intended to protect their regime, their close association with the radical groups was important to ensure that they lasted in their positions. Notably, autocratic leadership in Pakistan has led to an increase in corruption within the state and wealth disparities. Those who acquire power enrich themselves from the country’s resources while neglecting the needs of the citizens. In view, of this, citizens within the country would gang up against such leaders to fight against corruption threatening to overthrow the government10. In fact, Pakistan is one of the countries whose none of their leaders have completed their regime. To contain the public outcry, the leaders have used radical groups to silence the people. Such leaders provide funds for the radical groups so that they can protect their leadership in return. As a result, radical groups have acquired more financial power, making them more stable rogue groups. As radicalism gained grounds, one of the strategies of the leaders has been to unite the people on the grounds of religion by teaching them the traditional beliefs that subscribed to the idea of Jihad. Jihads, as leaders such as Osama Bin Laden have put it, a holy war that seeks to restore the dignity of Muslims. The 1970s marked a period of intensive recruitment of young males into the Madrassa, where Jihadist was highly bred.11 The aim of Madrassa was to recruit young youths into the radical groups. Majority of those who acquire the madrassa education joined the Taliban group which referred to the “student of religion” in the country. The increase in the number of Taliban members ensures that the groups had enough human resource to pursue any interests. However, their major priority was to create a strong Islam empire that cannot be shaken by external forces. The leaders taught the youths that those who intend to acquire dignity in life after death must be ready to fight in the holy war and protect their religion. This explains the reason why the number of suicidal bombers increased in Pakistan. In their attack in Mumbai, suicidal bombers were those who believe that dying in the holy war was the only way to safeguard their honor. The high poverty levels in Pakistan, a result of weak leadership, were a major cause for radicalization in the country. The poor people in Pakistan were emotive and were more than willing to fight for their rights. Besides, they were easy to win in the war because majorities were already willing to join in the war to restore economic stability12. Therefore, the Islamic religious, well endowed with material properties, quickly attracted this vulnerable group by promising them wealth if they joined the radical groups. The same way that Osama Bin Laden used his personal wealth to recruit more members into Al-Qaeda was used to increase the Taliban members.13 The growth of the Islam extremists and the decline of the Sufi, the non-violent groups, resulted into increase in terrorism in the country. As economic turmoil embroiled in Pakistan, the terrorist groups increased consistently as more people joined these groups because of the material rewards they would accrue. The implication is that the groups gained enough grounds to fight in war in India and other countries that they believed were rivalry to the Islam groups. The Pakistan education has come under spot for propagating extremism within the country. Even in the globalization era, the Muslims have stuck to the traditional education systems that prepare their young one for war and seek their loyalty in defending their religions. Research shows that the extremism is a state of mind that the Pakistan Education systems have taught to all citizens’ right from their early age. Hoodbhoy, one of the scholars, points out that “Pakistan’s self-inflicted suffering comes from an education system that, like Saudi Arabia’s system, provides an ideological foundation for violence and future jihadists. It demands that Islam be understood as a complete code of life, and creates in the mind of a school-going child a sense of siege and embattlement by stressing that Islam is under threat everywhere.”14 The words of the scholar shows that the Islamic education in Pakistan puts Islam’s at a victims position, inciting young people to fight in a war whose cause does not exist. An incitive education system is one of the strategies that Muslims in Pakistan has engaged to ensure that radical groups continue to have a high inflow of human resource. This notion has contributed to an increase in radicalization within the country. The incitive education system is something that can be blamed on weak leadership that promotes violence in the society. The leaders have refused to change their curriculum and to use religion as a vehicle for peace rather than violence. The leaders understand that sticking to traditional madrassa education is the only way to drive their ambitions and to create violent groups that resist changes within the globalized world. As a matter of fact, religious and political leaders have been keen to support the wide spread of incitive education with other areas such as Punjab as part of strengthening the Islam extremism. The Punjab people were taught the need for their commitment in Jihadism, as part of their responsibilities to pay loyalty to their religion. The concept of martyrdom has been emphasized through educational and social systems to further amplify the terrorism power15. Martyrdom refers to the Islamic belief that those who die while protecting their religion would become martyrs in the life after death. As these ideas are inscribed in the mind-sets of the young people, the society becomes radicalized16. Therefore, the unwillingness of the leaders to reform their education systems is a major cause for the increase in Islam extremist in South Asia. Increase in the financial sources for the terror groups has resulted into insurgence of the Muslim terrorist groups in the country. Evidently, the Muslim groups have become a weapon for creating fear within the society and defending those intend to remain untouchable within the community. The drug barons in Pakistan found the creation of terror groups as an opportunity to protect their business17. As the war against terrorism increased, the groups were searching for financial power to ensure that they can acquire weapons and the essential back up to support their offensive operations. Therefore, drug criminals have volunteered to finance these terror groups with enough resources in exchange for security. This has further contributed to the revolution of the radical Islam from the religious motives to criminal motives. While Islam extremists founded their confided in religious protectionism, they have diversified to criminal activities in search for funding. Today, the Islam groups are believed to earn about $500, 000, enough money to launch an attack with the magnitude of the September 11 attack in the US. Therefore, the engagement into drugs and other illegal activities has further heightened the level of criminalization of the Islam sect. Since the radical groups have enough financial power, they are well set to become international terrorists. The close affiliation of the Pakistan Muslims with Islam’s in other countries has heightened the level of radicalization. The involvement of Pakistan radical groups with the Afghanistan radical groups has further complicated the problem. Osama Bin Laden was keen in mobilizing all the Muslims across the world to join in the war against the US to ensure that they would win. In the US invasion in Iraq, Osama had to seek alliance with other groups to ensure that they won the war18. When the US recruited a big army to support in the attack, the Al-Qaeda groups in Iraq requested the support of all other groups including the Taliban from Pakistan. The US had anticipated this collaboration and had set the Pakistan as the second target of the attack because they had anticipated such collaboration. Osama provided funding for the group to ensure that they would support them in the war with the aim of defeating a common enemy. The war between the Al-Qaeda and the US resulted in increased tension between the Pakistan terrorist groups and the US.19 The US felt that the Pakistan was supporting the Al-Qaeda and hence an enemy of its citizens. This marked an entry of the Pakistan terrorist groups in global terrorism. Among the sentiments of the groups was that US was not a retaliatory attack but a mission to finish the Islamic groups. As a result, the Muslim groups became more vigilant to defend the rights to become independent from such external attacks. The occupation of the US in Pakistan became an issue for the Islam extremists. As the Iraq were fighting after US overthrew their leadership, the Pakistan groups were fighting the US occupants within the country. Since the US had attacked other Islamic states, they were an enemy even to the religious groups.20 As Osama stated, the Islam’s were globally united by their traditional way of life, and their geographical distances was not an issue to separate them. Therefore, the Pakistan subscribed to this notion and waged war against the US occupants, an issue that had previously not been a major concern for the group. As a matter of fact, the Pakistan government had largely borrowed with the US at a time when they needed strong military support.21 However, the Pakistan leadership was easy to influence and the US managed to prevent Pakistan from supporting Iraq. However, the Taliban group reacted differently to the situation. They felt that the government had failed to pursue the goals of its people, under-representing their ideas at a time when Islam religion was under attack. Therefore, the Taliban groups launched persistent attacks to US in a bid to protect their own identity. Their motive was to pass the message that their government had collaborated with their enemies and the only option was to launch persistent attacks to the country. A number of scholars have perceived the idea of the Pakistan government to support pick sides in the Iraq war was a wrong strategy to prevent radicalism. Since the government was aware of the great unity between Pakistan and Iraq terror groups, it was worthwhile for them to remain neutral in the matter. It was foreseen that taking either side was not a good choice for the country at such a sensitive time. Taking the Iraq side would be encouraging the radical groups to fight against the US, an action that would attract international criticism22. On the other hand, colluding with the US would be provoking the Muslim radical groups who were already showing dissatisfaction with the government23. The role of the government in making decision in times of war has been a crucial issue. Leaders should evaluate the consequences of their decision when such dilemmas come along their way. The choice of the Pakistan government to support the US was interpreted as act of traitor ship which further led to an increase in the severity of the attacks against the US. In fact, it has become difficult for the public to distinguish between the Taliban groups or the Al-Qaeda as the two groups converged to fight a common enemy24. The failure of the Pakistan government to break the bond between Pakistan and Afghan Talibans is a big threat for the country’s stability. The Taliban in Afghan have had a great impact on the prospects of the Taliban in Pakistan, as they have the two group work close together. The instability in Afghan is most likely bound to influence the Pakistan region. As the Afghan Talibans seeks all the strategies to return to power in Afghan, it is possible to anticipate that they will inspire the Pakistan counterparts to do the same. Rahimullah Yusufzai, one Muslim, notes that the “return of the Afghan Taliban to power, whether by force or some peace process, would definitely raise the spirits of the Pakistani Taliban and likeminded jihadis, and thus lead to a fallout on the situation in Pakistan.”25 Therefore, the failure of the government to isolate the group from external ties has contributed to the challenges of ending radicalisation in the country. Therefore, radicalisation is a product of a weak leadership system that allowed the formation of a stronger network of radical groups within South Asia. The inability of the government to promote formal education within the country has further created the potential for the construction of radical groups. By approximation, the Pakistan population is approach 200 million and there is huge bulge of youths within the country. Majority of the youth have minimum education and are highly likely to be absorbed within the radical groups. Therefore, the government is unconsciously creating a power house of terrorism by ignoring formal education regimes within the country26. In South Asia, the population is approaching 1.3 billion, with more than 50% of this population living way below the poverty line. In an era of economic turmoil, the government should be more concerned with the criminalization of the youths and eventual increase in Muslim extremism. Therefore, economic reforms in the country can be used as the vehicle for transformation of the society, which would reduce criminal activities within the country and uphold the dignity of the people.27 The government should consider the development of strong education forums, formalize the process and reduce extremism learning that have worsened the situation in the country28. On this ground, the Pakistan government takes enough blame in the proliferation of terror not only within the country but also in the global arena. Additionally, the Pakistan government has remained dormant in the international arena, hence reducing its interaction with other countries. Although the country announced the need to co-work with other nations during its founding in 1947, the country has remained inactive in international scope, which may be the reason for its economic backwardness29. While the country has shown the potential to grow its economy, it inability to work with other countries has undermined its potential. Scholars suggest that path to achieve economic stability is integrative and cannot be achieved by a country that goes alone. The radicalisation problem in Pakistan is both an economic and social problem. It is indisputable that high level of poverty within the country has contributed to the recruitment of the citizens into radical groups30. Poor families enter such groups as an exit to poverty as they seek to get into avenues where they can create wealth. Socially, the isolation of the country as an Islamic state reduces its social cohesiveness with other states that would help in reducing retrogressive traditional believes. Evidently, Islams who have moved away from Islam states are more accommodative and have learnt to co-exist with other religions31. A global platform would help the people to reduce Muslim extremist and help contain the problem of radicalisation mind-set that has always fuelled the problem. In conclusion, weak leadership in Pakistan has been the critical driver for radicalisation in the country. The Islam extremism started with the incitement since the founding of the nation. The leaders objected to social cohesion with the Indian and sought to isolate themselves as people bound strongly by religion. Therefore, they isolated other people such as the Indians as enemies and this underpins the radicalisation of Muslim groups who engaged in the boundary conflicts in Kashmir. Besides, an autocratic government structure further created extremism sentiments as the people felt that their own leaders were oppressing them. They teamed together to overthrow the government and to put an end to an oppressive regime. Economic instability, a product of poor leadership, worsened the situation as such radical groups engaged in criminal activities in search for ways to enrich their ways. Additionally, the government failed to reform the education system, hence paving way for Islamic education that continue to preach enmity and victimizes the Islam society. Therefore, more youth are recruited within the radical groups to become frontiers in global terrorism. The engagement of the Pakistan terrorist with those in Afghan has increased their financial support and heightened the level of Islamic cooperation. Such groups have become tool for exploitation by learners and drug dealers who intend to pursue their own selfish goals. From this perspective, Islamic radicalization emanates from weak leadership that is unwilling to change the social and economic setbacks that have led to the crisis. Bibliography Aarisha, Ullah. 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Sectarianism in Pakistan: The Radicalization of Shi ‘i and Sunni Identities. Modern Asian Studies, 32(03), 689-716. Read More