Frontline Pakistan : The Struggle With Militant Islam - Arz-e-Pak

The Siege Within
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Musharraf owed his triumph solely to the hardline religious groups
that had hitherto been at odds with him over his pro-US policies as
well as his domestic crackdown on Islamic militants. In return for
their support for his presidency, Musharraf had agreed to shed his
military uniform by the end of the year. ‘There comes a time in the
lives of nations when important decisions must be taken,’ he said.
‘That time has come.’ The President hoped the move would end the
political deadlock, which had paralysed Parliament since the elections
14 months earlier.
The deal between Musharraf and the MMA had revived the
traditional alliance between the mullahs and the military. 16 It also
strengthened the Islamists’ hold over the bordering provinces where
the Taliban had regrouped. This ‘marriage of convenience’, however,
had not deterred the more extremist elements from plotting to kill him.
Ironically, the suicide attack on the President’s convoy came just a day
after the signing of the deal between the MMA and the government.
He was a marked man and they were after his life. Musharraf did not
realize that he could not ride on both boats.
The Islamists tried to make the best of their new-found political
clout. Besides pushing for the adoption of Islamic sharia laws, the
administration pledged to end co-education and close down movie
theatres, which it considered to be a western violation of traditional
norms and values. The administration ordered schools to replace shirt
and trouser uniforms with the traditional shalwar kameez, describing
the wearing of western dress as ‘un-Islamic’. In order to Islamize the
education system, more Islamic texts were used in school and college
curricula. The MMA’s agenda to end co-education was the first step
towards the total segregation of women in public life. 17
These retrogressive measures were part of an attempt to impose
a Taliban-like orthodox Islamic system. The MMA government
increased the role of religion in political and social life. The Chief
Minister, Akram Khan Durrani, had to grow a beard after some Islamic
leaders said he lacked this criterion of a ‘good Muslim’; under the
strict sharia law, Muslim men were expected to wear beards. The MMA
demanded abolition of the 25 per cent of seats reserved for women in
the national and provincial assemblies, saying they had no business to
be in Parliament. 18 These measures fuelled intolerance and gave a free
hand to the mullahs, who opposed female education. In Peshawar,
thousands of Islamic zealots smashed billboards carrying pictures of
female models, declaring them un-Islamic.