Frontline Pakistan : The Struggle With Militant Islam - Arz-e-Pak
Frontline Pakistan : The Struggle With Militant Islam - Arz-e-Pak
Frontline Pakistan : The Struggle With Militant Islam - Arz-e-Pak
Create successful ePaper yourself
Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.
<strong><strong>Pak</strong>istan</strong>’s Unholy Alliance<br />
strengthened the hold of the <strong>Islam</strong>ists on crucial state apparatuses for<br />
many years to come.<br />
<strong>The</strong> process of the <strong>Islam</strong>ization of the state and society took place on<br />
two levels. Firstly, changes were instituted in the legal system. Sharia<br />
courts were established to try cases under <strong>Islam</strong>ic laws. For the first<br />
time, the government assumed the role of the collector of religious<br />
taxes. Secondly, <strong>Islam</strong>ization was promoted through the print media,<br />
radio, television and mosques. Through a series of religious decrees,<br />
the government moved to <strong>Islam</strong>ize the civil service, the armed forces<br />
and the education system. School textbooks were overhauled to ensure<br />
their ideological purity. Books deemed un-<strong>Islam</strong>ic were removed from<br />
syllabuses and university libraries. It was made compulsory for civil<br />
servants to pray five times a day. Confidential reports of government<br />
officials included a section in which the staff were given marks for regularly<br />
attending prayers and for having a good knowledge of <strong>Islam</strong>.<br />
General Zia’s move to <strong>Islam</strong>ize the army carried the most critical<br />
implications. <strong><strong>Pak</strong>istan</strong>’s army, carved out of the British Indian army,<br />
inherited British traditions and remained a secular organization<br />
until General Zia tried to give it a new <strong>Islam</strong>ic orientation. <strong>Islam</strong><br />
was incorporated into the army’s organizational fabric. For the first<br />
time <strong>Islam</strong>ic teachings were introduced into the <strong><strong>Pak</strong>istan</strong> Military<br />
Academy. 16<br />
<strong>Islam</strong>ic training and philosophy were made a part of the curriculum<br />
at the Command and Staff College. 17 A Directorate of Religious<br />
Instruction was instituted to educate the officer corps on <strong>Islam</strong>. <strong>Islam</strong>ic<br />
education also became a part of the promotion exams. <strong>The</strong> officers<br />
were required to read <strong>The</strong> Quranic Concept of War, a book written<br />
by a serving officer, Brigadier S. K. Malik. <strong>The</strong> officers were taught<br />
to be not just professional soldiers, but also soldiers of <strong>Islam</strong>. In his<br />
foreword to the book, General Zia wrote: ‘<strong>The</strong> professional soldier in<br />
a Muslim army, pursuing the goals of a Muslim State, cannot become<br />
“professional” if in all his activities he does not take on “the colour of<br />
Allah”.’ 18 To gain promotion an officer was required to be a devout<br />
Muslim. Scores of highly professional and secular officers were<br />
sidelined for not meeting the criterion of a ‘good Muslim’.<br />
As a consequence of this policy, many conservative officers reached<br />
the senior command level. Radical <strong>Islam</strong>ist ideology permeated the<br />
army with the free flow of religious political literature in the armed<br />
forces training institutions. Friday prayers at regimental mosques, a<br />
matter of individual choice in the past, became obligatory. Mullahs<br />
1