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

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