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

Nursery for Jihad
station in East London, was the eldest son of Mohammed Mumtaz
Tanweer, who had migrated to England in the 1960s. He grew up
in the Beeston area of Leeds, but remained connected with Pakistan
through his extended family members who lived in a farming village
in Faisalabad district. 23 In December 2004, Shehzad went to Manzoor
ul Islamia madrasa in Lahore, which was linked with JeM. He intended
to stay there for nine months of religious education, but left just a
week later. 24 There are strong suspicions that Shehzad might have met
the mastermind of the London bombings during his brief stay there.
The suspected Pakistani connection to the 7/7 attacks brought
Musharraf under a renewed pressure to act against militant madrasas.
As in the past, he responded this time by ordering a nationwide
crackdown on Islamic extremist groups. The police again stormed a
number of madrasas and arrested hundreds of suspected extremists.
But the entire operation appeared merely superficial; most of them
were released after a few weeks.
In his new role as a key ally in the US-led war on terror, Musharraf
toned down many policies that had previously fostered militancy and
religious extremism. But most of the measures, particularly against
the home-grown jihadists, were taken under external pressure and
lacked conviction. Very little was done to rein in the militant madrasas,
despite their continuing involvement in jihadist politics. While talk
about reform went on, fresh batches of volunteers ready to confront
what they perceived as enemies of their faith continued to graduate
from madrasas.
Even after the ousting of the Taliban regime, many madrasas in
parts of Balochistan continued to preach jihad to Afghan students. A
major part of Musharraf’s anti-extremism drive was to regulate and
transform those madrasas whose role in promoting jihad had come
under increasing international scrutiny. The move was stalled because
of the administration’s failure to stop their funding from Pakistanis
working abroad, as well as from foreign Muslim charities. The biggest
source of financing for madrasas was external – from Muslim countries
as well as private donors and Pakistani expatriates. A report by the
Brussels-based International Crisis Group (ICG) revealed that Pakistani
madrasas and religious centres had received more than 90 billion
rupees ($1.5 billion) every year through charitable donations. The
amount was almost equal to the government’s annual direct income
tax revenue. 25 Most of the madrasas, which had in the past received
government funding, now relied solely on private charity. Ninety-four