A swipe at 'enlightened' Musharraf
By Syed Saleem Shahzad
KARACHI - With much of the al-Qaeda network damaged in the United States-led "war on terror", al-Qaeda's ideology is now the true US enemy as it allows al-Qaeda cells to be regenerated over and over again.
To address this, the US establishment feels that it needs to change the dynamics of Muslim societies, and crucial in this is Pakistani President General Pervez Musharraf.
After playing an important role in the "war on terror" by helping root out the Taliban and al-Qaeda from the Afghanistan-Pakistan region, Musharraf is being promoted to build bridges between the East and the West. This idea of a Musharraf "caliphate", though, comes with dangers.
After the fall of the Taliban in 2001, it was a general perception that Pakistan's cooperation (it dramatically reversed its support of the Taliban) came under coercion, and that once the US had established its bases in Afghanistan and subdued the Taliban and al-Qaeda, Pakistan would lose its importance and become isolated in the world community.
However, it has been confirmed to Asia Times Online by sources close to the corridors of power in Pakistan that from 2002 onward, top US delegations have traveled to Pakistan to talk of a new role for the country. Ranging from senators to secretaries of state, all emphasized the need to revamp Pakistan's policy: shut down war theaters in the region (Kashmir and Afghanistan); establish cordial relations with Israel; and, significantly, play a lead role in the Muslim world.
On the one hand the US emphasized liberalization in society and democratic reforms in the Muslim world, especially in the Middle East, and on the other hand the curtailment of extremist Islamic forces.
In this atmosphere, Musharraf came up with his "enlightened moderation" theory. The crux of this is to "take over religion where it has become hostage to extremists" and allow Muslim societies to rebuild with modern liberal concepts. Beating the drum of enlightened moderation in the media and at public gatherings made little impact in Pakistan.
But Musharraf's landmark speech at the 10th summit of the Organization of Islamic Conference in Putrajaya, Malaysia, on October 16-18, 2003, established his lead role in the Muslim world. In fact, the conference revolved around Musharraf's ideals of enlightened moderation and the summit unanimously endorsed this approach.
Musharraf spent seven years in Turkey as a youth (1949-56), and is a known admirer of Turkish founding father Mustafa Kemal and the manner in which he tamed Islamic forces in that country.
Before the summit, Musharraf had already gone a long way to prepare the grounds for the acceptance of his theory of taking over religion from extremist forces. He pushed hard for the surprise proposal in 2002 of Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah for a ceasefire with Israel if that country returned to its pre-1967 Arab-Israel war position. Soon after, the Middle East "roadmap" for peace was launched.
Pakistan also began a clandestine operation to provide Saudi Arabia with intelligence expertise in tracking militant cells. In another such operation starting in 2004, Pakistan helped Saudi Arabia to raise a special force to combat militancy.
People in Pakistan have come to accept Musharraf as a partner in the United States' "war on terror" - a liberal face whose scandals with actresses have been the talk of the town. But he stunned his biggest critics, the religious segment, when he asserted himself as a "Syed" and pleaded for liberalization of society. [1]
"I am a Syed. Nobody can question my commitment with religion," Musharraf began to state, this coming from an urbanite general. The custodians of the shrines used to read out sermons for the glory of "Syed Musharraf", and Information Minister Sheikh Rasheed even started saying "Syed Musharraf" instead of General Musharraf.
When there was a hue and cry in the National Assembly last year over Musharraf allegedly breaching his promise to shed his uniform by December 31, 2004, a pro-Musharraf member of the assembly stood up and questioned a critic: "Can a Syedzada [son of a Syed] breach a promise?" This temporarily silenced the critic.
Earlier, in a smart move, Musharraf played the Syed card for the first time in the history of the army and subdued a strong Punjabi network. A leading political magazine highlighted the fact that Musharraf had successfully launched a "Syed brotherhood" in the army and successfully pushed aside other networks. (Musharraf was only the second Mohajir to have been appointed chief of army staff in Pakistan's history - the army is traditionally dominated by Punjabis.)
This is a powerful answer to those who questioned Musharraf's ability to survive in the army without a natural constituency.
Introducing "enlightened moderation" in the Muslim world will be another sort of challenge for Musharraf. The central secretary general of the Jamaat-i-Islami, Pakistan, Syed Munawar Hasan, spoke exclusively to Asia Times Online. [2]
ATol: How will Musharraf's concept of "enlightened moderation" work in the Islamic world?
Munawar: The definition of "enlightened moderation" exists in Musharraf himself, meaning uniformed democracy [military], the ban on civil liberties, the abuse of constitutional rights. What Musharraf is doing is a "secularization of religion". The West is facing an Islam which draws its explanation from the Koran and Sunnah - a source agreed by the whole ummah for the past 1,400 years, and any change is secularization. "Enlightened moderation" is meant to get rid of Islamic values and denounce Islamic traditions. I tell you that when Musharraf makes fun of beards, insists on promoting the Basant festival [a kite-flying festival perceived as Hindu-Sikh], vows to bring women on the streets in shorts - he forgets the basic structure of Muslim societies, their real dynamics, psychology and temperament which is specific to the nations of the Hashmite prophet, all across the globe. There are thousands, maybe millions, who do not keep beards in the Muslim world. There are thousands who do not say their prayers five times [a day], but they would not reject these practices, nor would they make fun of these practices, instead they would admit their weakness that they do not practice Islam properly. Making a mockery of these traditions is tantamount to playing around with the temperament of Muslim society.
ATol: What are the global paradigms of "enlightened moderation"?
Munawar: Let us identify the issue. It is global Islam verses global secularism. The references are the [September 11, 2001] incident, the clash of civilizations etc. These two concepts are at war - who launched the war first is another debate - but the concept of "enlightened moderation" aims to denounce Islam. This was cooked up during this war by the Western allies. These concepts are part and parcel of any ideological war. During the Cold War, concepts of "progressive forces and regressive forces" were introduced into Muslim societies. It is a prerequisite. This is the last war of global secularization in the name of rationalism, but the real face of secularism has been exposed and the religious seal is very clear. Israeli secularism is Jewish. Indian secularism is Hindu, and even Turkish secularism is Muslim. Therefore, if the US pitched somebody in the Muslim world with naked secularism it would remember that the previously anti-religious slant of socialism made it unpopular in the Muslim world.
ATol: But the US has selected Pakistan and Musharraf to lead liberal reforms in the Muslim world.
Munawar: Muslim societies are different in their dynamics, but Pakistani society is more significant. There was no need for a separate homeland, but the Muslims of India insisted on a separate homeland where they would secure their Muslim identity [partition of British India in 1947]. This country is more obsessed with its Muslim identity compared to anyone, and it would be the worst US choice to set it forth to lead the Muslim world in liberal reforms.
ATol: A secular Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto (former premier) played a lead role in the Islamic world. An Islamist General Zia ul-Haq (former dictator) served the US cause against socialism.
Munawar: True, but historians would certainly draw a balance sheet as to who was the real beneficiary. Some have differences with Z A Bhutto, but he held the Islamic conference and played a lead role. Yet he was the one who declared Qadyanis [Ahmadis] non-Muslim, which again shows an angle of Muslim society. Bhutto had an overwhelming majority in the National Assembly, all the members of the Pakistan People's Party [PPP] were secular and socialist, yet when the leader of the Qadyanis was presented in the assembly, a PPP member asked his opinion about non-Qadayani Muslims. The Qadyani leader replied "infidel". This created a hue and cry in the secular majority assembly, and Bhutto and his secular members abruptly decided to declare them non-Muslim. You see, even secular Muslims could not tolerate to be declared "infidels". This is the real structure of Muslim societies, that nobody wants to be outside of Islamic boundaries.
You said Zia ul-Haq served the US cause, but who benefited at the end of the day? The US should reassess this. It should also reassess whether or not the turbulence created by Musharraf's rhetoric is conducive to Islamic revolution in Pakistan, and we are sure that if he remains in power for another five years we will bring [about] an Islamic revolution in Pakistan. It [US] should reassess why a [President George W] Bush victory in the elections was conducive for al-Qaeda. We have been impressed with the US for its respect of basic human rights, civil liberties, but there has been self-negation on the US part - we saw that even the American lawyers of Abdul Rehman [a detained radical scholar] were arrested as supporters of terror. It's time to reassess which atmosphere is conducive for what they call extremist Islam to flourish.
ATol: Nevertheless, the US is obsessed with Musharraf's caliphate. Will it work?
Munwar: (Laughs) Musharraf is mediocre material. Despite all the support, he cannot elevate himself to the rank of a statesman, let alone become leader of the Muslim world. Zia ul-Haq played an important role to unite the Muslim world against socialism, and fought a successful battle against the USSR, and defeated it [in Afghanistan]. But Zia had a perspective on life. He was nurtured with ideological zeal for his cause. Musharraf is a dwarf compared to Z A Bhutto or Zia ul-Haq. He does not have any perspective in life. Make a genuine assessment of Musharraf and you will find only a conducive environment makes him important. He is a stray seed on earth which, when spring came, produced leaves. He has a split personality - some of the time he denounces Islamic values and suddenly claims that people should listen to him because he is a Syed and cannot go against religion. He has a serious inferiority complex as he has been a failure throughout ... as a military strategist in Kargil [failed incursion into India in 1999], as a diplomat in Agra [India, for a summit meeting in 2001], as a politician in Pakistan. He claims himself a leader of 98% of the moderate population of Pakistan, yet he wears bullet-proof jackets, gives addresses behind a bullet-proof rostrum and travels in bullet-proof vehicles. And those to whom he said are 2% extremists, rule one-and-a-half provinces [North West Frontier Province and Balochistan] out of a total of four [in Pakistan]. It is a US irony that ultimately it will not find a single one [country] in the Islamic world which will serve its cause. It is because this is a nation of Islam which has special dynamics.
ATol: You said whatever the US did in the Muslim world for its benefit, it would turn out its loss. Do you mean there is another Saddam Hussein in the making in the garb of Musharraf?
Munwar: Saddam damaged the Muslim cause by attacking Muslim countries. Global secularization has an agenda to decrease the Muslim population and grab their resources. There is wide understanding and realization of this fact within the Muslim world and all Muslims, whether they are practicing or not, they see global secularization as their enemy. We who claim to be Islamists and practicing Muslims sometimes cast doubts on non-practicing Muslims. But I tell you, this nation of Islam has special dynamics and always has the capability to give surprises, that's why I assert that the agenda of global secularization is counter-productive.
Notes
1. Musharraf is the son of bureaucrat Syed Musharrafuddin, who hailed from the Syed family that lived in Kuja-i-Saadullah Khan, Delhi before partition in 1947. The Syeds are the decendents of Ali and Fatima, and thus reckoned as the family of the Prophet, and receive great respect in Muslim societies, especially tribal ones.
2. The Jamaat-i-Islami (JI), is the largest and most articulate of Pakistan's religious parties. It was founded in 1941 by Maulana Abul Ala Maududi as an ideological movement to promote Islamic values and practices in British India. The JI envisages a state governed by Islamic law and opposes Westernization - including capitalism, socialism, and such practices as bank interest, birth control, and relaxed social mores.
Syed Saleem Shahzadis Bureau Chief, Pakistan, Asia Times Online. He can be reached at saleem_shahzad2002@yahoo.com |
