In “Out of line: Musharraf Keeps A Wide Gap Between Declarations & Deeds” in The Statesman, Jagmohan, former Governor of Jammu and Kashmir and former Union Minister of Urban Development, Culture and Tourism, feeds the loony conspiracy theorists with the proposition that the jihad — or more precisely, “an extremely narrow interpretation of Islam” — is the product of the U.S. and Pakistan. I’m surprised he didn’t mention the Zionists, but in any case he rather swiftly contradicts himself.
An extremely narrow interpretation of Islam was formulated and propagated amongst the Afghan Mujahideens by the American and Pakistani policy makers as a part of their war strategy against the Russian invasion of Afghanistan in 1979. The sole objective was to create a fanatic Islamic zeal in the fight against a “godless nation”. Sophisticated weapons, communications equipment and funds were supplied to them in abundance. A similar approach was adopted by Pakistan in causing large-scale subversion and terrorism in Kashmir from 1989 onwards. This approach was virtually abetted, in the earlier phases, by the United States and other European powers by talking more about the “human right violations” than about the primitive savagery of the militants. All this whetted the appetite of the fanatics and they became so highly motivated and resourceful that they attained the capacity to strike anywhere they chose, be it in New York, New Delhi, Madrid, London, Cairo or Bali. Their tentacles are now practically spread all over the world.
Shades of the fiendish Mr. Yaqub cooking up the white race on Madagascar, a staple of Nation of Islam mythology. But here comes the contradiction:
According to a research study (2004) of the London Institute of International Security, about 18,000 potential Islamist terrorists are functioning in about 60 countries, and “there has been a terrifying jump in terrorist incidents ~ 175 in 2003 to 651 in 2004”. Terrorism has become mega-terrorism, and its sponsors have established strong bases for supply of recruits and their indoctrination. Thousands of madrasas have come up. For example, in Pakistan, there were 137 madrasas with a total enrolment of about 20,000 students in 1947. The number of these madrasas has now swelled to about 10,000 and students to about one and half million. In theory, they are meant for providing free religious education, board and lodging to poor students. But, in practice, a large number of them have become vast breeding grounds for orthodoxy, narrow sectarianism and militancy. They promote the culture of jihad and inject fanaticism in young and impressionable souls.
Now wait a minute, Jagmohan. Breeding grounds for “orthodoxy”? Islamic orthodoxy? But if the jihad ideology that fuels terrorism was created by America and Pakistan, and it’s an extremely narrow interpretation of Islam, how could it be “orthodoxy”? Wouldn’t orthodox Muslims be fighting against it?
In line with the madrasas are special institutions, like Markaz-e-Dawa al Irshad, Muridke, near Lahore. They run a vast publicity and propaganda machine. For example, the above Markaz’s monthly publication Majallah-al-Dawa, has a circulation of over 400,000. Its weekly ~ Jihad Times ~ has over 200,000 buyers. The madrasas and the special institutions are creating an overall environment which breeds religious fanaticism and violence. No wonder, in 2001-02, there were as many as 58 religious political parties and 24 religious militias in Pakistan.
Amazing that this tiny minority of extremists, proponents of a false Islam created by the United States, have become so numerous and powerful.