Intelligentsia must engage with the religious discourse and demonstrate that modernity, economic development, women's rights, rule of law, pluralism and democracy are fully compatible with Islam.
This emerged as a key point at a Roundtable Conference on "Extremism in Pakistan : The Role of State and Non-State Actors, 1979-2009." The Roundtable Conference was arranged by the Department of History, Quaid-i-Azam University , in collaboration with the Centre for Civic Education Pakistan (CCE) and the Higher Education Commission. Dr. Tahir Amin, Dr. Tariq Rahman, Dr. Ayesha Siddiqa, Dr. Nazir Hussain, Ms. Simbal Khan and Ms. Shabana Fayyaz, Dr. Razia Sultana, Chairperson of the Department of History and Mr. Zafarullah Khan, Executive Director of the CCE, were among the distinguished panelists. Eminent historian Prof. Dr. Naeem Qureshi chaired the roundtable. Presentations by Prof. Dr. Naeem Qureshi, Mr. Zafarullah Khan, Dr. Ayesha Siddiqa, Ms. Simbal Khan and Ms. Shabana Fayyaz were followed by lively discussion sessions on the historical and contemporary dynamics of extremism in Pakistan .
Dr. Naeem Qureshi traced the roots of extremism in South Asia to the advent of British imperial rule and Muslims' reaction to foreign rule; some sought to accommodate modernity while others repudiated it. Dr. Qureshi said that Pakistan itself was a consequence of the struggle of the modernist Muslims. After independence, however, these modernists sought to co-opt extremist elements for short-term political ends, he added. This trend was reasserted with a vengeance during the Zia-ul Haq military regime (1977-1988) that coincided with the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan which set much of the present crisis in motion. It may sound strange but the way forward was to go back to Jinnah's vision of a moderate Muslim state in which people of different religious, sectarian and ethnic affiliations could live in peace, Prof. Qureshi suggested.
Dr. Tariq Rahman opined that instead of seeking refuge in conspiracy theories and putting the blame on others, the first step to confronting extremism is to stop living in a state of denial. We need to reassess our external relations in the light of domestic realities, he added.
Dr. Tahir Amin noted in this context that Pakistani policies in Kashmir and Afghanistan had boomeranged and unless the state improved its performance on all fronts there was little hope of stemming the tide of extremism.
Dr. Ayesha Siddiqa said that the societal structures supporting extremism had made the process irreversible though not necessarily impossible to contain it.
Mr. Zafarullah Khan highlighted the demographic and global factors that shaped extremism. These included the youth bulge and the resultant difficulties in absorbing the youth into productive work. And the other was the globalization of both Western liberal modernity and Islamic radicalism through the same modern media.
Ms. Shabana Fayyaz urged the participants to challenge stereotypes and the semantics of labels, such as extremism and radicalism while observing that it was the combination of anti-Western, anti-India, anti-democratic and anti-Semitic, discourses that made contemporary violent extremism so intractable.
Ms. Simbal Khan pointed out the criticality of understanding the trans-nationality of the extremist movements and their most violent offshoots.
Dr. Nazir Hussain focused on the economics of extremism and the impact on society as well as state. The panelists as well as participants lauded efforts of the QAU's Department of History, CCE and HEC for arranging the Roundtable Conference and stressed the need for more such scholarly endeavors to make Pakistan and peaceful and tolerant society.
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