The decision by the Pakhtunkhwa government to appropriate a significant amount to the Darul Uloom Haqqania madrasah in its budget has raised consternation locally, and abroad. The seminary is considered a bastion for Taliban recruitment, and the PTI government is being held responsible for propagating the Taliban’s agenda-an accusation which is baseless, and which in fact represents a myopic understanding of our society. I am no PTI sympathiser, but it is important to understand that accusations against madrasahs and against a large segment of our population which studies and resides in such seminaries, perpetuates further marginalisation of this strata of society, and is in fact a symptom of the problem which has led to an increased radicalisation in Pakistan.
Seminaries in Pakistan are an essential component of our society, where a lot of our youth finds sanctuary, and spiritual and worldly education. Yes, these seminaries have been breeding grounds for radicals and terrorist sympathisers. The fault, however, does not lie with the seminaries but with the neglect our state has shown towards these traditional beacons of education, and how more liberal segments of our populace have ostracised, and demonised students and teachers in these seminaries. In the Muslim societies of yore which we like to glorify today, seminaries were fundamental and revered centers of education which produced immortalised Islamic scholars and religious edicts.
However, the curriculum and narrative in these seminaries was hijacked by the Zia dictatorship which overshadowed Pakistan in the 1980s, with the harrowing conclusion that Taliban sympathisers began to tarnish the image and legacy of our madrasahs. Following the collapse of the military regime, these madrasahs were ignored by our government, and the state allowed radical elements to formulate the curriculum in seminaries all over Pakistan, culminating in the imbroglio we find ourselves stuck in today. Yes, madrasahs do produce radical individuals, but our state must be held culpable for this egregious state of affairs.
Religious seminaries in Pakistan, therefore, like so many other ossified institutions in our country, became victims of neglect by our state. Their problems, however, were further compounded by a demonisation from more liberal elements of society who consider madrasahs archaic institutions, and this demonisation further led to a marginalisation of these seminaries. This marginalisation has resulted in them viewing other groups in society through a parochial and harmful ‘us against them’ mentality.
However, supposedly more progressive and liberal elements in our country reinforce this mentality by decrying madrasahs and placing themselves on a higher pedestal than the inhabitants of these madrasahs. This is exactly the reason why a lot of the opposition towards the funding coming from liberal circles is grounded in the logic that provincial funds will be better utilised if they fund ‘more progressive’ educational institutions. For the students living in madrasahs, such opposition only reinforces the indoctrination they are subject to. This harmful attitude from both sides, in turn, has augmented the schisms that have emerged in our society, and threaten to further envelop our country in hate and intolerance.
The Pakhtunkhwa government’s efforts to fund the Darul Uloom Haqqania must, therefore, be seen in the backdrop of this marginalisation, and its efforts must be applauded to bring a semblance of government control over madrasahs. State funding will make this seminary more dependent on the government, thus allowing greater oversight by the state in its curriculum and workings. This funding will also stymie the seminary’s need to acquire funding from other sources-sources which generally have a malevolent agenda of their own. Bringing madrasahs and a heavily marginalised segment of our society into the fore is crucial for any efforts to curb the tide of extremism, and the KP government has taken the first step in this momentous struggle.
However, the onus is now on Imran Khan and his allies to deliver on their promises to reform the seminary, and a failure to do so will make him lose his liberal voter base. As citizens of Pakistan, however, it is our responsibility as well to not judge or marginalise individuals in our society, and instead looks at historical trends which shaped these institutions into what they are today. Only then will we see a Naya Pakistan.