Daily Times

Sir: One may assume that the provincial home ministers of Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan would be rushing to Punjab to get the magical wand its law minster Rana Sanaullah is holding. Rana surprised the entire Pakistan recently by declaring that his government has fixed the nurseries of extremism and now no madrassa (seminary) in Punjab is involved in terrorism. Out of more than 20,000 seminaries, his government found only 20 madrassas where students or faculty were involved in facilitating terrorism. Is this another eyewash or attempt to fool the nation? A province where sectarian and extremist firebrands such as Maulana Abdul Aziz of Lal Masjid and Hafiz Saeed of Jamatud Dawa freely roam around, make hate speeches, collect charity funds, attend funerals of ex-army generals, making such claims means something is wrong somewhere.
As the National Action Plan (NAP) mandates proceeding with madrassa reforms, from Rana’s viewpoint, the task is over. As none of Punjab’s madrassas is involved in terrorism, what is the need to press on with reforms? He represents the same government who made a mockery of justice in numerous riots and attacks on minorities in the recent past. Now by closing the doors of any possible madrassa reforms, this government intends to promote terrorism, provided it is exported outwards and does not hit the province itself.
Statements from Rana and many of his kind should be trashed before they reach the airwaves or appear in the print media. But if we keep the distinction of ‘good’ and ‘bad’ Taliban close to our hearts, the fight against religious terrorism cannot be won. The overdose of sleeping pills being administered by Rana and his colleagues could be fatal for the nation.
MASOOD KHAN
Jubail
Saudi Arabia