The surge in extremism and violence has had a severe negative impact on cultural values and practices in Pakistan. The 2014 National Action Plan realized the importance of culture and included reinforcing and reinvigorating cultural practices. This helped in the revival of cultural activities, and society responded with affirmative action.
De-radicalization with the medium of culture has proven positive outcomes by engaging youth and helping them participate. Cultural interventions range widely from tangible to intangible forms. Promotion of cultural exchange, visual arts, theatre, and traditional culture, protection of the culture of minorities and endangered cultures, sites, crafts, and languages are the global best practices for the expression of a counter-narrative of our true sociocultural values and a soft image of society and country. In this regard, the Indonesian example is worth exploring.
After the Bali bombings of 2002, Indonesian security forces worked towards incorporating “ideological” or “soft” approaches into counterterrorism. It was this time when countering extremist ideologies gained traction around the world. The strategy was dubbed Countering Violent Extremism (CVE). Indonesia has worked towards countering the menace with remarkable success through measures and steps which has been a pioneering experience for the rest of the world.
Violent extremism coupled with terrorism is a very serious challenge for Pakistan. It exists in various forms, like sectarian outfits, radicalized groups calling for the Islamization of society, groups preaching anti-West sentiments, and ethnolinguistic-based insurgents.
Soon after, the Indonesian government adopted the mode of legislation for countermeasures and enacted its first CVE legislation, i.e. Anti-Terrorism Law, 2003. In 2010, the Indonesian government established National Counter-Terrorism Agency. In 2018, there were a series of bombings in Indonesia. Following the terrorist attack, Indonesia enacted its second powerful piece of legislation, the Counter Terrorism Bill in 2018. Since 2002, Indonesia has prosecuted more than 800 terrorists.
Working on a two-pronged strategy of prevention and rehabilitation, Indonesia has done well on prison reform, housing inmates like separatists, ideologists, militants, and sympathizers in special cells. They have also been given the training to do business once they are out of prison. Indonesia has been watchful of the threat from terrorists and extremists returning from Syria and has embarked on de-radicalization training for them. Indonesia has successfully managed to remove such content and pages having hateful and hostile content on social media platforms. Nahdlatul Ulama, a traditionalist Islamic movement in Indonesia, has been doing commendable work in promoting Islam as a nonviolent religion and establishing prevention centres to counter ISIS propaganda. These campaigns have argued that radicalization and extremism could be countered through the promotion of “moderate Islam.” Similar successful CVE programmes have been executed by countries like Algeria, Malaysia, Colombia, Nepal, Ireland and the UK.
Violent extremism coupled with terrorism is a very serious challenge for Pakistan. It exists in various forms, like sectarian outfits, radicalized groups calling for the Islamization of society, groups preaching anti-West sentiments, and ethnolinguistic-based insurgents.
The government’s efforts to regulate madrassahs and control hate speech and literature have not borne much fruit, because of poor implementation by provincial governments. Responsibility for developing a well-structured competing counter-narrative to the misplaced narrative of extremists rests with political and religious leaders, with the support of civil society and academia. If misinterpretation of Islam is not prudently challenged, then extremism will continue to flourish despite the deaths of thousands of extremists.
Histories formulated government CVE policies deal with kinetic measures to combat extremism, and very few legislative provisions address the issues of key drivers of violent extremism. It is imperative to reorient Pakistan’s counterterrorism policies, strategies, and implementation plan to include CVE as an important component of a proactive counterterrorism response. Governments and other actors must act in unison to mitigate all the identified gaps in existing policies and address issues and key drivers (pull and push factors) causing sectarianism, militancy, and violent extremism.
Ghania Usman was formerly associated with Army Public School, Bahawalpur, and can be reached at [email protected].
Saud Bin Ahsen is a freelancer and works at a public policy institute. He can be reached at [email protected]