Pakistanis in 2009: A Thoroughly Indoctrinated Population

The Indians were outraged when Islamic extremists terrorized Mumbai earlier this year. The British were similarly outraged by the 7/7 bombing of London. And we don’t need any reminding of American outrage following 9/11. So why is there no major outpouring of anger and outrage against the numerous suicide attacks in Pakistan these past couple of years (the Interior Ministry only recently reported that terrorist attacks in Pakistan were now averaging about five per week)? Obscure Swedish cartoons that are deemed blasphemous never fail to arouse our passions, but the death of thousands of our countrymen and the public flogging of our women fails to stir us to action. Is there something inherently different about the Pakistani population that explains our docility in the face of religious extremism?

The majority of the Pakistani population today is deeply religiously conservative. Although the majority of the population is frequently referred to as moderate, the truth remains that it can be termed moderate only in comparison to the religious extremists who have moved the metric significantly towards the religious right. Jihadist movements have found a groundswell of latent support amongst a population, which largely sympathizes with their goal if not their means of establishing an Islamic system (no matter how poorly constructed) of governance. It helps as well that the broader population shares their various grievances with the West for the real or imagined plight of Muslims worldwide.

This religious conservatism did not happen by accident. It was carefully inculcated in the population. What we are seeing today is a result of wholesale blowback. Under General Zia, the government embarked upon a dangerous process of Islamization. All instruments of the State were used to indoctrinate the population at every level from school to mosque to media and beyond. Islamic curriculum and Arabic classes were made compulsory; school texts were carefully censored to make them more religiously conservative e.g. alif for anaar became alif for allah; a deliberate effort was made to replace persian words with arabic words on public television e.g. the multicultural term "khuda-hafiz" was replaced by the more religiously austere "allah-hafiz"; jihadist movements in Afghanistan, Kashmir and beyond were glorified and student campuses became recruiting grounds for jihadist enrollment; minorities were further disenfranchised e.g. the introduction of a blasphemy law and the formalization of separate electorates; religious intolerance was promoted e.g. the compulsory shuttering of restaurants during daytime hours in Ramadan lest the resolve of the faithful be weakened; the veil was heavily promoted; the outward display of religiosity was encouraged e.g. mandatory public prayers for government employees; military promotions were made contingent on the religiosity of officers; and punitive Islamic laws were enacted such as the Hudood Ordinance, the apostasy law, and the blasphemy law. No sector of society - students, media, judiciary, military, broad civil society - was spared. A "1984" of sorts did happen to Pakistan.

While each of these in isolation does not appear to be significant, the cumulative effect was a subtle and effective indoctrination of the population, whereby jihadist ideology and efforts to impose Sharia law is now viewed in an acceptable if not positive light. Pro-Islamist, anti-Western, and anti-Indian sentiment is hardwired into Pakistanis - this includes even most liberals who are willing to argue with the Islamists on their terms rather than rejecting their message outright. Interestingly, public discourse regarding the recent public flogging of a teenage woman in Swat dealt largely with the applicability and validity of the punishment rather than an outright rejection of the punishment irrespective of the circumstances. This only goes to show how much ground has been ceded to the religious right in Pakistan. This indoctrinated and religiously conservative population fails to be outraged by excesses, which in any other civilized society would lead to mass protests. It explains the muted response to numerous suicide attacks which have killed over a thousand Pakistanis in the past year. On the other hand thousands will "revel" in violent street protests against American drone attacks or cartoons published in an obscure newspaper in an obscure country.

Were it not for this latent sympathy within the Pakistani population, I would have some measure of hope that there would eventually be some resistance to the Taliban and its likes. But it appears not. The people of Pakistan are acquiescent and to an extent complicit, and so it comes as little surprise that the government of the people is also on the retreat and is declaring defeat.

It is more likely than not that we will become another Afghanistan with the Islamists controlling large swathes of territory and the waning writ of the government applicable in a handful of cities. If and when this future arrives, we will have no one to blame other than ourselves.