Education, more than economy, antidote to "Talibanization" of Pakistan
Rome (AsiaNews) - Blasphemy laws, persecution of minorities, especially Christian, violence against Muslim sects considered "heretical"- Sufi, and Ahmadi -, institutes and centres targeted in bloody attacks: Pakistan has long been held hostage by a lunatic fringe which, although a minority, holds the government in check and is spreading terror throughout the country. The government headed by President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, have a narrow and weak majority in Parliament, unable to cope with the nation's problems and more interested in surviving politically to maintain power. Public resources and a large proportion of the gross domestic product (GDP) are allocated to the army and the powerful security apparatus - the notorious secret service, ISI – which pulls the strings of Pakistani politics. And the international community, primarily the United States, gives out military aid and weapons, without looking at the real needs of a people brought to their knees by violence and attacks.
The year 2011 has been dedicated to education in Pakistan, the only resource capable of stemming the fundamentalist drift that is taking over the country. Schools, in fact, are the number one target of the Taliban, which have long since declared war not only on education for women. These attacks then have been joined by the two "excellent murders" that characterized the first quarter of the year: the assassination of the Governor of Punjab, Salman Taseer, by a bodyguard for his opposition to the "black law" and defence of the Christian mother Asia Bibi, who was sentenced to death for blasphemy, and the March 2 murder of the Catholic minister for Minorities Shahbaz Bhatti, who had proposed a "repeal" of the norm that affect minorities.
AsiaNews, which has for years denounced these crimes and violations of human rights - first of all of religious freedom – in a nation that has become "Talibanized" has decided to publish a dossier on education, interviews with Catholic leaders and representatives of civil society, Christians and Muslims, also in order to trace a picture of the current reality. Archbishop Lawrence Saldanha, Archbishop emeritus of Lahore, says that it is "important to rethink the school curriculum" and advocates "greater collaboration between Christians and Muslims." Aoun Sahi, a Muslim journalist, explains that "education means guaranteeing equal opportunities for all children access to" quality public schools, "while today" a distorted view of Islam has penetrated deeply into the minds of citizens. " Finally Paul Bhatti, brother of murdered Catholic minister, calls for "political stability, economic security and peace" to improve the current reality of a country held hostage by a mob that prevents it from "achieving its development goals."
The comments of intellectuals and documented reports show that education is a real "national emergency", more than economic security and the threat of the Taliban, who exploit the ignorance of the population to gain strength and subjugate the masses or annihilate the few dissenting voices.
Extremism in the final analysis, feeds on the lack of education of the people and government ineptitude. If the ruling class and civil society, along with the majority Muslim minorities - including the Christian one – fail to provide concrete answers and promote common development programs, "Talibanized" Pakistan is likely to remain hostage to a small extremist and violent fringe, which hold on to power sowing terror.
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