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Religious Extremism Review Apr-Jun 2019 ISSN 2664-4428 Volume -I, No.1 Religious Extremism Review Apr-Jun 2019 Peace Research and Advocacy Institute I S L A M A B A D Volume – I, Number 1 Apr-Jun 2019 Religious Extremism Review A Quarterly Journal Peace Research and Advocacy Institute Understanding Conflicts for Peace Copyrights © Peace Research & Advocacy Institute All Rights Reserved Views expressed are authors’ own and do not necessarily reflect those held by the Institute. Peace Research & Advocacy Institute is an independent, non-government research institute based in Islamabad. It studies the phenomena of terrorism, violent extremism, and issues of religious minorities that impact security and interfaith relations in Pakistan and the region. ISSN (PRINT): 2664-4533 ISSN (ONLINE): 2664-4428 Editor: Ahmed Ali Research Associates: Wajahat Khalid M. Suleman Khan Peace Research & Advocacy Institute 4D, Mehmood Plaza, Fazle Haq Road, Blue Area, Islamabad Ph: 051-2344074, Email: [email protected] CONTENTS Abbreviations Contributors 1. Life in the Shadows: the Plight of Pakistan’s Christians Ahmed Ali 01 2. Forced Conversions: A Crisis for the State; a Nightmare for the Hindus Muhammad Suleman Khan 17 3. Proscribed Extremist Outfits Wajahat Khalid 26 4. Pak-Iran Relations and the Problem of Cross-border Militancy Liaqat Ali 47 5. A Dangerous Education Rehmatullah 64 6. Worries about Pak-Afghan Peace Talks Muhammad Suleman Khan 81 7. Daesh Khorasan Wajahat Khalid 92 8. The Genesis of Religious Radicalism in Pakistan Ahmed Ali 104 9. Religious Extremism on Social Media M. Suleman Khan & Wajahat Khalid 113 10. The Troubled Pak-Afghan Relations Wajahat Khalid & M. Suleman Khan 122 ABBREVIATIONS AJK: Azad Jammu and Kashmir ANP: Awami National Party AQIS: Al-Qaeda in the IndianSubcontinent ASWJ: Ahl-e-Sunnat Wal Jamaat ATC: Anti-Terrorism Courts ATF: Anti-Terrorism Force BC: Balochistan Constabulary BLA: Balochistan Liberation Army BLF: Balochistan Liberation Front BNP: Balochistan National Party BNP-M: Balochistan National PartyMengalGroup BRA: Baloch Republican Army BSF: Border Security Force CIA: Central Intelligence Agency CID: Criminal InvestigationDepartment CPEC: China-Pakistan EconomicCorridor CTD: Counter Terrorism Department FATA: Federally Administered TribalAreas FATF: Financial Action Task Force FC: Frontier Corps FIA: Federal Investigative Agency HRCP: Human Rights Commission ofPakistan HuA: Hizbul Ahrar IDP: Internally Displaced Persons IED: Improvised Explosive Device ISI: I nter-Services Intelligence ISIS: Islamic State in Iraq and Syria IS-K: Islamic State Khorasan ISPR: Inter-Services Public Relations JI: Jamaat-e-Islami JM: Jaish-e-Muhammad JuA: Jamaat ul Ahrar JuD: Jamaatud Dawa KP: Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa LeJ: Lashkar-e-Jhangvi LeJ-A: Lashkar-e-Jhangvi Al-Alami LI: Lashkar-e-Islam LoC: Line of Control NACTA: National Counter-TerrorismAuthority NADRA: National Database andRegistration Authority NAP: National Action Plan NATO: North Atlantic Treaty Organization NSA: National Security Advisor SM: Sipah-e-Muhammad SP: Superintendent of Police SSP: Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan TLP: Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan TNSM: Tehreek-e-Nifaz-e-Sharia-Muhammad TTP: Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan UBA: United Baloch Army UNSC: United Nation Security Council CONTRIBUTORS Ahmed Ali – Editor A former civil servant, Ahmed Ali has been studying the problems of terrorism and violent extremism since 2009. His works have been published both locally and internationally. He studied political science at the University of Karachi. Muhammad Suleman Khan – Research Associate Muhammad Suleman Khan is a professional researcher with interest in terrorism as a global phenomenon. He pursued M.Phil in peace and conflict studies at the National Defense University, Islamabad. Wajahat Khalid – Research Associate Wajahat Khalid studied International Relations at Preston University, Islamabad. He has a keen interest in studying Pakistan’s relations with Russia, and Russian policy towards the Middle East. Rehmatullah Rehmatullah worked as a journalist in Balochistan for over eight years. Later, he remained associated with policy development and counter- terrorism research at the National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA), Islamabad. Liaqat Ali Liaqat Ali graduated from the Queen Mary University of London, UK and later pursued M.Phil in economics at Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE), Islamabad. His academic interests include political economy, and security. Religious Extremism Review Life in the Shadows: the Plight of Pakistan’s Christians Ahmed Ali “It is necessary to identify the fact that most of the slums are under the occupation of the Christian community whose members shift to Islamabad from Narowal, Sheikhupura, Shakargarh, Sialkot, Kasur, Sahiwal and Faisalabad, and occupy the government lands so boldly as if they have been allotted to them, and it seems that this pace of occupation of land may affect the Muslim majority in the capital” – The Capital Development Authority, Islamabad, 2015 The Christians make up 1.6% of the over 200-million population in Pakistan.[1] Most of them are the descendants of Dalit Hindus who converted during the British era. Although a few Christians are comparatively prominent and successful, the Christians tend to be amongst the poorest and most vulnerable communities in Pakistan.[2] Economic deprivation, discrimination, and social exclusion await them at every step. Most Christians live in Punjab, with sizeable populations in Sindh, Islamabad, and KP. In 2018, a Christian support group ‘Open Doors’ ranked Pakistan fifth (out of fifty) most difficult country to be a Christian. Societal prejudice against the Christians is rampant at almost all levels. Many Pakistanis refer to their fellow Christians as ‘Chuhra’, meaning low-caste but also with connotations of janitorial work. Discrimination against the Christians is so common that often public advertisements for janitorial jobs specifically ask for Christian applicants. In 2013, Pervez Khattak, then the chief minister of KP province and currently Pakistan’s defense minister, publicly declared that only non-Muslims would be recruited as sweepers.[3] Sanitary jobs are normally considered below the dignity of Muslim citizens which is 1 Religious Extremism Review why it is generally thought fit to reserve them for “others” like Christians. The status of Christians as citizens of Pakistan has declined over decades especially since the 1980s. Till the early 1970s, the Christian churches in Pakistan ran religious schools that served as key centers for the learning of Christian faith and values as well as community gathering. The Bhutto regime nationalized all religious schools in 1972. However later, religious schools of other religions were de-nationalized and returned to the communities, but the Christian schools were not denationalized.[4] The Conversion and the Disappointment In the 19th century, the Chuhra (Dalits) were the biggest caste of untouchables in Punjab. Condemned to the bottom of social hierarchy, they mainly did janitorial works for survival. In 1870, the Chuhra caste initiated a mass movement for conversion to Christianity in a bid to escape the plight of lowly life in the society. The movement peaked in 1930s during which the entire Chuhra community converted to Protestant Christians.[5] At the time of Pakistan’s creation, they emerged as the nascent Protestant Church in Pakistan. But the question is did the conversion improve the social, economic, or religious status of the Chuhra community? The answer is unfortunately ‘no’. In 1971, Streefland, a sociologist, studied the ‘Chuhra Christians’ of Karachi in order to ascertain if the Christian faith had made any difference in their lives. He found the community was still stuck in the same social and economic misery. They were employed to clean public latrines, sweep the streets, and open the city’s clogged sewerage.[6] In short, the Chuhra’s mass conversion drive to Christianity that lasted for over half a century (1870-1930s) failed to achieve its objectives. Today, they are as disappointed about their fate as they have ever been. Their desperation and hopelessness are best reflected in the words of Afzal Masih, a Pakistani Christian, who told the Express Tribune that “I am a sweeper; my sons will be sweepers and, in the future, so will my 2 Religious Extremism Review grandsons.”[7] The term Chuhra originally means ‘low caste’, but in Pakistan it has gained further degraded connotations of filthy work that often elicits repulsion amongst members of other communities especially the majority Muslims. The Christians and the Making of Pakistan Mohammad Ali Jinnah’s struggle for Pakistan would have been less effective had his political ideals not been propagated so intensely by the Muslim League’s newspaper daily Dawn. Founded by Jinnah, the daily Dawn became a crucial mouthpiece and the top propaganda tool of Muslim League. Its first editor Pothan Joseph, an Indian Christian, aggressively advocated the cause of Muslim League in the early 1940s and disseminated the Muslim viewpoint to the Indian audience. Joseph started or developed over two dozen newspapers including the Hindustan Times, the Indian Express, and the Deccan Herald.[8] At a time when Jinnah and other Muslims League leaders desperately needed mass support for their political goals, they also turned to the Christians, Parsis, and other minorities and promised them equality of citizenship in the proposed state of Pakistan. When Jinnah presented his celebrated 14 points, the ‘All
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