education is the only way out

SINCE years we have been in a state of war. ...[There are] bomb blasts, suicide attacks, passengers travelling by bus being made to disembark and then shot dead on sectarian grounds. ...This has become the order of the day. In rural areas there are tribal feuds and ethnic conflict. It seems as if this state has become a nursery for riots where ... clashesand conflicts are growing. This continues regardless of whether there is a democratic era or dictatorship in thecountry. In a dictatorship, the bureaucracy calls the shots, while in a democracy chieftains, feudals ... enjoy power.

Neither dictatorship nor democracy has changed the situation for the common man.

This does not mean that we are opposed to democracy, but we want to point out that elected representatives ... do not follow democratic values.

These feudals cannot be friends of the people. We are unable to promote education.

No outsider is hampering the progress of education, but it is our feudals, chaudhries and waderas who have converted school buildings into cattlepens.... They have neither allowed the middle class to rise nor have they worked in the spirit of democracy. This can also be seen in the recruitment for jobs where no merit is observed. ...[J]obs are handed over to MNAs and MPAs.

Hence jobs are not given on merit but according to political compulsions.... We have a majority of such people in theeducation department.

...President Asif Ali Zardari, while inaugurating the Waseela-iTaleem scheme ..warned that if we failed to impart education to our children history will not forgive us. President Zardari has rightly said that history will not only hold us accountable but the nation will be wiped out [from the world map] if we failed to educate them. Today we are stuck in the quagmire of extremism; the reason behind it is also the lack of education. ...It is painful that we ... spend the budget on purchasing arms. This has destroyed our health and education sectors. ...-(Nov 11) • Selected and translated by Sohail Sangi

Iran warns US it will act firmly if airspace violated

TEHRAN, Nov 11: Iran warned on Sunday it would react strongly against any US intrusion into its airspace after two of its warplanes fired at an American drone 10 days ago, the ISNA news agency reported.

`Yes, we opened fire, and it was with warning shots. If they do it again they can expect an even stronger response,` the agency quoted General Amir-Ali Hadjizadeh, head of the elite Revolutionary Guards air and space forces, as saying.

Pentagon spokesman George Little said on Thursday the Iranian Su-25 Frogfoot fighters fired at the robotic Predator drone on Nov 1 but did not hit it.

`They intercepted the aircraft and fired multiple rounds,` he said.

The American drone was `never in Iranian airspace` and came under fire from the fighter jets off the Iranian coast over international waters, Little said.

In a warning to Tehran, the Pentagon spokesman said the United States was prepared to safeguard its forces.

`We have a wide range of options, from diplomatic to military, to protect our military assets and our forces in the region and will do so when necessary,` Little said.

On Friday, Iranian Defence Minister Ahmad Vahidi confirmed the incident, saying the drone had `entered the space over the territorial waters of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the Persian Gulf area` Hadjizadeh was reported as saying on Sunday: `This spy drone entered Iranian airspace and had to turn around because of the immediate reaction by fighters of the Revolutionary Guards.

He added that the US unmanned aircraft had been `flying over Kharg island to gather information about economic activity on the island, and the arrival and departure of oil tankers.

Kharg, 25 kilometres off the Iranian mainland, is the Islamic republic`s main export terminal for its oil.

The United States and the European Union have both imposed economic sanctions against Iran over its controversial nuclear ambitions which western powers and Israel believe are aimed at producing atomic weapons.

Tehran denies the charge, sayings its programme of uranium enrichment is entirely peaceful and is for energy and medical purposes. The Nov 1 drone incident came less than a week before America`s presidential election, but the Pentagon kept it quiet until reports of the confrontation leaked out.-AFP    

education and Global Action Day for Malala Yousufzai

AS the world geared up to mark the Global Action Day for Malala Yousufzai, the Pakistan government launched on Friday a literacy programme to provide free education to children, primarily girls. The fouryear Waseela-i-Taleem initiative, undertaken under the umbrella of the Benazir Income Support Programme, aims to educate three million poor children, with President Zardari noting during its launch that `no country can make any progress without investing in its human capital`. We hope the state remains committed enough to achieve its goals. There is no doubt that, as report after report has pointed out, Pakistan faces an education emergency with the young not being able to attend school due to a wide variety of reasons ranging from convention or poverty to security as the injuries suffered by Malala so horrifyingly demonstrated. Not only are there not enough schools in the country, Pakistan`s dropout rates are much higher andenrolment figures woefully lower than they should be.

The grim picture of the fate of the next generation, particularly its female members, is drawn in clear lines by the recently released Education for All Global Monitoring Report.

Pakistan is among the bottom 10 countries in terms of education for females in straitened financial circumstances. It was also amongst the last 10 for the amount of time girls spend in schools in their lifetimes, with almost two-thirds of the poorest girls never going to school at all. These figures are cause for serious concern, for coupled with population growth and demographic figures, they point towards a future where growing numbers of people are not just poor but illiterate as well, thus further decreasing opportunities for uplift. Only if the government takes strides towards achieving the Waseela-i-Taleem initiative`s goal can it be considered to have demonstrated its commitment to this crucial sector.    

In heart of France, Islamic school trains clerics

AINT-LIGER-DE-FOUGERET (France), Nov 6: Deep in the wooded hills of Burgundy in central France, an unusual institute is training unusual students: aspiring French imams who hope to minister to the country`s large Muslim population.

Early in the morning, some 200 students from across the country stream into the European Institute of Human Sciences de Saint-Legerde-Fougeret, where they learn to read the holy Quran and study Islamic theology and Arabic literature.

After seven intensive years of study, only 10 or so graduates eachyear to lead prayers or preach at mosques.

Estimates of France`s Muslim population vary widely, from between 3.5 million and 6.0 million, though there is little hard evidence as to how many are practising. In any event, France`s Muslim community is the largest in western Europe.

Relations between the authorities and Muslims, many of them secondor third-generation immigrants, chiefly from North Africa, have often been tense.

Some younger Muslims have been tempted by extremist jihadist views and France hasimplemented a contentious ban on women wearing full veils.

Over the past nine years, various governments have encouraged the professional training of local religious leaders. Interior Minister Manuel Valls recently backed the practice, even if the job of imam is badly paid, if at all, and enjoys no official recognition.

The initiative goes back 20 years when the Union of Islamic Organisations in France, which has close ties to the Muslim Brotherhood, converted a former children`s holiday centre into the institute. Its stated aim is to train imams equipped `with a solidknowledge of Islam and the sociocultural realities of Europe`.

The idea was to provide an alternative to the recruitment of foreign imams, who often spoke no French and had little or no knowledge of French lifestyles.

`The training of imams who are products of French society is vital: Today 70 per cent of the faithful don`t speak Arabic,` said the institute`s director Zuhair Mahmood.

Initially financed by the Gulf States, the school depends heavily on fees of about 3,400 euros ($4,400) a year board and lodging included.

`Since I was small I havedreamed of becoming an imam, said 18-year-old Wahib, who did not want to give his last name, `but seven years is long and there are no grants`.

Apart from the rural setting, the atmosphere in the run-down prefabricated corridors of the institute is like that of any other college.

At break time men, often bearded, and women, all of them wearing head scarves, wait for coffee.

The women can follow the 20 hours of weekly courses but cannot become imams.

Said, who also did not want to give his last name, was born inMorocco and now living in Nice in southern France. He took correspondence courses for two years and left his family to `deepen` his knowledge of Islam. `If I succeed, I become an imam. It`s my vocation,` he said.

`I would love to pass on my knowledge to others and above all fight against extremism.

There are about 10 people in his class. They listen to the interpretations of a sura from holy Quran, as part of a third year theology course, which also includes an introduction to French law.

`Being an imam, it isn`t something that happens,` the 33-year-old Said told this correspondent.

`It`s a real responsibility, We have to be safeguards.

`Radicalism is always the result of ignorance,` Said`s theology teacher Larbi Belbachir added.

Traditionally, congregations of the faithful choose their imams, who carry out their duties as volunteers or are paid by gifts. Those presiding in large mosques can earn 1,500 euros ($1,950) a month.

They are classified as educators or teachers but never as imams.

`When this profession is recognised and paid as such,` Said suggested, `perhaps there will be more vocations`.-AFP    

Army`s concerns

AS the country digests the army chief`s latest foray into, strictly speaking, non-military matters, it appears that Gen Kayani`s comments on Monday were directed at his principal constituency: the armed forces itself. The discomfort within the rank and file and the leadership too in recent weeks is not very difficult to fathom.

Mehrangate, the NLC scam, inquiries into a luxury resort in Lahore, and myriad other questions about the army`s political role and management of security affairs have all combined to probably create a sense of siege. For an institution as proud and domestically predominant as the army has been over the decades, it may well be bewildering to be subjected to the kind of scrutiny and commentary that nonuniformed leaders have long been used to. So Gen Kayani`s words targeted as they appear to have been against the judiciary and sections of the media, and not really the civilian political leadership were probably intended to allay concerns within the armed forces that somewhat legitimate criticism of narrow problems, from the army`s perspective, were growing into wanton and gratuitous criticism of the entire institution.

Questionable as the army`s concerns may be those never subjected to intense scrutiny will always resist a changing order it is perhaps a signof the times, and a good one at that, that the army chief chose tough words instead of strong action. In eras past, a discreet phone call or a public swipe would have been enough to tamp down criticism and make unwanted investigations disappear. So perhaps in time, even the dubious use of the ISPR to put out such controversial statements will be a practice curbed.

For the long road to civilian control of the state to be travelled, however, one of the key elements is the question of who determines the `national interest`. Gen Kayani was correct in saying that `no individual or institution has the monopoly to decide what is right or wrong in defining the national interest` and that it should emerge through a `consensus`. But in truth, it must go much further than that in a truly democratic polity. While other institutions do have some role to play, the central pivot has to be the civilian leadership that represents the will of the people through parliament. It cannot and must not be forgotten that the internal and external instability the country faces today is largely rooted in policies pursued by the army itself in the name of the national interest. But if a few court cases and investigations so unsettle the armed forces, can they really be willing to cede control of the `national interest`?    

Sandy Storm: learning a lesson from America

KEEPING aside the rhetoric of some right-wing elements in our society that the storm Sandy is `natural justice` on the `infidels`, the cue for Pakistan should be the management part of it.

The normality witnessed just on the third day after the storm hit the United States of America`s east coast is a leading example for nations to follow.

More than anything else, it was sheer determination on the part of their leaders to stand united in theface of this catastrophe.

They threw politics off their shoulders and tackled what turned out to be one of the worst disasters in American history.

Out of 78 million people affected, the number of deaths at 100 shows the preparedness on all three stages: pre-disaster, during disaster and postdisaster.

Even though Pakistan has seen worst of floods during the past three years, yet the levelof preparednessis unfortunately at the lowest ebb.Vast areas still remain inundated, while scores of people are still fighting their fate and struggling to make ends meet.

Blaming destiny has become a synonym for lack of preparedness in our country.

Hopefully, our leaders who often portray a pro-western stance would follow in the footsteps of their counterparts in the West in this regard as well.

Malala Yousafzai and the Other Half of Muslim History

BLOOMINGTON, Indiana -- As someone who writes and lectures about women and gender in Islam, I am often asked if women had any role in the making of the Islamic tradition. Happily, the answer is always yes. There were in fact many prominent women in the early history of Islam.
At the top of the list would have to be Aisha, the widow of the Prophet Muhammad, who was renowned for her learning and wit. The Prophet in fact is said to have counselled his followers to "take half of your religion" from Aisha -- in recognition of her learning. After his death, she spent the rest of her life transmitting the sayings of her husband and commenting on the Quran. Her authoritative pronouncements have decisively shaped the later Islamic legal tradition.
The early period of Islam in particular is peopled with such intelligent, assertive and pious women. Another name that comes to mind is Umm Umara. Although she was a prominent companion of the Prophet Muhammad, whom he regarded highly in her own time, she has become an obscure figure over the centuries. One possible reason for this is that Umm Umara was a "difficult" woman -- that is to say, she was someone who asked a lot of questions and who protested loudly when she was faced with inequality, especially in regard to women's rights. Her passion for justice and outspokenness, however, were hardly out of place in the first century of Islam.

As historical records inform us, women in particular excelled in religious scholarship through the late Mamluk period, the 14th and 15th centuries of the common era. This should not be surprising since women's right to education is firmly guaranteed by Islam. A well-known saying of the Prophet Muhammad asserts that knowledge is equally obligatory for males and females -- which has allowed for considerable Muslim receptivity toward providing education for girls and women alongside their male counterparts through the centuries. As a result, women scholars dot the Islamic intellectual landscape.
The famous ninth century Muslim jurist al-Shafii, widely regarded as the father of Islamic jurisprudence, studied with female teachers. Ibn Hajar, another prominent jurist from the 15th century, gratefully acknowledges his debt to a number of his female professors whose study circles he frequented.
Ibn Hajar's student, al-Sakhawi, dedicated one whole volume of his encyclopaedic biographical work on famous scholars from the Mamluk period to women alone. Among the 1,075 women listed in this volume, over 400 were active in scholarship. One such scholar is on record as having complained that she was not getting adequate compensation for her teaching (a complaint that may sound dismayingly familiar to contemporary professional women the world over today).
Regrettably, the memory of these accomplished women has grown dim over time. As Muslim societies became more patriarchal after the first century of Islam, many of these women have been air-brushed out of the master narrative of Islamic history, leaving us with the impression that the Islamic tradition was shaped mainly by men.
This erasure of women can lead to a dangerously mistaken belief that Islam itself mandates this marginalization of women. The danger is real -- as became recently evident in the Taliban's brutal and misogynist vendetta against the indomitable 14-year-old Malala Yousafzai. A fearless warrior to promote education for females in her native Pakistan, Yousafzai has paid a huge price for her courageous stance, as she now struggles to recover after being shot by the Taliban.
Yousafzai's fate is a reminder that women's historical roles in Islamic learning and scholarship need to become much better known among Muslims themselves. This is imperative so that in the future the Taliban's grotesque interpretation of women's rights can immediately be recognised for what it is: a violation of fundamental Islamic principles and one that should not be granted even the veneer of religious legitimacy.
In her fearless insistence on the right to be educated and to be heard in public, Yousafzai is following in the footsteps of her illustrious female forebears from the first century of Islam. Learned, feisty and principled women have contributed much to the Islamic heritage.
Her predicament reminds us why this history must be featured prominently in our own times and why women must be reinstated into the very mainstream of the Islamic intellectual tradition. It is the most effective way to keep religious obscurantism at bay in Muslim-majority societies, especially the kind that threatens the well-being of Muslim girls and women.