| 20 January 2004 | Tuesday | 27 Ziqa'ad 1424 |
Death of a student
Key role of farm research
The madressah is an institution that is as much maligned as it is misunderstood. Set up first under Seljuk rule in the 11th century by Nizamul Mulk, the grand vizier, the madressahs were designed to produce trained bureaucrats for the Seljuk empire.
In their own times, they had a modern curriculum that included logic, grammar, mathematics, history, law and administration. Following the ravaging of the Middle East by the Mongols in the 13th century, the madressahs, like all Arab-Islamic institutions, collapsed.
As the Muslim world took to western education from the 19th century onward, the madressahs lost much of their dynamism and relevance. Now they began producing clerics for leading prayers and performing rituals. The curriculum, too, did not change, and even in the 20th century it continued to be referred to as dars-i-Nizamiya. Yet, they have continued to perform a useful function: producing scholars and ulema well-versed in Islamic disciplines.
More important, madressahs provide free lodging and boarding to students from low-income families - at a time when education is slipping into the hands of the private sector. The one thing farthest from the minds of those who ran these institutions was to militarize the students.
The great change in the madressahs in Pakistan came in the wake of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. The country that played a major role in spreading the jihadi culture was the US, for it was American money and arms that enabled the madressahs to produce mujahids for the jihad in Afghanistan. America pulled out of the Afghan scene in the wake of the Soviet withdrawal, but the madressahs acquired a new role. Their products not only took over Afghanistan, the jihadi parties became a state within a state in Pakistan.
We are constrained to give this background because a western think-tank, the International Crisis Group, has termed as a failure Pakistan's attempt to modernize madressahs. Undeniably, the Musharraf government has failed to follow up on many of its promises. The vast majority of madressahs remain unregistered, and a modern curriculum has been restricted to only a few.
But the point to note is that a centuries old system and institution of Theogical education cannot be reformed overnight. More important, the ICG fails to realize that all madressahs are not producing militants and fanatics. The great majority of madressah students remain dedicated to a pursuit of Islamic study and pose no threat to society. A hasty and ill-planned crackdown on the system will produce chaos and strengthen the forces of extremism.
The issue thus, needs careful handling. The problem has indeed been complicated by politics. The ICG is correct when it says that the Musharraf government depends upon religious elements for survival. However, a greater problem is the American interest in madressah reforms. This has created an embarrassing situation for the president, for he would be seen to be implementing an American agenda. Such a perception can only stiffen resistance to any attempt at reforming the madressah system.
The truth is that the world will have to be patient on this count. There is no quick-fix solution. What the government should do is to continue to keep a close watch on the madressahs, help modernize the curriculum, but take strict action where they are found to be promoting militancy.
The job needs patient handling with long-term objectives in view. Foreign agencies do an excellent job when it comes to collecting statistics but they show a lack of understanding of the Muslim psyche in such matters.
Death of a student
The death of a student on Saturday in what is thought to be one of Karachi's better colleges - the Government College for Commerce and Economics - again brings into focus the urgent need for stamping out violence from our universities and colleges.
The student lost his life in an institution which is at a stone's throw from both the governor's and chief minister's house. As usually is the case, the young man who died was a member of a student wing of a political party and those who allegedly killed him were activists of an opposing organization.
The tension created by the tragic death has been exacerbated by an ultimatum given to the authorities by the head of the student wing to arrest the killers within 72 hours or be prepared for widespread disturbances in the city's educational institutions.
The government's response to such incidents is typically defensive and of a short-term nature. In this particular case, the college was closed for a day and promises were made that those behind the killing would be soon arrested. Such measures might prevent tensions from spilling over but what happens once the institution re-opens? What is to prevent violence from recurring, if not in this particular institution then in some others? And what is the guarantee that there will be no retaliation by the aggrieved party? Administrative steps taken after violent incidents cannot be relied upon as solutions.
Durable results will be possible only if steps are taken to do away with political intrusion and activism on our campuses. Of course, it would be a great help if leaders of our political parties realized that letting go of their grasp on educational institutions could perhaps be the best gift they could make to our colleges and universities.
Along with this, the government will at some point have to reconsider its ban on student unions. The existence of unions, that are truly representative of a university's student body, would allow members to use their energies and ideas in a more constructive and less violent ways.
Key role of farm research
The Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission has done well to take the initiative for developing and introducing high-yield, pest-resistant and soil-suitable crops for local farmers. This is an area which has been sorely neglected with the result that the quality and quantity of crops harvested each year has been on the decline.
There has been a noticeable absence in the introduction of new varieties or improved versions of various crops in the past few years despite the fact that these are much needed for the country to sustain and boost agriculture production. As a result, a large percentage of local agriculture produce is affected by problems such as pest attacks and low yields causing shortages. It must be mentioned that in the 1960s, research had brought about a vast change in Pakistani agriculture.
Owing to work done then, the area of wheat under high yielding varieties has increased to 86 per cent of the total area sown. The introduction of the semi-dwarf Mexi-Pak in 1973 proved to be a success. Similarly, IRRI rice has proved to be popular despite strong competition from the Basmati variety. Improved varieties of cotton, like Pak-Upland, are now grown throughout most of Pakistan.
In brief, the position would have been much worse if the new high-yielding, disease-resistant varieties had not been introduced. Research, therefore, has the important role of anticipating and countering any unfavourable changes in the biological status of Pakistan's agriculture.
But the work previously done has not been followed up. Breeding and selection of new varieties must be a continuous process to increase productivity. The government needs to wake up to this reality so that agriculture output can be increased on the basis of new research. This will help prevent some of the shortages we periodically experience today.