Musharraf calls for curbing obscurantism: Address at IIU convocation
ISLAMABAD, March 12: Reiterating Pakistan’s firm resolve to fight out terrorism through force, President Gen Pervez Musharraf here on Saturday called for a wave of mass participation of the moderate segment to combat religious extremism and replace the menace with true Islamic values of peace and tolerance.
“Terrorism is to be combated ruthlessly through force — religious and sectarian extremism is to be met with a truly prudent approach,
“We have to replace the instigation of hate, anger and militancy in madrassahs and print material with propagation of peace, tolerance and understanding,” he emphasized.
Addressing the third convocation of the International Islamic University, the President pointed out that Pakistan simultaneously faced the menaces of terrorism, religious extremism and sectarian extremism and the country had to strategize separately to combat each one of these.
“We must understand that this strategy can only be achieved through a momentum, through a wave, which has to be initiated.
“It cannot be by one individual, it cannot be by a government, it has to be through a wave of masses, through all of us, who believe in moderation,” he stressed.
At the convocation, the president conferred the award of honorary degrees of Doctor of Law on Prince El-Hassan Bin Talal of Jordan, former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad and former South African President Nelson Mandela.
Recounting the challenges confronting the Muslim world, he stressed that the OIC countries should follow a reconciliatory and reformatory approach instead of entering into confrontation in a world, where there were hostile perceptions about Islam due to actions of a minority of obscurantist forces.
The fact was that religious intolerance and militancy of the extremist fringe among the Muslims and the unabated maligning of Islam in a part of the Western media were giving rise to growing misperceptions about Islam, he regretted.
The president urged the Western media to understand the real causes of political unrest, and said: “It is a travesty of facts to equate Islam with intolerance as the great religion stands for peace, harmony, justice, equality and brotherhood.”
Pointing out to the low socio-economic indicators in the Muslim countries, President Musharraf, who is Chancellor of the IIU, underlined the need for making progress in the fields of knowledge and technology.
Despite possessing natural resources, including 70 per cent of energy resources and 40 per cent of raw material, the Muslim world lagged behind in key socio-economic fields, he said.
In this context, he noted that 22 of the 49 least developed countries were Muslim states.
“There is poverty and illiteracy and intellectual stagnation in the Muslim countries, and these problems have been aggravated by religious intolerance as activities of a minority of radicals have harmed the interests of the Muslim world.”
He informed the gathering, including those from the eminent faculty of the International Islamic University from 15 countries and graduating students hailing from 57 countries that the government was focussed on reducing poverty and raising the level of literacy to address terrorism and extremism in their long-term perspectives.
The government, he said, had brought about a huge increase in the annual budgetary allocation for higher education, lifting it from Rs800 million to Rs9.1 billion.
Similarly, the non-development expenditure at the higher education level had seen a surge from Rs3.4 billion to Rs7 billion, and was to rise by 50 per cent each year.
A digital library had been set up, which would help students at higher level to have access to thousands of international publications, which, otherwise, could only be available at very high prices, he said, adding that 57 institutions had been provided high-speed connectivity to the Internet.
President Musharraf said the government was also endeavouring to make strides in the field of science and technology and had increased the per annum allocation for it from Rs180 million to Rs6 billion.
Hundreds of Pakistanis were in the process of acquiring PhDs in universities across the country as well as around the world, he said, and added that the government was aiming at raising the number of students getting PhDs to 1,500 per year.
President Musharraf called for acquiring modern knowledge along with religious education. The Islamic world, he said, needed a culture of tolerance and understanding.
He expressed the hope that the IIU would act as a catalyst towards simultaneous teaching of religious enlightenment and modern knowledge.
The president announced the award of degrees on successful students at bachelor’s level and doctors of philosophy.
He advised the students to cling to the golden values of honesty, truthfulness and contentment for fulfilment in life. He also underlined the importance of being decisive, bold and balanced in public dealing for a bright career.
President Musharraf asserted that persistent efforts were required both internally within the Muslim societies and externally to correct the misperceptions about Islam and projecting true image of the religion, which called for peace, enlightenment and tolerance.
“We need to curb obscurantism and correct our direction for achieving sustained socio-economic development — we should have enlightenment and moderation in accordance with the Islamic teachings.”
He drew the attention of the Muslim world towards developing a new paradigm to deal with challenges facing the Muslim world.
“In order to develop such a paradigm, a new revolutionary strategy is needed,” he added, underlining that the new strategy should be based on his OIC-adopted concept of enlightened moderation.
Enlightened moderation, he elaborated, called for charting a middle course in the turbulent world, between the extremes of ultra-Westernism and ultra-traditionalism.
“We have to chart a middle course, avoiding these extremes in Pakistan,” he said.
Under one prong of the strategy of enlightened moderation, he said, the Muslim world had to reject extremism and strive for its socio-economic emancipation.
The West, on the other hand, had to help resolve political disputes affecting the Muslims and assist the Muslim countries in achieving the goal of socio-economic development, he said.
He called this course a win-win for all and the one where humanity at large will emerge as the winner.
The president called upon the Muslim Ummah to use the vehicle of the Organization of Islamic Conference to meet the challenges of the 21st century.
“We must restructure the OIC,” he stressed.—APP
MAHATHIR: Mahathir Mohamad, speaking at the ceremony, said Muslims should interpret Islamic laws in harmony with the needs of the modern times, adds Reuters.
Mr Mahathir cited the Islamic teaching that a woman rape victim could be punished if she could not produce four male witnesses in her favour, adding: “Is it morally right that the victim should get punishment?”
He was commenting on an issue that is at the centre of a debate raging between Pakistani human rights groups and Islamic parties, who want no change in the country’s Islamic laws.
