KARACHI, Feb 8: Expressing concern over a mushroom growth of those religious seminaries that preach militancy, a writer and scholar has warned that their number in Sindh — both urban and rural — is increasing and urged people to stand up and resist their further spread before it is too late. “Such seminaries are taking root and becoming stronger with the passage of time and local people must act now to discourage them,” Ayesha Siddiqua said in her lecture organised jointly by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) and the Anjuman Taraqqi Pasand Musannifeen (ATPM) here on Tuesday.

She noted that such seminaries or madressahs started emerging in southern Punjab in the 1980s and faced no resistance from the people living around them until they fully established themselves.

And now they have become so strong that the top leadership of liberal and democratic parties is unable to control their dangerous act of preaching militancy or take a stand against them, according to her.

She said that madressahs had been set up in the country's biggest metropolis, Karachi, in a large number and a visit to just one locality, Gulshan-i-Maymar, would show that how they had mushroomed over the years. She asked the liberal-minded people of the city to beware of those preaching extremism among them.

Discussing an example where a nationalist group stoop up against a madressah in Badin but this led to a clash leaving one person from each side dead, Ms Siddiqua appreciated those who raised their voice against such preachers active within their neighbourhood, and said: “It's a good sign but these madressahs are very organised, well-trained and backed by the establishment.”She added that liberal people might not prevail over them unless all liberal forces in the country joined hands and forged unity to counter them.

She was of the view that the establishment, which had earlier remained neutral in this context, started promoting madressah culture some 30-40 years back, in the 1980s to be precise. The same culture has given a boost to militancy in this society, she asserted.

The scholar said that madressahs with extremist mindset took strength from establishment, which also used them for its motives of maintaining its rule over the country or installing a government of its choice.

She blamed latent radicalism and religious fascism penetrating deep into society on teaching at the madressahs opposing tolerance of a different school of thought.

Ms Siddiqua observed that militancy took foot soldiers from southern Punjab and was funded by the middle-class of the central and upper Punjab districts. The leadership militant organizations, however, appeared to be both from the middle- and upper middle-class, and not the lower-class.

She said that she could understand the anguish, miseries and reaction of the people living in the areas bordering Afghanistan owing to drone attacks or fallout of the occupation forces' activities in the neighbouring country, but the youth from southern Punjab had nothing to do with the whole affair. “These youths are made to opt for militancy by these radical madressahs,” she said, claiming that over 8,000 youths from southern Punjab had been drawn into the militant force.

The writer asserted that these militant organisations had been created by the establishment, which described them as 'strategic partners' ready to work for it as the country's proxies; and their members were sent to Afghanistan, India, Chechnya, Bosnia, etc for what was described as Jihad.

She said that during her research for her book 'Military Inc' the economic and political might of the establishment had been revealed to her but over the years she came to know about its intellectual power as it had even made inroads into certain sections of the media, academicians and researchers, who spoke what the establishment dictated to them.

“This is very unfortunate,” she said, pointing out that the establishment was now even influencing the narrative of society or its thought process. She said these sections of society were under its influence probably owing to the prevailing sentiments of nationalism, religion, etc.

During the 1980s and earlier, a major section of the media, though smaller than what it is today, was more independent than now, she observed.

Ms Siddiqua cautioned that the term 'local militants' should not be confused with the 'Taliban', which was originally an indigenous movement and took an spontaneous start under the leadership of 'village mullahs' of Afghanistan to counter the atrocities let loose by Afghan warlords, before the movement was influenced by certain other forces.

HRCP's Ghazi Salahuddin and Rahat Saeed also spoke at the sitting that included a question-answer session.