WHAT does one make of a situation where a different answer is given to the same question, depending on who is asked and when?

In a rolling series of responses given to the Senate since at least January, the Punjab police have been giving conflicting answers to a simple question: how many madressahs in the province are known to be receiving foreign funding?

In late January, where other provinces presented a combined figure of 23 madressahs that received foreign funding, Punjab had said there were no such seminaries on its territory.

This claim was met with scepticism, and the Senate committee summoned the Punjab IGP and asked him the same question. The IGP sent a representative in his place who reportedly told the committee that foreign funding was indeed being received, but came via informal channels, and details were therefore not known.

He sought the assistance of the FIA and the State Bank in tracing it. The committee tasked the Punjab police with preparing a detailed report and scheduled another hearing.

That hearing was held on Wednesday, and this time the Punjab IGP appeared in person, along with an official from Nacta, the counterterrorism authority.

This time they told the committee that 147 seminaries in Punjab were receiving funds from abroad, but that “no actionable intelligence” existed on the matter, and therefore the police could do little more than keep the entities under watch.

Nacta made the startling observation that it was unaware of the exact number of madressahs operating in the country since the figures provided by different agencies and provincial governments did not tally. He had no concrete information on foreign funding. Given some follow-up, the provincial government has gone from “nil”, to “some” to 147 in just over a month.

The fact that legislators have to follow up aggressively in order to get straight answers to such an important question shows the provincial government’s lack of interest in pursuing the matter.

Funding of madressahs, especially those suspected of involvement in terrorist activities and those whose curriculum includes preaching hate against members of other sects and denominations, is a crucial part of fighting the menace of extremism and terrorism in Pakistan.

If the law-enforcement agencies are evasive in generating straightforward answers to simple questions, and continuously plead their helplessness and ask for assistance from other government departments, it reveals a manifest lack of vigour in going to the roots of terrorism.

Published in Dawn, March 6th, 2015

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