The mullahs factor

The mullahs factor

Dr. Jassim Taqui

The majority of the civil society social society have always been the victims of a small segment of mullahs. Before Gen. Zia ul Haq’s  coup of 5^th July, 1977, mullahs were completely marginalized by secular regimes. However, Gen. Zia, himself a mullah sympathizer, infused a new life in their dead bodies. He was helped by the US administration, which wanted the mullahs to wage jihad against the Soviet troops in Afghanistan.

Billions of dollars were spent on recruiting mullahs and building thousands of seminaries, which served as nurseries to recruit  Mujahideen.

During the Afghan jihad (1979-1989) the mullahs became a formidable force. They penetrated all decision-making institutions in large number including the armed forces of Pakistan.

Subsequently, the mullahs combined with the terrorist outfits to spread terrorism all over Pakistan especially when Gen. Raheel Sharif decided to hit them hard in Zarab-e-Azab Operation-   in progress since June, 2014.

While the army has been able to cleanse North Waziristan from terrorist outfits, the mullahs remain  untouchable due to their influence , wealth and clandestine assistance from non-state actors within Pakistan and outside it.

The mullahs succeed to introduce amendments in the constitution that paralyze every government to abrogate them ; fearing that the mullahs would declare them Kafirs (infidels.)

In fact, the mullahs influenced the parliament to declare the minority Ahmadis as infidels although the decision conflicts with the basic teaching of Islam. Holy prophet Mohammad (PBUH) had proclaimed, “ Whosoever says: There is no God but God and Muhammad is the Prophet of God is a Muslim.” All factions of Islam are observing the above criterion. How, can anyone, then, declare any faction as infidel or non-Muslim?

Another problem behind the influence of the mullahs is the wide spread illiteracy in Pakistan and substandard educational system. The culprit behind this is the government, which allocates less than 2 percent of the annual  budget for education.

In retrospect, the mullahs would continue to dominate and influence the society unless the government introduces massive reform and substantially increase the allocation for education in the annual budget.