Operation Silence was designed to flush out a well entrenched militant force that was professional and had the expertise to defend a limited structure with necessary arms and ammunition and explosives. It took six days to clear the opposition with combat casualties on both sides.
Unfortunately the females were used as a shield by the militants to reduce their casualties. The operation was conducted by the Special Services Group (SSG) normally known in the Army as Commandos. They were special instructions to avoid targeting females. A word or two about these females.
They belonged to the poor class and their parents could not bear their educational expenses. Jamia Hafsa offered free education (boarding and lodging) which was very tempting for the parents. Approximately three thousand female students were on the roll apart from the male students.
The students were indoctrinated with the theory of introducing Sharia in the country. If one recalls an interview of these females by Faeza Dawood at Jamia Hafsa they openly demanded enforcement of Shariat Laws in the country.
Subsequently in Capital Talk Show the two students that survived, vociferously condemned Operation Silence and compared it with Kerbala. Such was the state of mind of these female students which is condemnable by a law abiding Pakistani citizen.
The government should plan to keep such females away from the mainstream society as these are apt to contaminate our normal sisters and daughters. Abdul Rashid had warned that any attack on Lal Masjid will be retaliated by suicide attacks all over the country. How true! The country is facing suicide attacks all over after Operation Silence. These attacks have plunged the country into a state of shock.
Our religiously affiliated political parties are capitalising on this issue and the extremist elements are openly criticising the government on the issue. The President had all along been warning that the public should discard these extremists in the Elections for the surviva1 of Pakistan.
The sudden upsurge of this element is the result of policy of appeasement which permitted them to enter politics in addition to their basic role of religion. Islamic education should be geared to produce Imam Masjids and nothing more.
Their dabbling in politics of the country is dangerous. We allowed them to become graduates - paved a way out for their entry into the National and Provincial Assemblies - and we have seen the results. The government alone can look into this aspect.
The public will have to decide if they look into this aspect. The public will have to decide if they want to be ruled by the clerics or those having moderate outlook on religion with leanings to democratic values.
In the end it is important that we handle the Madrassah crisis on a permanent basis. Ad hoc arrangements have resulted in crisis like the Lal Masjid. A Madrassah should not have more than 500 students on the roll. There should be male and female Madrassas run separately. There should be no facility of over-stay at night in any Madrassah.
At the district level the Madrassas be controlled by EDO (Education). The admission to these Madrassas should be discretionary and well documented. Politics of all nature be banned. All Madrassas run privately should be nationalised and restructured according to the new policy of the government.
The government will have to adopt a policy of monitoring - accountability - and perpetual evaluation to bring about changes in syllabus and a review of the administrative setup on regular basis.
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