"At times I worry whether we as a nation can survive the threat of disintegration. Since the overthrow of my government in 1996, the militants have made many inroads into the very structure of governance of Pakistan through their supporters and sympathisers. Pakistan is a tinder-box that could catch fire quickly."
***Democracy cannot be sustained in the absence of a stable and growing middle class. The growth of India into a regional and international economic power occurred – not coincidentally – as its middle class exploded into a huge economic and political force.
How can a nation build a middle class? The first key is to build an education system that delivers hope and real opportunity. Good public educational opportunity is the key to the economic and political progress of nations, and it can be so in the Islamic world as well. But in Pakistan $4.5 billion is spent on the military each year – an astounding 1,400% more than on education.
Militant madrasahs did not flourish there because Pakistani citizens suddenly became more religiously orthodox than ever before in our history. The militants took advantage of parents from low-income social classes who wanted a better life for their children. If parents are so poor that they cannot educate, house, clothe, feed and provide healthcare for their children and the state fails to provide such basic human needs through public services, they will seek an alternative. The militant madrasahs have become, over time, an alternative government for millions of Pakistanis.
These political and military training camps invest little time and resources in primary education. Rather, they manipulate religion to brainwash children into becoming soldiers of an irregular army. They teach hatred and violence. They breed terrorists, not scientists. They undermine the very concept of national identity and rule of law.
When I was prime minister, I invested enormous political resources in stopping these paramilitary political madrasahs, but unfortunately, in the years since I left office, as many as 20,000 new ones have been built in Pakistan alone. IN the epic debate over the inevitability of a confrontation between Islam and the West, I am a reconciliationist. The notion that the culture of Islam is antithetical to democratic values – put forward by those who believe in the “clash of civilisations” – is not only unsubstantiated by Koranic reference and Islamic clerical interpretation but also plays into Islamic extremists’ views that the West is disrespectful and antagonistic to Islam’s beliefs and history.
And she is now dead, as we all know. Bush can keep talking about Iraq and ignore Afghanistan - but even more dangerously ignore Pakistan. McCain seems to be following the same path. Another good reason for voting Democratic this Fall.
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