This is an old article and it wouldnât be of interest to many, but it gives a good overview of the plethora of different players in Pakistani Islamism. However, the reason for the sheer number of groups has more to do with egotism of the Mullahs and the amount of money available to ones who can attract enough followers. That most of the major political parties listen here have been able to form the MMA alliance in order to achieve power, shows how meaningless the thousands of sectarian murders by their followers for the past decade really were.
Until the 1980s Pakistan had only three mainstream Sunni parties, the Jamaat-e-Islami, the Jamiat ul Ulema-i-Islam, and Jamaat-Ulema Pakistan. At this point a new set of militants entered the scene partly because of socio-economic conditions, partly through the factionalising of the existing politico-religious parties.
The JUP, a Barelvi politico-religious party split into five groups. The Sunni Tehreek in Karachi is the largest of these. It is headed by Maulana Saleem Qadri. Another big faction is the Dawat-e-Islami headed by Maulana Ilyas Qadri (former Punjab president of Anjuman Tulaba-e-Islam, the JUPs youth wing). Another smaller group is the Punjab Sunni Tehreek. In 1982, Maulana Ilyas Qadri declared himself Amir-e-Ahle-Sunnat and founded the organisation in Karachi. Until 1994 the Dawat held its annual congregation in that city but since then it has become more active in Punjab and the congregation is now held in Multan for the last three years. The DI puts its own strength of activists at over 100,000. The DI runs scores of madaris all over the country. It is planning to set up an Islamic university in Karachi. Another breakaway faction of the JUP is run by Allama Tahir-ul-Qadri. Apart from the Minhaj-ul-Quran which is a forum for teaching the Quran. the political wings of his establishment are Jamaat-e-Ahl-e-Sunnat and Tehreek-e-Tahaffuz-e-Namoos-e-Risalat.
The JUP is a Sunni group of the Brehvli school of thought, which has worship of saints and shrines that is looked down upon by more puritanical sects. The majority of Pakistanis follow the Brehvli tradition, but they have very little presence in either the Army of the government.
According to the Barelvi ulema the Deobandi sect was a minority until 1970. Subsequently, Maulana Mufti Mahmoodâs government in NWFP patronised Deobandi mullahs and appointed them to head official mosques which were looked after by the provincial Muslim Auqaf (Trust). This led to the growth of Deobandi madaris in NWFP (from where the Taliban derive their strength). General Zia also patronised Deobandis, and Saudi Arabia helps them financially. All this has led the Barelvis to come up with a response.
The JUI was split into the Sami, the Darkhwasti and the Maulana Fazal-ur-Rehman groups. Later the SSP was founded. A number of other factions also emerged from the base of the JUI. Among them were the Tahaffaz-e-Khatm-e-Nabwwat under Maulana Khan Muhammad of Kundian Sharif and the Harkat-ul-Ansar under Maulana Saadat Ullah Khan. The latterâs involvement in Kashmir and Afghanistan is well known.
The Harkat-ul-Ansar has since split into the Harkat-ul-Jihad Islami, Harkat-ul-Mujahideen and the Jaish-e-Mohammad. The latter has split into 2 major factions, with up to ten smaller and more radical splinter groups also in existance. The splits were mainly over control of the Jihadi outfits large property and financial assets
The relationship between the JUI and the other factions (as in similar cases of breakaway groups) is not necessarily one of sustained antagonism. This is illustrated by Maulana Fazl-ur-Rehmanâs volunteering to negotiate with the Harkat when it was alleged that it was the organisation responsible for the kidnapping of the five foreigners in Kashmir. It may at times may be more of a division of labour arrangement wherein the primarily political is separated from the primarily militant so that each side can work effectively in its own sphere.
That seems quite likely as the Deobandi groups all follow the same religious leaders. It is also worth pointing out that the Army and ISI is dominated by Deobandis, even though they make up only a fraction of Pakistanâs Muslims. They have however, been able to propagate their own puratanical sect throughout the country, due to state support. This has lead to extremism increasing in the once moderate Brehvlis.
The Jamiat Ahle-Hadith split up as well. The Jamaat Ahle Hadith was founded by Maulana Habibur Remain Yazdani and the Jamiat Ulema-e-Ahle e Hadith by Maulana Abdul Qadeer Khamosh. Another significant faction is the Al-Dawah-wal-Irshad.
The Ahle-Hadith are Wahabis, and have little following in Pakistan
The Shia party, the TNFJ, also split into two groups. Now Tehreek-e-fiqh-e-Jaffaria is the main Shia politico-religious party led by Allama Sajid Naqvi. The move was not endorsed by Allama Hamid Ali Moosvi. Subsequently, the Sipah-e-Muhammad Pakistan (SMP) was created out of the TJP and adopted a more militant stance against the SSP than the TJP would allow.
The sects and sub-sects also seem to be trying harder to mobilise followers at a mass level. In 1997, within almost exactly a month there were three major gatherings of Sunni sub-sects in the Punjab. The Barelvi Dawat-e-Islami held a 4 day gathering in Multan starting 17 October. The Al-Dawah-wal-Irshad held its annual 3 day convention at Muridke in the first week of November, and the Tableeghi Jamaat held its annual moot in the second week of November. The attendance at each of these three gatherings ran into lakhs with young people, significantly, making up a sizeable number of the participants. The meetings, however, are sometimes occasions for violence. At the Dawat-i-Islami congregation six Deobandi students who had come to attend, for whatever reason, were kidnapped and tortured, and four were killed.
A key feature now of sectarian militancy is that it is not the province of a few extremists acting in isolation. Their support system extends well beyond their own organisation. The Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and the Sipah-i-Sahaba Pakistan, for instance, could look to the JUI or the Taliban in time of need. The SSP itself is considered a legitimate political party, participates in the elections and has been part of the governing coalition at the provincial level.
This was before the SSP was âbannedâ, but itâs leadership just renamed the party and are currently part of the Pakistani government, so the point remains the same. |
The government has told the provinces to make sure that 17 banned religious and militant organisations are not able to collect the hides of sacrificial animals on Eidul Azha.