Pakistani president Extremists undermine Islam, promote

Associated Press/December 25, 2001

Islamabad, Pakistan -- Keeping up the pressure on his country's Muslim militants, President Gen. Pervez Musharraf on Tuesday blamed them for tarnishing Islam's image by promoting hatred, extremism and the oppression of women. "We have undermined Islam to a level that people of the world associate it with illiteracy, backwardness, intolerance,'' said Musharraf, addressing the nation on the 125th birthday of Pakistan's founding father, Mohammed Ali Jinnah.

Speaking outside Jinnah's mausoleum in southern port city of Karachi, Musharraf reminded the nation of Jinnah's liberal and moderate views.

"Leave aside tolerating other religions,'' Musharraf complained. "We refuse to accommodate views of various sects in our own religion.''

Since assuming the presidency in a bloodless coup in October 1999, Musharraf, considered a liberal despite his method of seizing power, has tried to curb religious violence and portray Pakistan as a moderate and liberal Muslim state.

Long before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the United States, Musharraf outlawed two extremist Islamic groups and banned the display of weapons by religious and political organizations. He has often criticized religious groups for their narrow interpretation of Islam and extremist views.

The U.S. military success against the Taliban in Afghanistan has given him additional credibility in attacking extremists, and the vehement, sometimes violent opposition against his administration throughout much of October has ebbed. Musharraf has also vowed to regulate and monitor the nation's madrassas, where many Islamic extremists -- including Taliban leaders -- were educated.

In his speech, he also criticized the poor treatment of Pakistan's women, 64 percent of whom are illiterate.

"We still take them to be second-class citizens,'' he said. "While Islam gives them an equal status, it is the supposed custodians of Islam who undermine their role.''

Many hard-line Pakistani Islamic groups advocate a Taliban-like Islamic system in which women are largely covered and barred from education and most employment. But without equal participation of women, Musharraf said, no nation can progress.

He also used the speech to warn rival India against any aggression.

"Let me assure my countrymen that your armed forces are full prepared and capable of defeating all challenges,'' he said.

Pakistan's relations with India, always tense, soured further after the Dec. 13 attack on the Indian Parliament that killed 14 people, including the five gunmen. Tensions have escalated since then, and both sides are trading artillery fire at their disputed Kashmir frontier.

Relations between the two countries can improve "provided the Indian government will shed the superiority complex and will deal with Pakistan on an equal footing,'' Musharraf said, quoting Jinnah. "How true, even today.''

Jinnah, considered a prototypical liberal Muslim leader, spearheaded Pakistan's freedom from British rule. Despite fierce opposition, Jinnah forced the partition of the subcontinent in 1947 into an Islamic Pakistan and a Hindu-dominated India.

In 1971, the former East Pakistan became Bangladesh after a war of independence with Pakistan.