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Email this citationCIAO DATE: 08/04
Unfulfilled Promises: Pakistan's Failure to Tackle Extremism
January 16, 2004
Abstract
It has been more than two years since President and Chief of Army Staff Pervez Musharraf pledged to reform Pakistani society by reversing the trend of Islamist extremism. In a televised speech, he promised a series of measures to combat extremism. One of the key issues was to bring all madrasas - the religious schools that educate many Pakistani children - into the mainstream and to increase scrutiny of them by controlling funding and curriculum.
President Musharraf's call for an end to the promotion of an ideology of jihad was welcomed around the world. Two years on, however, the failure to deliver to any substantial degree on pledges to reform the madrasas and contain the growth of jihadi networks means that religious extremism in Pakistan continues to pose a threat to domestic, regional and international security.
