In Pakistan, the last decade has been a rather discerning one in terms of human security with “Johnny Jihads” blowing up innocent people in public places. Many of these Johnnys are a product of the brainwashing institutions called madrassas. With promises of taking care of children from under privileged backgrounds, the Mullahs running the place tend to teach chauvinistic right wing Jihadist philosophy, prepping many of an entire generation of “students” in the art of self explosions with instructions to take as many victims with them as they can while exploding. The rationale for this is one that pulls at the heartstrings of pubescent boys in a sexually repressed society such as Pakistan;, die for God (because he wants you to kill people) and you will be rewarded with more than 70 virgins once you go to Heaven.
Sex has become a weapon wielded by the religious right to recruit more to their cause. With the right wing Punjab Government cracking down on late night mobile phone packages, the state is helping establish a new era of sexual repression, one that distances the already bipolar world of man and woman. At the same time, since the federal government (under both Musharraf and the PPP) has been reluctant to anger the right wing power-brokers by abolishing these breeding holes of terrorism, it would be quite unpatriotic to not offer an alternative “out-of the-box” solution to this dilemma. The state should take over havoc creating madrassas and replace the mullahs with projectors showing songs from Coke Studio. The Song “Alif Allah” by Arif Lohar features a cool female celeb, Meesha Shafi (of Overload fame) who sings about the “Oneness of God” with folk singer Arif Lohar. This can be accompanied by the track by Saieen Zahoor, “Aik Alif” The mysticism associated with Sufi music will help lend a feel of religious devotion to these new fangled educational institutions. The religious right will get their message of God across to otherwise doomed-to-a-short-life-of-self-explosion-children while the left will get the “students’ to realize that music and female vocal chords are quite wonderful things. It’s a win-win situation!
Once these children learn to accept the wondrous world of art, they may not feel the need to try and destroy it. In fact, it might even contribute towards eradicating widespread philistine beliefs regarding thespians- a move that is immensely needed in Pakistan. If the state wants to be really daring it can add the occasional Indian film in to the mix and let the children get accustomed to people who may not be Muslim and realize that not all of them are agents of the Devil or out to kill all Muslims. A good holocaust film would also do a world of good but might raise more controversy than all the above measures combined. Exposure to the likes of Kareena Kapoor and Katrina Kaif and their rather splendid curves will hopefully make “madrassa students” realize that many of our Indian neighbors are wonderful and gorgeous people. The promise of gorgeous women might awaken these children to normal beliefs about earthly women and life being and important as well. Perhaps realizing that Katrina could tempt a saint might bring acceptance in an otherwise xenophobic and sexist society. Without the support of these budding Taliban and Al Qaida members, these two organizations will find themselves with receding numbers and will not therefore be as much of a threat as they are today.
