NATIONAL 9 (Spotlight Weelky)]

Repulsing Radicalism?

Islamic schools in Nepal come under the scrutiny of the government

By AKSHAY SHARMA in Bara

Eqbal Ahmed lives in Parsauni in Bara district, 125 km south of Kathmandu. His father drives a rickshaw in the nearby town of Birgunj to support Eqbal and his four other siblings. Eqbal goes to a madrassa in Parsauni, where a hundred pupils like him are taught, clothed and housed. Today Eqbal's life has been thrust onto the center of the global action against madrassas, as part of the US-led war against terrorism.

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The Nepalese government has shifted its focus toward regulating madrassas amid growing concerns that these institutions might be fanning radicalism in the country. Those running the religious schools, however, insist that such fears are erroneous. "Known as producers of terrorists in the West, these schools actually have managed to educate the poor Muslim minorities of the country," says Nasir Udin Ullah, a preacher at a madrassa in Parsauni. "His Majesty's Government has no concrete plan to educate these poor youngsters.

These people cannot afford to go to boarding schools. In fact, the madrassas in Nepal have created good products," he adds.

Some analysts believe the government's decision to monitor madrassas amounts to a needless distraction from the country's real problems. "Nepal is fighting the six-year-old insurgency waged by the Maoists terrorists, and that's where the focus should be," says one analyst. "We're not in a battle against Al Qaeda members in Nepal. The job of Nepalese leaders is to halt the terrorist activities carried out by the Maoists."

Madrassas have come under official scrutiny in the West and other parts of the world, especially after the September 11 attacks in New York City and Washington DC. "Although much has been written about religious militants in the Middle East and Afghanistan, little is known about those in Pakistan, perhaps because they only operate in Kashmir, but for now at least, do not threaten security outside South Asia," wrote Jessica Stern, who teaches international affairs at Harvard, in a recent issue of Foreign Affairs magazine.

"These fanatical groups are spreading a narrow and violent version of Islam in the region, and increasing tensions in India," wrote Stern. "In many developing countries, education is not mandatory. The World Bank estimates that only 40 percent of the rural people in these countries to be literate, and many lack public schools. The madrassas not only provide education to these children but also free housing boarding, and clothing."

An analyst in Kathmandu says Nepalese madrassas are receiving a bad name only because of the record of such institutions in some parts of the world. "Madrassas don't have a good image these days because of the religious fanatics like the Taliban many such institutions have produced elsewhere," he says. "However," he adds, "Nepal's experience with Islamic schools has been of a different nature. We shouldn't be trying to fix what isn't broken."

Similar sentiments prompted Salim Mian Ansari, chairman of the Nepal Muslim Ittehad (unity) Association, to criticize the government's decision to regulate madrassas. "The government should first look at the curriculum of these madrassas. It needs to regulate the maintenance and the standard of these institutions and work to ensure transparency. If the government only focuses on scrutinizing the operations of these institutions, then I would say the move is dictated by United States and India," he says.

Eqbal and dozens of his friends stand at the frontline as the United States targets madrassas around the world in an effort to combat Islamic terrorism. "India will definitely serve its goal in Nepal as the US government widensits scope of monitoring madrassas," a security analyst says. "The policy makers of Nepal need to focus on the terror campaign carried out by the Maoists, instead of succumbing to external pressure that has its own interests to fulfill."