“No Dates, No Dancing” – TIME

Eye-opening article from the recent issue of TIME by Aryn Baker: “No Dates, No Dancing“. Excerpts:

“…But to Westerners, there’s little else about Punjab U. that seems familiar. Walk around the leafy-green 1,800-acre campus, and you will encounter nothing that resembles frivolous undergraduate behavior. Musical concerts are banned, and men and women are segregated in the dining halls. Many female students attend class wearing headscarves that cover everything but their eyes. This fall, when the university’s administrators tried to introduce a program in musicology and performing arts, the campus erupted in protest…

What’s most striking about that climate of conservatism is that it is being driven not by faculty or administrators or government officials but by students. At Punjab U., I.J.T. is the most powerful force on campus, shaping not just the mores of student life but also larger debates over curriculum, course syllabuses, faculty selection and even degree programs. Nationwide, the group has more than 20,000 members and 40,000 affiliates active at nearly all of Pakistan’s 50 public universities. Students who defy I.J.T.’s strict moral code risk private reprimands, public denouncements and, in some cases, even physical violence.

In a country where most politicians cut their teeth as student activists, the rise of groups like I.J.T. provides clues to Pakistan’s political future…”The universities reflect what you are seeing in the larger political landscape,” says Samina Ahmed, South Asia director for the International Crisis Group, a think tank. “The moderate parties have been deprived of their experienced cadre of potential recruits, but the religious parties haven’t.”

…Founded in 1947, I.J.T. has hundreds of thousands of alumni who provide the group with organizational and financial support, with the goal of “training the young generation according to Islam so they can play a role in Pakistan’s social and political life,” Idrees says.

A visit to Punjab University reveals what that means in practice…Members are expected to live morally and to abide by the Koran’s injunction to spread good and suppress evil…Outside the classroom, complete segregation of the genders is strictly observed…although the group has no ties to terrorism, it’s likely that some members sympathize with al-Qaeda.

…An atmosphere of moral rigidity governs much of campus life. I.J.T. members have been known to physically assault students for drinking, flirting or kissing on campus. “We are compelled by our religion to use force if we witness immoral public behavior,” says Naveed.

…The role of the university is to advance knowledge, but at P.U. the quality of education is undermined because one group with a narrow, straitjacketed worldview controls it.”

Groups like I.J.T. are likely to grow more influential, not less, as its graduates move into the political arena…I.J.T. groups across the nation have embraced the opportunity to mold Pakistan’s future politicians. In addition to taking classes on the Koran, members learn how to debate, how to present and defend their views and how to write persuasive proposals…Most I.J.T. members who choose to enter politics after graduation go on to join Jamaat-e-Islami or other fundamentalist political groups. Some sign up with more centrist parties, although they bring with them fundamentalist thinking that has contributed to the general turn toward conservatism in national politics.” Copyright © 2006 Time Inc. All rights reserved.

To me the most worrying aspect of this is the radicalization of the new generation of politicians and leaders that is emerging in Pakistan from this milieu. 

Contrast this with the increasingly liberal, secular and tolerant generation graduating from our own universities and you can see that we may soon have an even bigger problem on our hands with our neighbour.