Over half a century, elections have emerged as turning points in the life of nations, transforming them inevitably on a positive trajectory of freedom, democracy and economic prosperity. However, the May 11 elections in Pakistan are unlikely to create a democratic breakthrough for the Islamic nation, as jihadist organisations have acquired a permanent presence in its society, of the lasting type achieved by Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza. In the electoral fray from two parliamentary constituencies of Jhang is Maulana Muhammad Ahmad Ludhianvi, a cleric, who leads a militant group known by multiple names of Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat, Millat-e-Islamia Pakistan, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan, or SSP.
The SSP considers Shia Muslims as infidels and specialises in systematically killing them. It is also more powerful in its countrywide reach than the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan. In recent years, its cadres have worked alongside the Taliban and Al-Qaeda. Over the past few decades, its armed followers have been systematically target-killing Shias, bombing their religious congregations, or simply pulling them out of buses, checking their identity cards to verify their Shia faith by their surnames and massacring them. A review of the SSP’s Twitter account reveals that despite a ban, it continues to function openly in towns and villages across Pakistan. In March, the group launched an English magazine Al-Rashideen, explicitly endorsing Al-Qaeda’s jihad and revealing its intent to fight globally, beginning with Iran and Syria.
Analysts blame SSP-like jihadist organisations for the problems confronting Pakistan, but the real problem facing Pakistani society is rooted in ideas derived from Islam. It can be effectively argued that Islam is a religion of peace, love and brotherhood. It can equally be argued that Islam is an extremist religion, given a range of hateful and sectarian ideas inherited from it by groups such as Hamas, Hezbollah, the Taliban, Al-Qaeda, Jamaatud Dawa aka Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Muhammad and the SSP. Simply put, Islam, unlike democracy, is incapable of comprehending a model of governance suitable for modern times in which non-Muslims could be entrusted with power and government leadership. As long as Muslims rule, it has no problem. However, a range of Islamist forces from the Taliban in Afghanistan to Hizbut Tahrir in Britain conceive of power essentially in the hands of Muslims while non-Muslims can live as unequal citizens.For the May 11 elections, Maulana Ludhianvi’s SSP has formed an alliance with Jamiat Ulema-e-Pakistan and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam of Maulana Samiul Haq. The electoral alliance, known as Muttahida Deeni Mahaz, is contesting from 130 parliamentary constituencies.
Announcing the electoral battle for the enforcement of Islam, Maulana Samiul Haq, the chairman of the Mahaz, stated that the alliance stands for “the establishment of a true Islamic system of caliphate in Pakistan and implementation of Sharia rule.” He also made a telling comment about how Islam conceives power and governance, observing: “Non-Muslims and apostates will be banned from main public offices in Pakistan… The president, prime minister, chief justice, senate chairman, national assembly speaker, all forces’ chiefs, provincial governors, chief ministers and heads of intelligence agencies will have to be male Sunni Muslim.”
In Pakistan’s democracy, Hindus and Christians are already banned from leadership positions such as the president. However, in the country’s continuing search for a purer-than-ever Islamic system of governance, now Shia Muslims too stand disqualified from top positions should the SSP and other jihadist organisations grab power. Fortunately, jihadist groups led by leaders like Maulana Ludhianvi and Samiul Haq are unlikely to capture power in the immediate future.
However, they and others like them are emboldened by the electoral successes of Islamists in Egypt and elsewhere in the Middle East. The sudden return of Islamic scholar Dr.Tahirul Qadri from self-exile in Canada to Pakistan and his threat to unseat the Pakistani government through a mass uprising in Islamabad early this year was influenced by the success of Egyptian Islamists. Islamic jurisprudence was written much before the age of democracy, but in the wake of Arab Spring, Islamic scholars and jihadist forces are trying to understand the use of elections to advance their ideological agenda. However, they confuse elections with democracy. For them, democracy is merely use of elections to grab power and impose a smartly-crafted Islamic constitution.
At the December 20-21 seminar in Chantilly, near Paris, Taliban representatives Mawlawi Shahabuddin Dilawar and Dr Muhammad Naeem indicated that Taliban leader Mullah Omar does not intend to monopolise power but a new Islam-compliant constitution should be drafted and approved by Afghans, possibly through a referendum.
In March 2013, Mullah Agha Jan Mutasim, a confidant of Mullah Omar, said the Taliban may launch a political party, noting: “The Taliban leaders whose names have been removed from the UN black list will play an important role in the political process.”
Looking into the next decade, it appears that some Islamist forces and jihadist groups, including the Taliban, are inclined to accept referendums and elections as means of capturing power to impose an Islamist constitution.
In the run-up to the US troop withdrawal from Afghanistan by 2014, the Taliban and other Islamist forces are sensing a new security and political vacuum in the regional balance of power. Taking a cue from the Afghan Taliban’s negotiations with America, the Pakistani Taliban too have offered ceasefire in lieu of talks with Pakistan. If Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Muhammad and Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan, which have countrywide mass organisational networks, were to join hands in the coming years with Pakistan’s largest grassroots religious organisation Jamaat-e-Islami for an electoral or non-electoral bid, backed indirectly by the Taliban, Pakistan’s transformation as a jihadist state will be complete — in large consonance with the popular narrative of Pakistan as Madina-e-Saani, or the second Madina, the first Islamic state formed by Prophet Muhammad.
Tufail Ahmad is Director of South Asia Studies Project at the Middle East Media Research Institute, Washington DC