The lesson to be learned from all this is that Muslim governments
need to address real economic problems with real economic and structural
solutions rather than cut cards with the Devil and playing around with
fire.
By Farish A Noor
The tragic and violent killing of Benazir Bhutto leaves us with many
unanswered questions. The question remains as to who was really
responsible, and some radical Islamist groups have claimed responsibility
and credit for her assassination. There is further speculation as to
whether other non-religious actors and agents were behind the killing,
and of course it remains to be seen (and discovered) as to how close or
far the links between radical groups like the Lashkar-e Tayeeba,
Jama'atul Dawa and Harkat'ul Mujahideen and conservative factions in the
Pakistani army really are.
For now, however, the murder of Benazir Bhutto serves as a painful
reminder of how violent politics has become in so many Muslim countries,
the very same countries whose citizens pride themselves as the 'abode of
peace' and 'Darul Islam', as opposed to the 'Darul Harb' or 'abode of
chaos' without. But a simple overview of developments across the Muslim
world since the 1970s will indicate that hardly any Muslim country has
even made the successful transition to popular representative democracy
of any kind: Iran's despotic Shah who ruled with an Iron Fist was finally
ousted from power by student revolutionaries, only to open the way for a
new wave of repression by the Mullahs who instituted public hangings and
the public execution of homosexuals, political opponents and those
regarded as 'deviants' by the regime. Egypt's Anwar Sadat was gunned down
in public view by members of the Gama'at Islamiyyah, who likewise opted
for the radical path of violence.
From Morocco to Indonesia radical Islamist groups have long since bid
adieu to the norms of democratic participation- but not least simply
because they have been denied the democratic option themselves.
The real crisis in the Muslim world seems to be a structural one and has
less to do with Islam or theology. In Egypt for instance, a teeming
population expanding at the rate of one million per year has created an
economy that is not only unevenly developed but also unsustainable. Only
three percent of Egyptian soil can be used for agriculture, and even much
of that is used to grow cash crops for export to the developed world: The
poor fellaheen of the rural interior grow everything from lettuce to
string beans, but these are destined for the dinner tables of developed
countries instead, while the poor live on bread and bean stew.
Faced with such stark economic realities many Muslim governments have
failed to do what is necessary: open the way for economic reform, careful
management of resources and plan and save for the future. Instead
grandiose projects have been the order of the day and corruption the
norm. The net result is social antagonism which is hardly surprising to
anyone, and the rise of workers movements and protests.
Here is where many a Muslim leader has failed doubly: Fearful of further
democratic demands they have cultivated - since the 1970s – right-wing
conservative Islamist movements as a counterweight to social
progressives, unions and workers movements. Anwar Sadat's great mistake
was to favour the radical Islamists and use them as a means to blunt the
criticisms of the progressive democrats of Egypt. But following the Camp
David accord where he was seen as a traitor to the Arab cause and a
lackey of both the USA and Israel, Sadat was assassinated by the very
same radical Islamists his regime had cultivated and protected.
If it is ultimately proven that Benazir Bhutto was murdered by a radical
Islamist, then this would be another case of the mouth biting the hand
that fed it. For it has to be remembered that it was during Benazir's
tenure that the Taliban were cultivated, armed and protected thanks to
her government's reliance on such groups and her own co-operation with
conservative Islamist parties and movements like the Jama'at'ul Ulema-e
Islam (JUI) of Pakistan. The Islamists of the JUI who worked with
Benazir's government were the ones who were constantly campaigning for
things like the implementation of Shariah Law, in a country where
illiteracy is a problem that affects almost half of its population. It is
one of the supreme ironies of modern Islamic history that the misogynistic
Taliban were bred under the gaze of Benazir's leadership, as she herself
was a product of Western Oxbridge education.
The lesson to be learned from all this is that Muslim governments need
to address real economic problems with real economic and structural
solutions rather than cut cards with the Devil and playing around with
fire. If countries like Pakistan and Egypt today seem tottering on the
verge of crisis with radical Islamists waiting in the wings, part of the
responsibility for that is the role played by Muslim leaders like Sadat
and Benazir in tolerating, and even using, these radical firebrands in
the first place.
Dr. Farish A. Noor is a Malaysian political scientist and historian
based at the Zentrum Moderner Orient, Berlin; and one of the founders of
the http://www.othermalaysia.org/ research site.
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