debate
Is Al-Ghazali really the Halagu of science in Islam?
By Muhammad Sabieh Anwar
The beaten track
According to most traditional accounts of the historiography of science in the Islamic civilisation, Muslim scientists transcended in all major fields of scientific inquiry during the Middle Ages, but their role remained, at best, one of an intelligent postman. They took the classic Greek sources and engaged in a massive translation and commentary enterprise, mostly under the patronage of the Abbasid Caliph Mamun Ibn Harun Ar-Rashid in his bait-ul-hikmah (House of Wisdom) around 830 C.E.

Taal Matol
Suburbia!
By Shoaib Hashmi
There is the ancient story of this man who was walking along an unfamiliar road and came upon a barrier stretched across the road, and what was obviously a stentorian gate-keeper lording it about. The man politely asked the gate-keeper if he could pass through and be on his way, and the gruff reply came, "Of course not!" The man pointed to this other guy who had come a few minutes before and had walked straight through, and asked why he had not been stopped, and the answer was, "He didn't bother to ask!"

debate
Is Al-Ghazali really the Halagu of science in Islam?

By Muhammad Sabieh Anwar

The beaten track

According to most traditional accounts of the historiography of science in the Islamic civilisation, Muslim scientists transcended in all major fields of scientific inquiry during the Middle Ages, but their role remained, at best, one of an intelligent postman. They took the classic Greek sources and engaged in a massive translation and commentary enterprise, mostly under the patronage of the Abbasid Caliph Mamun Ibn Harun Ar-Rashid in his bait-ul-hikmah (House of Wisdom) around 830 C.E.

There are, however, serious problems with the classical approach. First, the narrative assumes that Muslims themselves were incapable of originating any new scientific ideas. The first Muslims were the desert-dwelling Arabs, the Bedouins, incapable of any scientific mode of thinking.

The second misgiving is the supposition that the Muslim scientific consciousness somehow woke up from the dark languishing slumber in the early Abbasid period (750-900 C.E.), all by itself, but there was nothing inherent in the Islamic belief system or in the uniquely Muslim culture that could instigate this reawakening. The impetus was all foreign. In his recent book 'Islamic Science and the Making of the European Renaissance', George Saliba presents ample historical evidence indicating that the unique administrative and political requirements of the growing Islamic empire, in fact, provided the thrust to the development of the exact sciences. A major impetus also came from the juridical requirements of the Islamic fiqh. For example, the complicated inheritance laws of Islam gave birth to the discipline of algebra; advanced computations of the obligatory taxes, the zakat and the jizya resulted in the maturing of the numerical and fractional sciences; and the requirements for prayer direction and timings laid the foundations for theoretical and observational astronomy, paving the way for Copernicus's revolutionary works.

The spectre of Al-Ghazali and the shadow of the

orthodoxy

The third most objectionable premise of the classical narrative is that it would have us believe that the Muslim ascendancy in science was the exception, rather than the rule. The scientists were outcasts living at the fringes of a society that was under the grip of the mullahs who shunned and resisted scientific thought, openly derided human reason, logic, deductive proof systems and philosophy, and were against all forms of art and music and the subtler delicacies of free inquiry. This line of thought has now become somewhat fashionable, blaming the obscurantist Islamic orthodoxy as the major cause behind the current state of intellectual and scientific atrophy in the Muslim world.

A central figure in all of these debates is the theologian and philosopher, Imam Abu Hamid Al-Ghazali (1058-1111). He is considered to be one bitter enemy of the sciences. Several writers of repute would have us believe that Al-Ghazali strangulated human reason and made it slavishly subservient to revealed knowledge, and that we are still reeling from the devastating blow he inflicted on human reason.

This claim seems tad juvenile. It is, maybe, as fantastical as the claim that Halagu's destruction of Baghdad, in one stroke, demolished the entire cultural edifice of Islam or Aurangzeb's death in 1707 heralded the downfall of the Mughal Empire. For example, the Nobel Laureate and one of the greatest living physicists, Steven Weinberg comfortably pronounced in the 'Times Literary Supplement' (January 17, 2007), "Alas, Islam turned against science in the twelfth century. The most influential figure was the philosopher Abu Hamid Al-Ghazali, who argued in 'The Incoherence of the Philosophers' against the very idea of laws of nature, on the ground that any such laws would put God's hands in chains. According to Al-Ghazali, a piece of cotton placed in a flame does not darken and smoulder because of the heat, but because God wants it to darken and smoulder."

Another well-respected and widely-read figure is the physicist, University Professor and activist Pervez Hoodbhoy who strongly claims in his book 'Islam and Science, Religious Orthodoxy and the Battle for Rationality', "The most articulate and effective opponent of physical causality was Al-Ghazali. According to Al-Ghazali, it is futile to believe that the world runs according to physics laws (emphasis added)."

Recently, in the February issue of the 'British History of Science newsletter', the historian of science, Jamil Ragep presented a detailed overview of the illustrious tradition in the sciences that flourished well nigh after Al-Ghazali. While researching on this subject and reverting to the primary sources, any serious reader will realise that far from strangulating the spirit of free, scientific inquiry, this great personality, in fact, promoted the scientific tradition.

As a public theologian, Al-Ghazali performed the task of placing Greek and Islamic thought in what he perceived to be their proper contexts. In numerous places sprinkled throughout his texts, he makes it very clear that his task is not to question the established truths in the natural order. Disputing these facts of nature, far from being a disservice to the scientific method, will be a disservice to religion itself. An instructive example is provided in the second introduction to his monumental Tahafat-ul-Falasifa ('Incoherence of the Philosophers'), where Al-Ghazali discusses the solar and lunar eclipses. After accurately describing that the eclipses result from the sun, moon and earth coming in line, he writes, "Whosoever thinks that to engage in a disputation for refuting such a theory is a religious duty harms religion and weakens it. For these matters rest on demonstrations, geometrical and arithmetical, that leave no room for doubt."

Al-Ghazali on mathematics

Hoodbhoy in his book would like us to believe that, "[Al-Ghazali] condemns mathematics with vigour and without reservation, rejecting the notion that anything good can be contained in it." According to Al-Ghazali, "exact" sciences have no connection with metaphysical or religious principles. Using mathematics to prove religious beliefs is, at best, absurd. For example, in his autobiography, the 'Deliverance from Error', he spells this out quite clearly, "A grievous crime indeed against religion has been committed by the man who imagines that Islam is defended by the denial of the mathematical sciences, seeing that there is nothing in revealed truth opposed to these sciences by way of either negation or affirmation, and nothing in these sciences opposed to the truth of religion."

Al-Ghazali warns his readers that every discipline of study has its experts, an expert in mathematics may not be an expert in grammar and an expert in geometry may fail miserably when it comes to matters of religion. In short, Al-Ghazali's truck is not with mathematics, but with philosophers who could potentially lead people astray in matters of pure religion. Al-Ghazali makes this very clear in the introduction to the Tahafat-al-falasifa. He does not contradict philosophers on issues that have no religious significance. His major disagreements pertain to questions with three fundamental theological implications: (a) has the universe existed forever, (b) does God know all particulars, and (c) is bodily resurrection possible! "It is in this topic and its likes, not any other, that one must show the falsity of their doctrine."

Science as a community obligation

Far from all the dogmatic statements alleging Al-Ghazali of unscientific irrationality and religious dogma, he considers mathematics and arithmetic to belong to the category of the praiseworthy (mamduh) sciences. In the first chapter of his famous book 'Revival of the Religious Sciences' he declares "Sciences whose knowledge is deemed fard kifayah comprise [all] sciences which are indispensable for the welfare of this world such as medicine which is necessary for the life of the body, arithmetic for daily transactions and the divisions of legacies and inheritances, as well as others besides. These are the sciences which, because of their absence, the community would be reduced to narrow straits."

In the same book, Al-Ghazali laments the Muslims preference of study of Islamic law over medicine making it hard to find Muslim physicians, yet jurisprudents abound. For example, according to him, an individual deciding to take up study of fiqh when there is a population in dire need of health care is someone "who neglects to give attention to the calamity which has befallen a group of thirsty Muslims [and] is like the person who devotes his time to debate while several fard kifayah duties remain neglected in town."

Here is another example that can help us appreciate Al-Ghazali's revivalist and 'progressive' approach. A major problem of his time was that all forms of knowledge had acquired religious significance making intellectual dispute slip into bitter religious disagreements leading to brandings of unbelief, ex-communication and heresy. Al-Ghazali addressed this situation by placing Islamic jurisprudence, one of the major sources of contention, at the level of 'worldly disciplines.' Hence in his ranking, fiqh would not be superior to mathematics and medicine, all of them being faraid kifayah.

The rationalist Mu'tazilites and irrational Ash'arites?

Al-Ghazali was a strong supporter of the Ash'arites. Present-day literature, particularly secularist literature, presents Ash'arites as backward dogmatists providing little or no latitude for the rational thought necessary for science. On the other hand, the Mu'tazilites are conceived as the rationalists and the upholders of Greek logic, abstract thought and hence the scientific method.

However, one must remember the rationalists' dependency on tradition and traditionalists' dependency on rationality. The distinction between the two groups is that of degree rather than one of form. Sherman Jackson in his introduction to Al-Ghazali's text 'The Decisive Criterion of Distinction Between Unbelief and Masked Infidelity' writes "Meanwhile, Rationalist writings reflect a clear and sustained recognition of the authority of the Aristotelian-Neoplatonic tradition, including the propriety of following it by way of taqlid. Traditionalists, on the other hand, use reason -- even aspects of Aristotelian reason -- but they do not recognize the tradition of Aritotelian reason as an ultimate authority."

As far as I see it, one factor in how we perceive the Mut'tazilite and the Ash'arite schools of thought is actually based on the Hellenophilic glorification of Aristotelian rationality. One of the most respected historians David Pingree writes about this attitude rather unequivocally, "Hellenophiles, it might be observed, are overwhelmingly Westerners, displaying the cultural myopia common in all cultures of the world but, as well, the arrogance that characterized the medieval Christian's recognition of his own infallibility and that has now been inherited by our modern priests of science."

Where does the problem then lie with our interpretation of Al-Ghazali? It in fact lies nowhere but in the pre-conceived notions we harbour and hold dear to our heart. It is some ideological framework we make for ourselves, based on aversion to anything religious, and then fitting all our mental chips into the same block.

One case example is the compatibility of scientific work-habits and the demands of religious practice or belief. These days, a mentioning of 'God' in western-style academic meetings is likely to arouse surprise, murmur and sometimes disgust. Dawkins, Weinberg, Shermer and their followers are also highly uncomfortable with a deity who interferes in our lives, a belief they would consider to be toxic to the promotion of science. The same line is towed, more or less, by Hoodbhoy. In his latest article published in the distinguished periodical, the 'Physics Today,' he shares with us his observation that veiled students in Pakistani universities are more likely to be 'silent note-takers' and 'timid,' less expressive than their unveiled comrades. In the same article, he also preaches: "The faithful must participate in five daily congregational prayers, endure a month of fasting that taxes the body, recite daily from the Quran, and more. Although such duties orient believers admirably towards success in the life hereafter, they make worldly success less likely. A more balanced approach will be needed."

It will be highly useful for many working Muslim and Pakistani scientists to discover what a 'more balanced approach' means with regards to the five daily congregational prayers and the month of Ramzan. But this sermon is also a strict piece of advice to all practising Christians, Buddhists, Hindus and Jews who desire success in their scientific careers.

After all, what do we glean from all this? The gain is not only Al-Ghazali's image. It is to understand whether our society could catch up with the scientific tradition, now spearheaded by the west, while not losing the excellence of its scholarly traditions and religious ideals. A study of Al-Ghazali's work shows that this is not only possible, but in fact fard or obligatory. Secondly, it is agreed that for 'worldly success,' it is ultimately the statistics and concrete realities that count: how many top-notch papers we produce, how many quality Ph.D.'s we have per capita, how we react to and prepare for natural calamities, how we nourish and provide health care, energy and safety to our millions; but at the same time, it is also important to present accurate, holistic and unbiased historical accounts to our readers. This may help give our people the confidence in their cultural, civilisational and religious heritage and motivate them into a life of intellectual quest and scientific discovery.

(Dr. Sabieh Anwar is a physicist based at the School of Science and Engineering, LUMS. He is also founder member of the Khwarizmi Science Society aimed at science popularisation.)

Taal Matol
Suburbia!

By Shoaib Hashmi

There is the ancient story of this man who was walking along an unfamiliar road and came upon a barrier stretched across the road, and what was obviously a stentorian gate-keeper lording it about. The man politely asked the gate-keeper if he could pass through and be on his way, and the gruff reply came, "Of course not!" The man pointed to this other guy who had come a few minutes before and had walked straight through, and asked why he had not been stopped, and the answer was, "He didn't bother to ask!"

Believe it or not we have an institutional equivalent of the stentorian gate-keeper right here in Lahore, and it is called the DHA. It is the newest, most up-scale and perhaps the largest of the cities suburbs, and being somehow an extension of the cantonment it thinks it is entitled to throw its weight about at the drop of a hat.

A ring road linking its latest phases passes through it and also links up Bedian Road and Burki Road and we thought it was a godsend for the Lahore School of Economics. But as soon as it was finished they stuck two barriers at each end and refused to let anyone pass. When we asked why they said, "Because we can."

They got their comeuppance pretty quick because at least three residents whose land the road traversed, and who were even more bloody-minded than the society refused to hand over their land and the vaunted highway had huge gaps where the road ran into someone's house. They have finally persuaded, or browbeaten the people into handing over their land, but the gaps are still there, so they have gone one better and put a toll on the road., and every time we want to pass we have to pay.

Then they got it into their heads to ban motor rickshaws passing through their territory. They forgot that all their residents were not royal and some at least were ordinary people who had to get home on rickshaws so the ban has quietly been ignored. So they have come up with a new one -- they have stopped the plying of vehicles without a number plate, and with the usual 'Applied For' plate.

Now apart from the uncertain grammar of the legend, the plate is a familiar phenomenon here because the registration authorities also like to throw their weight about and mull over the application for months before they issue a number. The DHA authorities however have a different excuse -- they say a lot of petty thefts and dacoities are being committed by people with 'Applied For' plates', presumably in a hurry to get on with the job.

Actually I fail to understand how the presence, or absence of a number plate affects some criminal who has made up his mind to break the law, and how insisting on a plate will deter him. The only thing that seems to make sense is that since the DHA authorities have jurisdiction only over their own territory, it is a gentle hint to robbers, "Why don't you take your activities to the next suburb?" Thanks a lot!

record
All the X-men
What exactly were the ex-servicemen doing while in service?
Shahzada Irfan Ahmed and Aziz Omar

Air Chief Marshal (R) Asghar Khan

Former Air Chief Martial Pakistan Air Force (PAF) Asghar Khan was the first politician to become famous for his remark in 1977 that Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto should be hanged by Kohala Bridge near Rawalpindi.

Asghar Khan's critics, though relatively small in number, call him a power-hungry person who entered politics in 1968 after resigning as chairman PIA. At that point in time, a movement against Ayub Khan had started paving way for new leadership eager to make its mark in the national politics. He is also criticised for accepting a one-year extension in his service from Field Marshal Ayub Khan.

He is known for his hawkish stance vis-a-vis an accord with Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, thereby limiting the scope of a political solution and paving the way for a martial law. In May 1977, he addressed a letter to the three services chiefs openly asking them to revolt against Bhutto. He had asked the addressed officers to differentiate between a lawful and an unlawful command and save Pakistan. This controversial letter is considered instrumental in encouraging Gen Ziaul-Haq, the then chief of army staff, to make a coup. Little wonder, Gen Ziaul-Haq offered him a slot in his cabinet after the imposition of martial law in 1977. To his credit he declined to accept this offer.

Lt Gen (R) Faiz Ali Chishti

The head of ex-servicemen society, Lt Gen (retd) Faiz Ali Chishti, had a main role in the military coup of 1977. He was the Corps Commander of Rawalpindi at that time and had worked out the details of the coup. Interestingly, he declares the imposition of martial law by Gen Zia-ul-Haq was right but rejects the way he tried to handle things afterwards.

Chishti says he was against the awarding of death sentence to Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. It has been reported that towards the end of Bhutto's tenure, he sat in one of the cabinet meetings with his feet facing Bhutto. It was again Chishti who reportedly overlooked/interfered in all the local bodies' elections held from 1979 to 1985 on the behest of Gen Ziaul-Haq. It is believed that Chishti advised Gen. Zia a lot on different matters. He has also confessed that though he could easily remove Gen. Zia he submitted his resignation to him which he tore apart. Gen Chishti (retd) also held the portfolio of Labour and Manpower in Gen Zia's first cabinet formed after the imposition of martial law.

Lt Gen (R) Asad Durrani

A former head of the ISI and now an active member of the ex-servicemen society, Durrani has confessed to having distributed millions of rupees among the politicians in the 1990 elections. During his career, he held the posts of Director General of the Military Intelligence (MI) and later the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI). His role in the formation of Islami Jamhoori Ittehad (IJI) is an open secret. PPP's former interior minister Lt-Gen Naseerullah Babar even announced on the floor of the National Assembly in 1996 that Durrani, then DG ISI, had distributed Rs 140 million among some politicians for this purpose. This amount, he said, had been withdrawn from Mehran Bank and given to Durrani by Mirza Aslam Beg to ensure that IJI was brought to power. Aslam Beg had submitted in the court that it had been routine for the ISI to support the favoured candidates in elections under the directives of successive chief executives. Durrani did not deny the allegations and submitted an affidavit listing the politicians to whom the money had been paid. The affidavit said: "It was in September 1990 that I had received instructions to provide 'logistic support' for disbursement of donations for the election campaign of the IJI."

Durrani has also enjoyed ambassadorial positions in Germany (1994 to 1997) and Saudi Arabia after the military coup of 1999. It was only after completing his term as ambassador during the Musharraf regime that Durrani started criticising Musharraf.

Lt Gen (R) Jamshed Gulzar Kayani

The outspoken Kayani was number two in the ISI at the time of coup led by Gen (retd) Pervez Musharraf in 1999. Soon afterwards, he was appointed commander of the 10th corps. He has also held the crucial slot of Corps Commander, Rawalpindi. His recent claim to fame was his interview conducted by Geo TV in which he disclosed that lethal chemical weapons were used in the Lal Masjid operation. He also claimed that Mian Nawaz Sharif was kept in the dark over Kargil operation and he (Nawaz) went to the United States to save Pak Army's integrity. Kayani has demanded Musharraf's immediate resignation and inquiry into the above-mentioned incidents.

The presidential camp has condemned him for remaining silent in the past and levelling 'baseless' allegations after retiring from service with full benefits.

After retiring from military service in 2003-04, Kayani was appointed chairman of Federal Public Service Commission (FPSC). Gen (retd) Kayani developed difference with Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz over postings of senior officials. He had to vacate his FPSC post prematurely on March 30, 2006 after the government reduced his tenure by two-and-a-half years through a presidential ordinance. He challenged the ordinance in Lahore High Court (LHC) but the court rejected his petition.

Lt Gen (R) Hameed Gul

The former head of ISI, Lt Gen (retd) Hameed Gul played prime role in Afghan War against the former Soviet Union. A die-hard supporter of mujahideen, he is often held responsible by many for the spread of heroine and klashnikov culture in the country. Hameed Gul is also blamed for planning the disastrous Jalalabad operation in 1989 in which mujahideen suffered a major loss. The defeat was imminent as mujahideen did not have the capacity to capture a major city.

Gul also boasts of having organised the IJI against the PPP and spearheading 'Operation Jackal,' a plot by the ISI to topple Benazir Bhutto's government in 1990. Gen (retd) Gul had great liking for Nawaz Sharif for being the head of the political organisation engineered by the ISI. On the other hand, he was one of the persons who were accused by Benazir Bhutto of conspiring to kill her after she returned to Pakistan on October 18, 2007. Gen (retd) served a legal notice on Bhutto for falsely levelling allegation against him.

It is said that for his liking for Nawaz Sharif, Gen Asif Nawaz developed differences with him and appointed him DG, Heavy Industries Taxila in 1991. Gul refused to take the assignment after which he was retired from the army.

Senior columnist Ardeshir Cowasjee criticises Gul for taking too much benefits from the army. He has especially talked about his transport business, making ample use of his army connections for the purpose.

These days, Gul speaks vehemently against American policies. But it is said that it was during his tenure as DG ISI that the US ambassador was allowed to attend the meetings of Afghan Cell of Benazir government. The very decision to launch Jalalabad offensive in 1989 is also said to have been made in one such meetings.

Gen (R) Aslam Beg

Some people are never directly in the spotlight but are just skirting the edges whilst influencing events. Mirza Aslam Beg, a retired army general and former Chief, is just one such figure. Having remained a controversial since his taking command of the Pakistan army upon Gen. Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq's death in a plane crash in August 1988, Beg has never laid out all his cards on the table.

A petition in the Supreme Court of Pakistan was filed involving General Aslam Beg in the misappropriation of Rs 140 million of public funds in the so called Mehran bank scandal. These funds were purportedly used for buying out 'for-sale' politicians through the then director general of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) in order to manipulate the 1990 general elections so as to bring about the defeat of Pakistan Peoples Party. Interestingly, Aslam Beg was dismissed as the army chief just three month short of his retirement by the then president Ghulam Ishaq Khan apparently to counter the political aspirations of the former.

The retired general Beg attempted to revamp his politically ambitious image by founding a policy think-tank just five days after his dismissal as army chief. Naming it The Foundation for Research on International Environment, National Development and Security (FRIENDS), Aslam Beg his used its platform to establish himself as a political and military analyst.

He has authored several articles in which he has asserted his views regarding the emerging power dynamic in the South and Middle East whilst maintaining that eventually peace is the only solution to the regional tension. Of late, the retired general Beg has come down hard on the trend of military dictators usurping power and has aligned himself with a group of several retired army generals who are asking for the immediate stepping down of President Musharraf.

Punishing the weak

Corporal punishment is one of the main reasons behind school drop-outs

By Zia Ur Rehman

In Vehari, May 2008, a madrassa teacher has been accused of torturing a blind student to death for not learning his lessons. According to news report, the teacher brutally beat up the seven-year-old Atif and then tied up his feet with a ceiling fan hook and hanged him upside down, the boy died after some time and his family found marks of severe beating on his body.

In Hyderabad, Jan 2008, a 14-year old boy died at Civil Hospital. He was severely beaten up by his school teacher at a public school. According to details, the teacher had beaten the boy with a stick and asked two students to tie his hands. Then the teacher ordered the boy to sit and stand up for 100 times which caused pain in the boy's belly.

In Muzaffargarh, March 2007, 24 children was held against their will at a madrassa and were rescued by the police after one boy escaped and made a complaint. According to HRCP's report, some to the children reportedly had been tortured, others sodomised

In Lahore, Feb 2007, a government high school teacher broke a girl student's right metacarpal bone with a cane because the girl was not wearing the correct school uniform.

These examples of corporal punishment are common practice in schools and madrassas prevailing in Pakistan, not only in rural areas but also in metropolitan cities. Corporal punishment is an important issue that has not been taken up comprehensively by the civil society yet.

Corporal punishment is defined as the use of physical force for the purpose of correcting a child's behavior, discipline, and control or in the belief of educating/bringing up the child. It is an act by which adults inflict pain to the child so that he or she is disciplined and the learning process is facilitated. Corporal punishment breaches the child's self respect, self-dignity, and physical integrity. The level and intensity of punishment varies according to the nature of the mischief and disobedience on part of the child. However, external factors like poverty, over stressed parents and teachers, underpaid and untrained teachers, unemployment and so on, also play an important role in aggravating the physical act of punishment in the name of discipline. Corporal punishment is an intentional infliction of physical pain following to misconduct or wrongdoing for the purpose of deferring future misconduct. It involves pinching, slapping, pulling ears, spanking, strapping, pushing, wrestling holds, cracking fingers with ruler, arm twisting and shaking, and in worse-case, resulting in death. As cases of corporal punishment are hardly reported, accurate data or statistics for such cases are not available with government agencies ,non-governmental organisations and child rights organisations. Both available statistical and anecdotal data show that corporal punishment is practiced in every society and that across the world millions of children are being punished physically and emotionally by their parents and teacher or those who are charged with their care.

United Nations Funds for Children (UNICEF) and other child rights organisations are consistently calling upon the government to end corporal punishment and the legal provisions in the country's law that permit it. The UN convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) explicitly protects children from all forms of physical violence (Article 19) and inhuman and degrading treatments or punishments (Article 37). It requires school discipline to be "consistent with the child's human dignity and in conformity with the present convention" (Article 28.2).

According to UNICEF global databases, 2007, based on national surveys in 29 countries, 2005-2006, violent methods of child discipline are widespread. In 29 countries and territories surveyed, an average of 86 per cent of children aged 2-14 experienced violent discipline at home; in almost every one of these countries more than half of the children have been violently disciplined and one in five children has experienced severe physical punishment. Another report 'Safe Schools: Every Girl's Right" published by Amnesty International, shows how violence in and around educational institutions remains pervasive. The report states at school, many girls face psychological violence, bullying and humiliation. Some are caned or beaten in school in the name of discipline. Girls are threatened with sexual assault by other students, offered higher marks by teachers in exchange for sexual favours, and even raped in the staff room.

Only 23 countries, including Austria, Bulgaria, Chile etc, have completely banned corporal punishment But there are 106 -- including many places where it was common only a generation ago -- which have put a stop to corporal punishment in schools.

Corporal punishment is used in all socio-economic settings. In most countries, children from the poorest households are as likely to experience violent punishment as children from the richest households; children living in rural areas are as likely to experience violent punishment as children living in cities.

Sadia Baloch, the regional manager of Society for the Protection of the Rights of Child (SPARC), Karachi, told TNS that according to a UN report the drop-out rate in Pakistan is 50 per cent which is higher then other countries in the world, corporal punishment is one of the major causes. "You should know that article 89 of Pakistan Penal code 1860(XLV) empowers parents, teachers and other guardians to use corporal punishment as a means to discipline and correct the behavior of under-12 children. However such punishment is required to be moderate and reasonable," she said. Baloch added that in case the punishment inflicts serious injuries as defined in section 319 (hurt) and 320 (grievous hurt)of the PPC, then the adult can be booked under section 323 and 325 of the PPC respectively and can be penalised and imprisoned for it. Following a sustained campaign by SPARC, corporal punishment is now prohibited in the govt. schools in the NWFP since Dec 2003, and in Punjab and Sindh since Sept 2005. SPARC strongly condemns all types of violence against children and is working to include child right in the syllabus.

Dr Sabir Jadoon, president of The Slummer Welfare Organisation agrees that corporal punishment is the main reason behind the high school drop-out rate in Pakistan. "We demand repeal of Section 89 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) that allows parents, teachers and guardians to punish their child and urged the government to prepare a code of ethics for teachers. The school administration policy should have a monitoring component to check corporal punishment and the government should have its own monitoring mechanism for at least public schools," he said. Jadoon also cited the report of The Pakistan Pediatric Association (PPA) which revealed that over 88 percent of school-going children reported suffering physical abuse.

Aimal Khan, Advocacy Coordinator of Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI), Islamabad, opined that inadequate teacher training, the lack of legislation banning corporal punishment and the perception that it must be used to teach children, are all factors behind the widespread existence of corporal punishment. It is needed to increase visibility of corporal punishment as a child right's violation. He also stressed to end the social acceptance of corporal punishment.

RIPPLE EFFECT
Deal or no deal?

By Omar R. Quraishi

The very next day that the prime minister's adviser on interior Rahman Malik apparently expresses his no-confidence in the deal signed between pro-Taliban militants in Swat and the NWFP government, a spokesman of Mr Malik's own ministry is quoted by the state-run APP news agency as saying that the adviser had been misquoted and that the deal is very much intact.

At the press conference where the adviser reportedly expressed his mistrust, he is quoted in several newspapers and on various news channels as accusing the militants of going back on their various pledges as part of the peace accord. One point that the adviser makes and which is borne out by evidence is that attacks in the region against the government and especially law-enforcement officials continue as do bombing incidents against shops selling music or CDs. The adviser's press conference is however followed by a sharp response by the NWFP government whose information minister says that the deal was (a) signed by the provincial government and that it is very much on and that (b) if the federal adviser had any problems with the deal he should have conveyed them to the provincial government through the appropriate channel and not aired them in public.

At just the time that this happened, the RAND Corporation released a report that it did for the US Defence Department. Though the report said nothing that was new, it's author, a visiting professor at Georgetown University, and a well-known proponent for an aggressive US military posture and presence in Iraq, Seth Jones, wrote quite bluntly that unless the safe havens in FATA were rooted out, it would be next to impossible for the government of Afghan President Hamid Karzai to stabilise the country and impose its writ in the long run. The RAND report also said

-- and this is something that the academic said two years ago as well (in an interview then with the New York Times) -- that 'individuals' in the ISI and in Pakistan's paramilitary Frontier Corps were lending a helping hand to the Taliban inside Pakistani territory, in terms of helping them launch attacks inside Pakistan. Clearly, such an accusation will come across as very embarrassing for both the government as well as the military because it means that any new deal that it signs with these elements, or their sympathisers in the region, will be viewed with extreme suspicion.

Looking at the larger picture, it could be said that a substantial degree of confusion reigns on this matter, especially over the peace deal in Swat. While the federal government, or at least one of its major officials, indicates that the deal is almost as good as dead, the provincial government is adamant that it is alive. Then we also hear of news reports quoting the militants' spokesman saying that in keeping with the spirit of the peace deal, the militants will take the lead in helping the provincial government conduct its polio vaccination campaign in the region. In the past, this particular issue had become a bone of serious contention, with the militants going so far as to even kill a couple of government officials who were leading the inoculation.

From a purely Pakistani (i.e. domestic) point of view, one should consider the following. Swat, by the government and military's own admission, had been caught up in a serious insurgency and several tehsils of the district had fallen to the militants with the police and other law-enforcement agencies practically deserting their posts and offices. Then the army was deployed and for several days a district-wide curfew was imposed. This was followed by heavy bombardment and shelling of selected areas to flush out the militants and many were reportedly killed and/or arrested. After the operation was over, the press -- which till then had not been allowed to report from the district -- was invited and told that the militants had been dealt a crushing blow. The campaign was then quoted as a good example or rather proof of the fact that the militants could be defeated provided the state exhibited the requisite political will and commitment to use its massive military strength to battle them.

So the question that obviously comes to mind is that once all this had been achieved what was the need to release Maulana Sufi Mohammed (of Tehrik-e-Nifaz-e-Shariate Mohammadi fame) and also strike a deal with his son-in-law and the government's primary bete noire Maulana Fazlullah. The latter was said to be on the run and in hiding after his militia was reportedly routed by the military operation in the region. So, why the need to strike and deal with this apparently defeated commander? Was this not simply a case of the state willingly relinquishing the advantage that it gained as a result of the military operation -- whose objective surely was to cleanse Swat of extremists? Doesn't the so-called peace agreement allow the very space to the militants that the military action was apparently undertaken to eliminate? Isn't it true, from our own experience, that entering into such deals with extremists only serves to embolden them and gives the government nothing and if anything accelerates the erosion of its writ in the area where the peace deal is to hold sway?

What kind of message is given to Pakistanis in general when the government quite happily enters into a peace agreement with elements who threaten to impose a theocratic state, bomb girls schools, attack video and music shops and force men to grow beards under pain of physical suffering? Isn't such an arrangement tantamount to legitimising all these clearly illegal and vigilante actions? How can a party that claims to be secular (one is speaking of the ANP here) justify giving religious extremists so many concessions, and in return getting the 'peace' which was anyways the responsibility of the government to establish and maintain? Why has Maulana Fazlullah been allowed to keep his illegal FM channel given that the initial quarrel between him and the government was precisely over him using this illegal mode of communication to incite his followers against the state? Finally, what precisely is the intention of such 'peace deals' because it seems that the primary objectives of the militants -- to gain power/control via recognition in their particular area of dominance and to be allowed to organise their own militia and run a de facto administration to rule over the local population -- are achieved through such an arrangement.

Who will answer these questions?

The writer is Editorial Pages Editor of The News.

Email: omarq@cyber.net.pk

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