Manipal, India —
The Shiite branch of Islam is regarded as heresy by followers of the founder of
Wahabbism, Abdel Wahab (1703-1792). Extreme adherents of this faith routinely
visit violence on the Shiites, and every one of its preachers condemns the
Shiites as un-Islamic.
However, the
1979 ascendance of Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini to absolute power in Iran
meant the capture of one of the geopolitical pivots of the Shiite world – the
other being Iraq – by a thinker whose teachings closely resembled the
philosophy of Abdel Wahab.
These ideas had
originally been designed to counter the control exercised by Turkish Sufi
doctrine over the Arab Bedouin. The Wahabbis enjoyed the support of the British
Empire and its successor in international reach, the United States, initially
because this alienation from Turkish influence suited their interests.
This backing
began to be withdrawn only after 9/11. Nearly nine years after that event, the
prising away of Wahabbis from the state structures of key Muslim-majority
states has been at best partial, and usually no more than cosmetic. Wahabbism
continues to dominate the world of Muslim religious schools and sites by
ensuring the elimination of clerics and scholars who subscribe to a moderate –
if not Sufi – worldview.
Nowhere has this
process secured deeper roots than in Pakistan. Apart from some locations in the
Middle East and North Africa, Pakistan has become the most significant jihadi
factory, turning out thousands each year. Education in the religious schools,
or madrassas, is based on vilification of those not subservient to a Wahabbi
mindset. Even regular school education in Pakistan has aped models in the
"moderate" Middle East by including heavy doses of religion in what
ought to be secular curricula.
The products of
such Wahabbist indoctrination are often unable to compete effectively in a
globalizing world, and hence develop feelings of resentment that motivate them
toward extreme solutions. Sadly, while former U.S. President George W. Bush
funneled billions of U.S. taxpayer dollars toward "reforming"
education in Pakistan, his administration failed to ensure the overhaul of the
curricula to educate a generation able to resist the temptations of jihad.
Both the
Khomeinists and the Wahabbis see the United States and Israel as their Axis of
the Devil, and both produce a profusion of literature designed to create hatred
for both countries.
Although Wahabbi
literature also continues to openly and repeatedly condemn Shiite philosophy as
apostasy, this has not prevented "revolutionary" Iran from coming
together with the Wahabbi group within the Pakistan army – which has been
dominant since the 1970s – and the institutions it directly and indirectly
controls.
Travel and
telephone records, including "coincidental" visits by Iranian and
Pakistani military commanders to locations such as Beijing or Dubai, show a
steep acceleration in contacts between the ruling Khomeinst structure in Iran
and its Wahabbi counterparts in Pakistan.
The Pakistani
military has even succeeded in making into its helpmate the once-feared
al-Qaida, which barks out threats against India at regular intervals.
India has a
record of helping the Palestinians, even during the 1950s, when Pakistan was
opposing the Palestine Liberation Organization and refusing to recognize an
independent Palestinian state. India has invariably supported Arabs against
outside intervention, including opposing the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Yet the
Pakistan army has got the Jihad International to vilify this secular democracy –
which includes 156 million Muslims – alongside Israel and the United States,
creating a triangle that they have together vowed to oppose.
Not
surprisingly, al-Qaida commanders routinely and publicly offer to help the
Pakistan army if there should be another war with India, and threaten India
with retaliation if it were to attack Pakistan. Clearly, the leaders of
al-Qaida are grateful for the sanctuary and support they have received within
Pakistan.
The Wahabbis
have been adept at the "good cop, bad cop" routine needed to lull the
best and the brightest in Washington D.C. into their customary stupor when
faced with the need to implement actual – as distinct from cosmetic – measures
against the Wahabbis that dominate the Pakistan military and its affiliates.
In contrast, the
theatrical Khomeinists have succeeded in turning successive U.S.
administrations, and even domestic public opinion, against them with the
ranting of their leaders. This is especially true of the current loudmouthed
president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the hand-picked nominee of Supreme Leader Ali
Khamenei.
Although the
majority of the Iranian people are not Arab, and hence not directly related to
the situation in the Palestinian territories, Iran has become the biggest state
sponsor of the militant Palestinian groups that seek to extinguish through violence
the state of Israel.
Interestingly,
the flow of technology to the country from states as varied as China and
Germany continues unabated, enabling Iran’s mullahcracy to move closer to the
day when it can launch a devastating blow against Israel and NATO assets in the
vicinity.
What will be the
effects of this increased fraternization between the Khomeinist establishment
in Iran and its Wahabbi counterparts in Pakistan? The jury is still out,
although both would like to see a weakened United States that would, in their
view, be more susceptible to Iran’s bullying and Pakistan’s cajoling.
Given the
complementary skills of the two countries in asymmetrical warfare, this
emerging alliance between Iran and Pakistan is significant enough to merit the
attention of the international community.
-(Professor M.D. Nalapat is vice-chair of the Manipal Advanced
Research Group, UNESCO Peace Chair, and professor of geopolitics at Manipal
University. He can be reached at mdnalapat1@gmail.com. ©Copyright M.D. Nalapat.)
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