A de-radicalization program launched by the Pakistani military for militants surrendered in the troubled Balochistan province has an Islamist projection, with leaders of hard-line groups such as Jamaat-e-Islami taking part in the training courses, according to documents at those accessed by the Hindustan Times.
The de-radicalization and rehabilitation program, started in 2018 by (retired) Lieutenant General Asim Saleem Bajwa, also appeared to be aimed more at replacing the militants’ Baloch ethnic identity with one that emphasizes “religio-patriotism,” documents show. confidential.
Bajwa, who was recently at the center of a controversy after a Pakistani news website reported that her family had created a business empire of 99 companies in four countries, including a nearly $ 40 million pizza franchise, appears to have been the driving force behind the program that was launched while he was leading the Pakistan Army’s southern command.
Also read: India calls the Chinese lantern in Chushul
An existing de-radicalization center in Quetta called Umeed-e-Nau was expanded and renamed ‘Darepsh’, a Balochi word meaning ‘ujala’ (light), to implement the program. Documents show that the program has so far handled at least two batches of surrendered militants: 50 fighters who took part in a course from December 2018 to March 2019, and 128 fighters who underwent a course during April-July 2019. .
While the program makes an effort to bring together civilian and military psychologists to deal with the psychological and social training of surrendered Baloch combatants, almost 20 percent or a fifth of the training modules are devoted to a ” religio-patriotism program, “and invited speakers for this included Abdul Haq Hashmi, the provincial president of Jamaat-e-Islami.
The Jamaat-e-Islami established deep ties with jihadist groups during the war against the Soviet occupation forces in Afghanistan in the 1980s and was also active in the early years of the militant movement in Jammu and Kashmir, having close ties to Hizbul Mujahideen. . The Jamaat also has close ties to the Pakistani military.
Also read: To China, a military and diplomatic message
The documents show that while surrendered fighters are taught the “rejection of extremism” during the religio-patriotism program, they are also taught “jihad, morality, patriotism.”
The documents also highlight the mismatch between the total number of surrendered combatants and the number of those who have completed the de-radicalization program. According to a brief history of the program included in the documents, more than 2,500 fighters surrendered in 2018 as a result of “targeted effects-based operations in Baluchistan coupled with efforts in a non-kinetic domain” that isolated “Baloch terrorists / subnationalists.”
However, only 178 surrendered combatants were part of the two deradicalization and rehabilitation courses carried out so far. Most of these fighters came from the Dera Bugti, Sibi and Kohlu regions of Baluchistan.
People familiar with the events also pointed out the similarity between the de-radicalization camps that are run in Baluchistan and the so-called re-education camps run by the Chinese authorities for Uyghurs in Xinjiang. “The objectives, design and the vocational training module are closely aligned with those of the Xinjiang camps. One of the key objectives seems to be to eliminate all traces of ethnic identity and nationalism, ”said one of the people quoted above.
Significantly, a slide that is part of the documents contains a reference to one of the key issues raised by civil society and human rights groups regarding the activities of Pakistani intelligence and security agencies in Baluchistan: the question of “disappeared persons” or victims of enforced disappearances.
The slide on about nine points raised by the Baloch fighters surrendered during the de-radicalization program includes, firstly, “The whereabouts of the Disappeared Pers are pursued.” Surrendered fighters also asked for financial aid to be paid to some fighters who had not received aid when they laid down their arms.
In recent years, the bodies of dozens of victims of enforced disappearance have been found lying on the side of roads, many of them bearing signs of torture.
Sameer Patil, an international security studies fellow at Gateway House, said it was strange that the Jamaat-e-Islami, described by some as the “mother organization for most jihadists,” was part of a de-radicalization program.
“This program also shows the misplaced priorities of the Pakistani Army: Such a program should focus on Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa or Punjab, where deadly groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba are based. But groups that do not indulge in activities against the Pakistani state have always received preferential treatment, “he said.
“The Pakistani military appears to be using its own version of Islam to crush groups with an identity and a form of Islam that does not suit them,” he added.
.
