Pakistan takes war on terror to universities, but does on-campus terrorism really exist?

Lt. Gen. (rtd.) Muhammad Asghar, acting executive director, HEC and Khaliq Dad, national coordinator, NACTA, sign a letter of intent to develop a national strategy to counter on-campus extremism at the Commission Secretariat on Thursday. (Photo courtesy: EC Media)

• Higher education commission and counterterrorism authority agreed to sensitize faculty and students about extremism and terrorism
• Facility says there are no signs of extremism on campuses and such programs are designed by organizations to try to justify their existence

KARACHI: It’s January 2002. The venue is University of Karachi and the event is Golden Jubilee cricket tournament. In the final, the ‘Team Political Science’ is facing the top team, ‘The Economics,’ which is going to lift the trophy. However, the runner-up team’s Shahid Khan will win the hearts of thousands of spectators – all UoK students, at Valika Cricket Ground. Khan, a handsome and down-to-earth youth with a white complexion, is smacking the ball over the fence. The crowd cheers. Khan, who also occasionally plays with test cricketer Younis Khan in Karachi, is man-of-the-match, even though his side lost.
The wheel of life moves on fast.
It’s Dec. 15, 2011. The venue is Qur’angi and the event is a joint raid by Law Enforcement Agency.
After the successful raid to recover industrialist Riaz Chinoy in Qur’angi neighborhood of Karachi, the Anti Violent Crime Cell and Citizens-Police Liaison Committee claim they have killed Qari Shahid, an alleged chief of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan Karachi.
Investigators say it was at “some stage” of those 118 months between January 2002 and December 2011 when something went wrong with Shahid Khan, making him Qari Shahid.
It’s this “stage” in the life of Khan and several others like him -– during their studies or afterwards -– for fixing which the National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA) inked a Letter of Intent (LoI) with the Higher Education Commission (HEC) on Thursday. Lt. Gen. (Retd.) Muhammad Asghar, acting executive director of the HEC, and Khaliq Dad, national coordinator of NACTA, signed the LoI on behalf of their organizations. “Had Khan been sensitized, he would have not fallen in the wrong hands after his studies,” said Raja Umar Khattab, a senior official at Counter Terrorism Department in Karachi.
DOING IT TOGETHER
“The partnership between HEC and NACTA will help sensitize students, faculty and the entire academia on the menace of extremism and terrorism,” retired Lt. Gen Asghar told the ceremony, adding that universities play a vital role in training youth and inculcating a moderate approach to life in their minds.
The HEC official also underlined that Islam is a religion of peace and there is a need for promoting its true teachings. “We hope HEC and NACTA will work very closely in the years to come to address the multidimensional causes of extremism,” Asghar concluded.
Khaliq Dad, who appreciated the HEC, said NACTA devizes national anti-terrorism strategies, adding that it carries out research on various aspects of terrorism. He hoped that the HEC-NACTA partnership would help to utilize the research related to causes, threats and solutions of terrorism.
Speaking to Arab News, Aayesha Ikram, HEC director media, said that under the LoI, the HEC and NACTA will carry out research on topics relevant to extremism. “The HEC will give NACTA online access to research journals on topics pertaining to extremism and terrorism,” she said.
“NACTA is a government think-tank and policymaking organization that provides short-term and long-term planning on different security issues to the government,” Mujeeb-ur-Rehman Talpur, deputy director at the National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA), told Arab News.
“Our partnership with HEC is part of our efforts to safeguard 62 percent of youths from going toward extremism and terrorism.
“Our main focus is to make teachers and students aware of the threat of terrorism. For this not only they will be sensitized about terrorism but in the long term the curriculum will also include subjects pertaining to extremism and terrorism, Talpur said.
“Our main culprit is extremism, which takes youths toward terrorism, and both HEC and NACTA will do research on how to eliminate the extremism,” he said. “Not only higher education institutions but the curriculum of Madaris will also be reformed to fill the wide gap between Madaris and modern institutions.”
Talpur says the sensitization will be started from faculty members by building its capacity with training workshops and seminars through specialized local and international organizations.
DOES ON-CAMPUS TERRORISM PERSIST?
Former General Secretary of All Pakistan Universities Academic Staff Association, Dr. Shakeel Farooqi, says no signs of radicalization have ever been found on the campuses.
“The people who spend their lives on campus know the situation well and deem it labeling by people and organizations to justify their existence. We haven’t find any sign of terrorism,” Farooqi said, adding if any former student is found to be involved in terrorism he must be radicalized after student life and for that the universities should not be blamed.
“Former students have become murderers and found to be involved in different crimes. So does that mean that universities have turned them into murderers or the circumstances after their university life?” he asked. “How can one blame universities for what is not their fault? Such labeling is stupid.” 
Khattab, however, said the government and private universities have a little history of radicalization. “We have found some teachers of private universities involved in acts of terrorism,” he says.
Khattab said since the advent of social media any educated youth can be easily accessed by terrorists and radicalized -– no matter if he is on campus or graduated –- the threat remains and needs to be averted.
“While interrogating accused teachers and former graduates, we have found that when radicalized they play different roles. Some take up with social media, some become facilitators, whereas others take a direct part in terrorist activities. Students of two disciplines, electronic engineering and orthopedics, are the prime targets as the former help terrorists in making bombs and the latter are helpful in treating wounds,” the police official said.
Khattab likes with idea that youths should be made aware of the terrorists’ traps and possible consequences for them, their future and families. “However, this should be done in a way that may create awareness without terrorizing the students and negatively affecting the academic environment,” he said.
Talpur, the NACTA official, agrees.
“It should be clear that we are doing long-term planning to avert future threats. A few incidents of involvement in terrorism from campuses don’t prove that we are facing a crisis-like situation on campuses,” Talpur said.