Pervez Musharraf speaks at Stanford

Pervez Musharraf, former president of Pakistan, spoke at Stanford's Memorial Auditorium today, thanks to the ASSU Speakers' Bureau and Stanford in Government.

The very first utterance Musharraf made, even before "Thank you for the introduction," was "Bismillahi al-rahmani al-rahimi." That is, "In the name of Allah, most gracious, most merciful." This is the first sentence of every chapter of the Qur'an (except Chapter 9) and is the first line of the constitutions of many Islamic countries. By beginning with this line, Musharraf wanted everyone present to know that he was not only making his statements as a Muslim, but as a pious Muslim. I have never personally heard any speaker begin with this phrase, and I have heard many Muslims speak at Stanford, including a past president of the Shariah Scholars’ Association of North America.


Given this beginning, it is not surprising that Musharraf, throughout his speech, consistently refused to link terrorism to Islam in any way. Instead he singled out "Islamophobia" as "very dangerous" in the fight against terrorism. He spoke of the need to "uproot" the "tree of terrorism" and not merely cut off the "branches and leaves." But what is the root cause of terrorism according to President Musharraf, former leader of one of the largest incubators of terrorism in the world? Illiteracy, desperation brought about by autocratic governments, and political grievances.

First of all, it is laughable that President Musharraf would condemn oppressive governments, having led one himself for nine years. Second, if illiteracy and desperation at heavy-handed government were truly the root causes of terrorism, we would be facing hundreds of millions of terrorists from Sub-Saharan Africa. Instead, we see Muslim doctors and medical students blow themselves up in order to kill innocent civilians around the world, from Scotland to Iraq. These people are far from illiterate or desperate. Now, to be fair, the illiterate masses in the Muslim world do provide fertile recruiting ground for radical groups. However, this is not a root cause of terrorism. This is merely a branch on Musharraf's figurative tree. The root cause lies with the people doing the recruiting. They are motivated by something else.

That brings us to Musharraf's third "root cause" of terrorism: political grievances. Musharraf singled out the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the dispute over Kashmir as particularly strong recruitment tools for Islamist terrorist organizations. If these conflicts were resolved (the first with a two-state solution, the second as the result of an unclear "peace process"), much, if not most, terrorism would end, according to Musharraf. Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and former United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan have expressed similar views. That fact, however, does not make this outlook more correct. Does anyone truly believe that if, say, Israel did not exist, Iran would stop funding terrorist organizations, al-Qaeda would close up shop, and the hordes who cry "death to America" across the Middle East would magically disappear? Does anyone truly believe that, were but the Kashmir issue resolved, India's 154 million Muslims would suddenly live in perfect harmony with their Hindu neighbors and relations between India and Pakistan would normalize overnight? This belief is mere fantasy.

But I digress. Musharraf continued his speech by affirming that the Pakistani army and intelligence service (ISI) are completely trustworthy organizations doing their best to fight Islamist terrorism under the leadership of the Pakistani government. He also stated that anyone who believes otherwise is sorely mistaken, since it is "in the best interest of Pakistan" to fight terrorism; the people are tired of the constant bombings and death. ISI's history makes this statement hard to believe. Take a look at this backgrounder by the Council on Foreign Relations for a roundup of the accusations leveled at the group.

After his speech, Musharraf faced what could be termed an interrogation by political science professor Scott Sagan. Musharraf adroitly avoided answering every single question. The most notable question asked was regarding Lashkar-e-Taiba, the terrorist group that has been accused of carrying out the attacks in Mumbai last November and has suspected ties to ISI. Musharraf's answer was to bring up the bombing of the Samjhauta Express (a train that goes between India and Pakistan) in 2007, which was supposedly perpetrated by a radical Hindu colonel in the Indian Army. Even if this charge is true, it does not change the fact that Lashkar-e-Taiba (let alone the dozens of other terrorist groups based in Pakistan) has conducted numerous deadly attacks in recent years, including the 2005 Delhi bombings, the 2006 Varanasi bombings, the 2006 Mumbai train bombings, and the 2006 blasts at Malegaon. Musharraf made no mention of these attacks.

Professor Sagan then opened the floor for the audience to ask questions. Indian and Pakistani students rushed to the microphones to grill Musharraf on the toughest issues facing their respective countries and the region as a whole. Unsurprisingly, Musharraf repeatedly denied that Pakistan was responsible for any of the region's ills, stated that all of his actions as dictator were taken in accordance with the Pakistani constitution, and blamed India for the recent deterioration in relations between the two countries. He went so far as to state that India "wants war," claiming that a "war hysteria" had swept through the country. He added, ominously, that Pakistan "does not want war," but would not shy away from it if it was thrust upon it.

Two students asked questions about Islamist terrorism, the first asking why most terrorist acts around the world are perpetrated by Muslims, and the second asking how we can fight terrorism while remaining respectful towards Islam. After stating that the number of attacks carried out by Muslims "needs to decline," Musharraf once again brought up the Israeli-Palestinian issue, arguing that if that issue were resolved, "extremism" would see a sharp decline. He also brought up the Samjhauta Express bombing again as an example of non-Islamist terrorism.

Overall, Musharraf's presentation was disappointing, especially because of his refusal even to name Islamism as a vitally important factor in Pakistan's recent destabilization. He instead only referred to "terrorism" or "extremism" and made only one passing reference to Pakistan's 13,000 madrasas, or Qur'an schools, which are notorious for serving as incubators for radicalism and terrorism. Musharraf's insistence that most of the region's problems were the fault of India was also disheartening.

Nevertheless, it was enlightening to hear about these issues from someone so deeply involved in them, and it was encouraging that my fellow students had the courage to ask the tough questions that need to be asked. I wouldn't mind seeing more of that spirit on this campus.

The Associated Press has its own (much less detailed) coverage of the event.