Pakistan's struggle to rein in rogue seminaries

Pakistan pledged to crack down on religious seminaries suspected of fostering extremism following a Taliban school massacre in December that left more than 130 children dead, but the move faces stiff resistance from conservatives.
Amid a wave of outrage after the attack at the school in the northwestern city of Peshawar, the government announced a "National Action Plan" to fight back against the militants.
A six-year moratorium on the death penalty was lifted and the constitution was amended to allow military courts to try those accused of carrying out attacks "in the name of religion or a sect".
The plan also included proposals to keep a closer watch on the country's 13,000 Islamic seminaries, or madrassas, 97 percent of which are privately run.

With little oversight of what was being taught to the 1.8 children enrolled in them, fears grew after Peshawar that some were breeding grounds for intolerance -- or even extremism.
Every evening the leafy streets of one of Islamabad's most exclusive quarters throng with young men in white shalwar kameez and prayer caps.

They are students of the Jamia Faridia madrassa, tucked among the upmarket homes of diplomats and wealthy Pakistanis.
It is run by Maulana Abdul Aziz, the cleric of the hardline Red Mosque, which in 2007 was the scene of a week-long military siege against radicals which left more than 100 people dead and led to the rise of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).

Aziz is well known for his controversial views, including praising the Islamic State group and saying the Pakistani military's fight against the TTP was "un-Islamic". Last year the Red Mosque's madrassa for girls renamed its library in honour of slain Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden.
Habib Ullah, a Jamia Faridia student, says bin Laden is his hero and has strong views on Shiite Muslims, who form a minority of about 20 percent of the Pakistani population, which is mostly Sunni Muslim.
"They are not Muslims and they should be converted to Islam," the 12-year-old told AFP.
In his home village in the northern district of Kohistan, the cleric used to say that killing one Shiite would bring you 70 steps closer to heaven, he added.

That is a startling view for any child to hold, but particularly in a country where sectarian violence -- mostly targeting Shiites -- is on the rise.
But the government's efforts to rein in madrassas have prompted anger from many clerics, who accuse the authorities of maligning religious leaders in a bid to build an "anti-Islamic narrative".