Could you outline the main objectives of Faith Matters?
Project Peghaam tests messages on a focus group of Pakistanis in Pakistan and with the UK Pakistani Diaspora community. These messages are based on Quranic verses, leadership and poetry which underscore peace, non-violence and respect for minorities. They are then sent to six million live mobile numbers in FATA (the Federally Administered Tribal Areas) on the Afghan/Pakistan border and within AJK (Azad Jammu and Kashmir).
Not only do we send out the message, but we are able to take in incoming responses. We analyse the responses and work out the impact of the messages through fieldworkers, who are then able to meet with recipients.
The programme allows us to get a snapshot of what communities are thinking about at a specific moment in time, in real time in Pakistan, and this is key. We were also able to use SMS responses to draft real-time response reports on the impact of the killing of Osama Bin Laden on the opinions of Pakistanis, and the impact of the air attack on Libya on extremist narratives in Pakistan. This is now a service we provide to groups and interested organisations.
Do you feel extremism globally is on the rise?
Extremism is on the rise, and there are multiple impacts because of extremism in one country or region. We know that the ‘blowback’ effect of supporting the Afghan Taleban by Pakistan in the 1990s meant initially that institutions were set up in Pakistan by associated groups who took extreme positions, and the Pakistani government then took military action in an attempt to simply wipe out these groups.
These groups now have a grievance, and they are a major source of destabilisation within Pakistan. However, such pressures have also negatively affected Afghanistan, and India is also involved in the geopolitical power game, which further inflames Pakistani nationalists and extreme groups. So we are in a cycle of re-inforcement for extreme groups.
Furthermore, even in other areas of the globe like Nigeria we are seeing groups taking extreme positions and undertaking terrorism. Lastly, even in countries like Israel we are seeing extremist positions taking real root in ultra Orthodox communities, where women have been attacked by those who regard themselves as ‘religious protectors’ and some form of moral police.
How often do extremist attacks occur in Pakistan, and are they on the increase?
The government of Pakistan is doing a lot on the ground to tackle extremism, though this is allied to support from the US and the UK. The Pakistani government to some degree plays a nationalistic tone to its public by blaming the US and giving the impression that it is protecting the sovereignty of the country. Yet intelligence-sharing has been taking place, and these taps are turned on and off when the Pakistani government needs to, so as to ensure public confidence. Saying that, extremist attacks are reducing and figures can be found on the Faith Matters Pakistan website.
Is extremism in Pakistan markedly worse than extremism in other Muslim countries?
The first thing to add is that extremism affects many communities, be they faith or non-faith communities. Political, social and economic conditions allied to the mis-use of religion have had a history in many faith communities and are not specific to one.
Saying that, in Pakistan extremism seems to have taken root since previous governments supported extremist groups and used them as proxies in other countries like Afghanistan. These extremist groups have turned on their paymasters, especially after incidents like the killings that took place in the Lal Masjid in Islamabad by the government of Pakistan.
Furthermore, Pakistan’s political position has been that it has been caught between a rock and a hard place. India has always been perceived as a threat and US Pakistani relations have always been ‘hot’ and ‘cold’. So Pakistanis have always felt that the future of their country has been under threat. Generation after generation have grown up with this fear of threat and added nationalism, similar to the fear and nationalism that Israelis feel. So there are unique dynamics to Pakistan to explain why extremism has taken real root. Added to this, Pakistan is also faced with extremely high corruption levels, and weak and poor governance.
Project Peghaam utilises mobile technology to send SMS messages to people in Pakistan. By using such technology are you seeking to primarily target younger generations?
Yes, Pakistan has a population of about 170 million people, and we realised early on that the mobile trend was all-too pervasive in the country. About 115 million of them have access to a mobile, and what people do not realise within our country is that there is an active and socially connected middle class in Pakistan.
However, many others are able to use SMS and we estimate that during 2012, about 24 per cent of the 115 million mobiles in Pakistan will have functions that are similar to our iPhones, gained through generic mobiles which are imported from China. So there is huge scope to develop social change through mobiles.
How many individuals in Pakistan are receiving messages, and how often are these being sent?
About six million Pakistanis have been reached in the North of Pakistan (near the Afghanistan and Pakistan border) and in the South West of the country. The mobile SMS programme allows us to reach out to wider sets of individuals. It also allows us to engage in real time and ascertain thoughts and opinions, especially when local or global incidents take place. This is where the future of community engagement is going, and we are very fortunate to have been able to assess and track this trend, which will further grow phenomenally across the developing world.
What sort of response have you received from the people of Pakistan?
Responses have been varied and rich in data. When the Governor of the Punjab, Salman Taseer, was murdered in January 2011 by his bodyguard, we managed to pick up thousands of incoming messages that praised his killer.
Governor Taseer was killed, since he regarded the Blasphemy Law as being corrosive to communities in Pakistan. During January to March 2011, we picked up 11-12,000 SMS messages praising the killer, and this amounted to about 1 in 10 SMS messages circulating in FATA and AJK that praised the murderer as being a national hero. Though this was deeply worrying, it is where we can see the real impact of SMS. It picks up feelings at that moment in a specific place, and should be seen as one element in a wide array of communications to counter extremism.
Other findings that we have come across have been praise for our work, strong feelings that Pakistanis have lost trust in their government, and a deep sense that the US is actively destabilising Pakistan.
In fact, after the killing of Osama Bin Laden in Abbottabad, we collected thousands of SMS messages that were sent to us in response to our SMS messages and which stated that the greatest threat to Pakistan was the US. What is heartening is that Pakistanis do not see the United Kingdom as being a threat to Pakistan and to a great degree, the US is seen in that light.
One last thing to add which is important and which is not raised in social and political conversations about Pakistan, is the fact that Pakistanis feel vulnerable since they have no trust in their government. If communities feel like this, there is a very real risk that groups that purport to provide security in local areas, as the Pakistani Taleban do, can exploit their vulnerability. The Pakistani government needs to address this confidence deficit and fast, before that window of opportunity closes – and it is closing very quickly.