WHAT DO BANGLADESH'S DEOBANDI QAWMI MADRASAS WANT?

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 05 DHAKA 000419 SIPDIS DEPT FOR SCA/INSB, S/CT, INR, DRL E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/31/2019 TAGS: PGOV PREL PINR PTER KDEM KISL SOCI BG SUBJECT: WHAT DO BANGLADESH'S DEOBANDI QAWMI MADRASAS WANT? (1 OF 3) REF: DHAKA 239 AND PREVIOUS DHAKA 00000419 001.2 OF 005 Classified By: Ambassador James F. Moriarty, reasons 1.4 (b&d) SUMMARY -------------- ¶1. (SBU) Addressing problems related to the country's privately-funded unregulated Islamic education system (qawmi madrasas - QMs) has emerged as one of the Awami League government's top priorities. The government seeks more control over qawmi madrasas and fears failure to equip students with skills needed to enter today's job market may be making the QMs breeding grounds for future violent extremists. Much of the qawmi madrasa community, in turn, strongly objects to being linked to militant activity. The country's Deobandi QMs are intensely protective of their historical independence from government oversight and of their social responsibility to produce qualified religious scholars to meet the religious needs of Bangladesh's Muslim-majority society. While open to the concept of including non-religious subjects in their curricula, the qawmi madrasa community also seeks government recognition of its highest certificate to permit graduates access to government-controlled clerical and teaching jobs. End summary. ¶2. (U) This is Part 1 of a 3-part cable series on Bangladesh's Deobandi qawmi madrasa (DQM) system. Part 1 provides background on the Deobandi qawmi madrasas ) their origin, curriculum and organizational structure in Bangladesh, their own perception of their social role and their demands of the Government of Bangladesh (GOB). SCOPE OF THIS REPORT -------------- ¶3. (U) This report discusses mainstream Deoband-tradition qawmi madrasas in Bangladesh. These represent the vast majority of Bangladeshi QMs and are managed by a complex and active 'old boy' network of Islamic scholars, generally Deobandi QM graduates themselves. Prominent members of the network are likely to be QM principals/founders themselves and members of either a regional DQM board or of one of two national-level DQM board conglomerations. This report does not discuss a significantly smaller number of QMs, primarily in northwestern Bangladesh, that are influenced by the anti-Sufi Ahle Hadith movement and are reportedly attempting to establish their own education boards. Nor does this report discuss a reportedly even smaller number of individual madrasas that are not affiliated with either the Deoband tradition or the Ahle Hadith movement. ORIGINS, CURRICULUM AND FUNDING -------------- ¶4. (U) Distinct from government-sponsored "alia" madrasas, Deobandi qawmi madrasas - originally established in India in the 19th century as centers of Muslim resistance to British rule - have traditionally jealously guarded their independence from government oversight. In Bangladesh they are privately-funded and unregulated. No official figures are available, but some estimates indicate that up to 8 percent of Bangladesh's student population ) mainly children of the very poor -- attend QMs. ¶5. (U) The vast majority of Bangladesh's QMs fall within the Deoband tradition and follow a religious studies curriculum based on the 17th-century Indo-Islamic syllabus known as "Dars-e-Nizami," still widely used in madrasas throughout South Asia. ¶6. (U) The Dars-e-Nizami curriculum teaches Islamic law (shariah),Tafseer (Quranic commentary),Hadeeth (sayings and practices of the Prophet Mohammed) and Fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence) and includes the concurrent study of Arabic, Urdu and in some cases, Farsi. The syllabus consists of four stages which generally take about twelve years to complete. The final "post-graduate" stage culminates in a qualification known as "Dawra-e-Hadith," which QM representatives equate to a Master's degree. ¶7. (SBU) In addition to the religious curriculum, most DQMs have for the past several years made at least some attempt to DHAKA 00000419 002.2 OF 005 incorporate modern subjects such as mathematics, computer studies, science, English and Bangla language into their curriculum, usually until Class 8 (about age 14). One of the largest QM education boards actually prints its own series of math, science, English and Bangla language books for distribution to the schools within its purview. In practice, however, the poor teaching quality and minimal resources available within the QM system mean students graduating from QM schools are dramatically less qualified to seek modern employment opportunities than their peers from government-regulated and English-medium private schools. (Note: Post's QM interlocutors frankly acknowledge these resource deficiencies and many say they would welcome government or other support in remedying them.) ¶8. (SBU) Funding for DQMs comes from private donations, usually from the local community in the surrounding area, according to post's DQM interlocutors. Each DQM has a Working Committee and a Management Committee, responsible for managing donations and providing accountability to donors, including a large annual community gathering at which the accounting is made public, according to one DQM board member. (Note: The Awami League government asserts that significant funding for QMs comes from abroad and is attempting to implement improved oversight and control measures in this regard. End note.) HOW MANY QMS ARE THERE? -------------- ¶9. (SBU) There are no reliable estimates of the number of QMs in Bangladesh. Even senior representatives of DQM education boards profess ignorance on this point. Different DQM representatives have given post estimates that vary from as high as 25,000 schools nationwide (with as many as 2.5 million students),to as low as 10,000 schools. (Note: Media reported April 14 that as a first step towards bringing the QM schools within the government's purview, the Ministry of Education issued a directive to the Deputy Commissioner in each of Bangladesh's 64 districts, instructing them to research and provide information to the Ministry as to funding sources, size, location, syllabus and number of QMs in their areas of responsibility. The Ministry reportedly imposed a deadline of April 23 in the instruction. The Embassy's Information Support Team has also commissioned a study that will include an estimate of the number of QMs in Bangladesh. End note.) SEVERAL DQM EDUCATION BOARDS OVERSEE CURRICULUM AND EXAMS -------------- -------------- ¶10. (SBU) Privately-constituted education boards have overseen curricula and major examinations in Bangladesh DQMs since the pre-independence era, according to Mohammed Abdul Jabbar, the Secretary General of Befaqul Madaris al-Arabia (BMA),one of Bangladesh's two main QM education board conglomerations. In a recent meeting with PolOff, Abdul Jabbar said BMA was formed in 1978 in the aftermath of Bangladesh's independence from Pakistan, after a majority congress of regional DQM education boards agreed to form and join BMA as members of its executive committee. Subsequent splits within the DQM community (usually along personality lines) had resulted in today's landscape, he said ) a total of 10 DQM regional education boards. Three of those boards are organized under BMA. Three smaller ones are independent, and the four remaining boards together comprise the Federation of Qawmi Madrasa Education Boards (FQMB, or Shommilitio Qawmi Madrasa Shikkha, in Bangla). There appears to be DQM community consensus that BMA and FQMB are the two main DQM players in Bangladesh - and that where they lead, others will follow. TWO MAIN QM PLAYERS: BEFAQUL MADARIS AL ARABIA (BMA)... -------------- -------------- ¶11. (SBU) Headquartered in Dhaka, BMA oversees curriculum and examinations for DQM schools in the Dhaka area as well as in the provinces, according to Abdul Jabbar. He estimated there were about 10,000 DQM schools in Bangladesh and claimed BMA oversaw and spoke for some 4,000 of them. BMA also publishes and distributes textbooks on non-religious topics such as math, science, English and Bangla, according to Abdul Jabbar. He estimated only 1,000 or so DQM schools were supervised by DHAKA 00000419 003 OF 005 the rival FQMB. ... AND THE FEDERATION OF QAWMI MADRASA BOARDS (FQMB) -------------- -------------- ¶12. (SBU) Conversely, at a March 11 meeting, FQMB chairman Mufti Abdur Rahman told PolOff FQMB oversees at least 5,000 DQM schools. A highly-respected Islamic scholar and graduate of the famed Darul Uloom Deoband in India (the philosophical mother-ship of most QMs in South Asia),Abdur Rahman is the founder of Jamiatul Abrar, a large QM in Dhaka. He is also the Chairman of the Central Shariah Board for Islamic Banks of Bangladesh. Originally a member of BMA, he broke away from BMA in 2006 to form FQMB. ¶13. (SBU) FQMB comprises four regional DQM boards ) "Ittihadul Madaris" in Chittagong (est. 1959); "Idarat-e-Din-e-Ta'aleem" in Sylhet (est. 1924); "Tantheem Madarisul Qawmia" in Bogra (est. 1986) and the Gouhardanga Qawmi Education Board in Faridpur. According to one of Abdur Rahman's deputies, Abdur Rahman left BMA to form FQMB because he objected to some members of BMA engaging in "high-profile politics" with the Bangladesh Nationalist Party government (the BNP is allied politically with Jamaat-e-Islami, Bangladesh's largest Islamic party),in power at the time. Abdur Rahman insisted the DQM system should remain independent of individual administrations and feared its politicization in the way Bangladesh's university system has been politicized (to its detriment),said the deputy. ¶14. During a recent madrasa visit, Emboffs met with FQMB secretary general Abdul Haleem Bukharee, also the principal of Al Jameah Al Islamia Patiya (a 5,000-student DQM in the Chittagong area) and a senior member of Ittihadul Madaris, (the Chittagong regional DQM board); and Muhammad Sultan Zauq, principal of Jamiah Darul Ma,arif Madrasa and FQMB board member. Abdur Rahman, Bukharee and Zauq energetically criticized mainstream attempts to link the DQM system to violent extremism and spent some time describing ongoing outreach efforts by Bangladeshi Islamic scholars and DQM representatives to condemn and heighten awareness of the dangers of extremism. QAWMI MADRASAS AND LINKS TO VIOLENT EXTREMISM -------------- ¶15. (C) Note: Mainstream media and conventional thought consistently assert direct links between QMs and violent extremism in Bangladesh. Bangladeshi statistical analyses of the background of known extremists, however, do not appear to indicate a QM background is necessarily any more or less of a factor leading to violent extremist behavior than secular or other religious backgrounds. At the mainstream DQM policy level, DQM leaders are closely linked to and known by each other and have consistently over the years publicly condemned violent extremism and participated in anti-violence awareness campaigns, both internally- and externally-directed. Nevertheless, there is little doubt the overall QM system can and does provide "cover" for clandestine violent extremist activity. Although there is currently insufficient evidence to determine the actual scope and nature of the problem, this remains an area of concern. A related concern is that the QM system is producing a pool of youth without the skills needed to function in a modern economy. While some do go on to become QM teachers or religious leaders, there is still a significant risk that they and their peers who don't find gainful employment could become targets for extremist recruitment in the future. End note. "WE PRODUCE THE RELIGIOUS SCHOLARS BANGLADESH NEEDS" -------------- -------------- ¶16. (SBU) Abdur Rahman, Bukharee and Zauq asserted a position consistently voiced by DQM representatives -- that the DQM system produces qualified scholars to meet the religious needs of Bangladesh's Muslim-majority population and that, as such, its curriculum must remain based in and focused on religious topics. Both accepted that non-religious topics could be taught up to a certain stage (Grade 8 or age 14, according to Bukharee),but said that thereafter, the demands of the religious curriculum required total focus from the students. Abdul Jabbar of BMA claimed that although graduates of government-regulated "alia" madrasas dominated DHAKA 00000419 004 OF 005 government-controlled religious positions, DQM graduates filled "more than 90 percent" of the hundreds of thousands of non-governmental religious positions in Bangladesh. When it came down to judging religious qualifications, there was no question in anyone's mind that QM graduates were more deeply read and better-qualified than "alia" madrasa graduates, and this showed in the choices local communities made with regard to their religious guides and leaders, according to Abdul Jabbar. (Note: He did not address the fate of QM dropouts who failed to achieve even such community employment. End note.) WHAT THE DQM COMMUNITY WANTS: DAWRA-E-HADITH RECOGNITION -------------- -------------- ¶17. (SBU) As BMA's Abdul Jabbar tells the story, the 2006 split between the MBA and FQMB occurred because FQMB founder Abdur Rahman objected to proposed DQM concessions during negotiations between BMA and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) government of the time aimed at gaining official recognition of the DQM system's highest "dawra-e-hadith" qualification. DQM representatives continue to argue that Bangladesh should follow the example of India and Pakistan, which, they claim, officially recognize the dawra-e-hadith certificate, thus allowing Indian and Pakistani QM graduates access to government as well as overseas jobs in the religious field. (Note: The GOB controls lucrative imam slots at government-supervised mosques, as well as Arabic and Islamic studies teaching jobs in government schools and official marriage registrar ("qazi") positions. Lacking government-recognized qualifications, QM graduates cannot compete for these relatively well-paying jobs. End note.) ¶18. (SBU) During the last few months of the 2001-2006 BNP government, the DQM community, led by three BMA-affiliated MPs, began to agitate politically for government recognition of the dawra-e-hadith certificate, according to Abdul Jabbar. Then-BNP Minister of Education, Osman Faruk, confirmed to post separately that the GOB entered into discussions with the DQM community at that time in response to their demands. The talks were complex and difficult, but reached a point where the BNP government issued an official gazette notification stating the dawra-e-hadith certificate would be officially recognized in the competition for government-controlled religious positions, Faruk said. However, wrangling over certification precedence between the different DQM constituencies ensued and the government could not formulate and issue the implementing regulations that would have brought the notification into effect. In January 2007, the advent of the 2007-2009 Caretaker Government brought the initiative to a halt, said Faruk. GOB: FOCUS ON DAWRA-E-HADITH IS CART BEFORE HORSE -------------- -------------- ¶19. (C) The current government is emphatically not interested in revisiting the question of dawra-e-hadith recognition until its concerns with the lower grades of the QM system are met. This is according to Mozammel Hoq, Joint Secretary for Madrasa & Technical Education at the Ministry of Education who met with Poloff March 31 (septel reports further meeting details). COMMENT -------------- ¶20. (SBU) By and large, the DQM community already accepts the concept of providing non-religious education (math, science, social sciences and English) to their students and even indicates readiness to accept outside support in this. These subjects have a recognized theoretical place in the DQM curriculum and many QMs already make some attempt to teach them, in addition to some basic vocational skills (computer skills, driving, electricity repair, etc). However, the extreme inadequacy of QM teaching staff and materials for these subjects, the lack of uniform standards and the upper age limit at which such non-religious education stops (as early as Class 8 or about age 14) mean in practice these subjects get short shrift. The GOB and the QM community must also come to an understanding about the extent and nature of government oversight over the QM system. ¶21. (SBU) A deeper and more complex issue may be the question DHAKA 00000419 005 OF 005 of the QM religious curriculum itself, particularly if there is any truth to DQM representatives' assertions that the majority of Bangladesh's huge clerical population are indeed QM graduates. Most of Bangladesh's QMs fall within the Deoband tradition and follow a religious studies curriculum based on a 17th-century Indo-Islamic syllabus. Do studies based on this 400-year-old curriculum produce clergy that meet the modern religious needs of Bangladeshi society in a way that is compatible with its development goals? This is a central question for the country to consider. What appears certain is that most of the QM community is likely to meet with resistance and hostility any attempt from the outside to impose changes on the religious curriculum per se. MORIARTY