There is no place for Gülenists in Pakistan


The Pak-Turk schools in Pakistan were first exposed by Daily Sabah back in 2016 when I published a series of stories on these so-called schools run by Fethullah Gülen and his followers by brainwashing the students according to the literature of Gülen, which was promoting the concept of segregated societies and harboring extremism in a country that already faced several problems.

When my first story was published, I got several threats of dire consequences by the Fethullah Gülen school administration in Pakistan. They sent me legal notices and used all other sources to stop the follow-ups of these scoops that were exposing all the business links, entities and underground network of Fethullah Gülen.

Gülenists have a very strong network in Pakistan as they exploited the philanthropists' money which they collected, totaling millions of dollars every year; this money which they collected in the name of Pakistan and Turkey brotherly relations must to come under audit now.

These schools are considered the most expensive schools in Pakistan, nevertheless by running on the philanthropists' money they charge high fees from the students, it was hard for the middle class stratum of people to put their children into these Gülen schools.

The Pak-Turk schools were disguised under the umbrella of Pakistan-Turkey friendship and majority of the parents whose children were enrolled in to these schools were not aware of the activities of these schools in which their children were taught Gülen's books and literature.

Students were strongly forced to follow the books and literature of Fethullah Gülen and through a planned mechanism, Gülen's study circles in the schools were made compulsory for all students to attend and express their interests. The students who expressed greater interest in the Gülen study circles got extra marks in their exams.

Fethullah Gülen was presented like a role model for these students and their minds were being changed through these teachings in order to use the power of these students for a specific hidden mission in Pakistan and abroad.

The remains of these schools still exist in Pakistan and they are very dangerous. They are using all their influence to survive and to promote Fethullah Gülen and his Gülenist Terror Group's (FETÖ) hard-line agenda and policies in Pakistan through which they can easily exploit relations between Turkey and Pakistan.

Turkish teachers who were die-hard followers of Fethullah Gülen are still living in Pakistan under refugee status and are trying to win the sympathies of the people of Pakistan to stay on humanitarian grounds. But they have no place in Pakistan, the country where they have been fleecing parents by getting hefty fees and destroying the future of the children by teaching them Gülenist literature and promoting his thoughts.

These are still business run by the Gülenists. The Rumi Forum is one of the major platforms where Fethullah Gülen's messages and his future plans are still being discussed and shared with the members of this forum. The funding for this forum poses the question as to where they are getting these funds to run this business from.

The Rumi Forum has been deeply rooted in various educational institutions in Pakistan and they are influencing people and trying to inject Gülen's teachings and his books. There is a dire need to ban all the activities of the Rumi Forum in Pakistan and to stop Fethullah Gülen from all suspicious actions that are posing a serious threat to Pakistani society in which they are promoting Gülen's school of thought.

In a recent move Pakistani authorities have cancelled the license of the Pak-Turk education foundation and the schools have finally been handed over to the Maarif Foundation that will run these schools more professionally.

Friendly relations between Pakistan and Turkey are not dependent on the question of Fethullah Gülen but these relations have a base that is very strong and are hundreds of years deep. Pakistan never lets anyone use their country for any kind of activities that damage the relations between the two nations and countries.

*Political analyst, journalist based in Pakistan