The Rise of Pakistani Taliban and the Response of the State

Abstract

The rise of a militant Islamist group calling itself Pakistani Taliban has drawn wider international attention in recent years. It has appeared as a serious internal security threat for the Pakistani state and as an external challenge for the Afghan government facing a resurgent Taliban in southern Afghanistan. This article seeks to trace the evolution of ‘Pakistani Taliban’ and to isolate and analyse its ideological moorings and its political aspirations. It also seeks to critically examine the strategy employed by the Pakistani state to deal with such local militancy and study the impact such a group will have on Pakistani society and polity.