Extremism In Pakistan Research Articles

Understanding the rise in violent extremism in Pakistan through the lens of securitization theory

ABSTRACT Over the last three decades, the phenomenon of violent extremism, primarily religious and ethno-nationalist extremism, has emerged as one of the biggest security challenges for Pakistan. With continuous technological innovations and advancements, the nature of violent extremism is constantly evolving, and now more than ever, it is threatening Pakistan’s social fabric, causing domestic disharmony and leading to unrest and terrorism. More importantly, it adversely affects the state’s foreign relations. This study aims to comprehensively examine the complex interplay of factors contributing to violent extremism in Pakistan. By investigating both the root causes and the ensuing effects through the Securitization paradigm’s lens, this research seeks to develop effective policy strategies to combat this growing threat. The securitization paradigm is crucial for understanding how extremist ideologies are constructed as existential threats, shaping societal responses and informing counter-extremism measures. The paper follows a mixed approach based on descriptive and critical analytical qualitative research methods.

Identity Crises and the Impact of 9/11: A Post-Colonial Study of the Reluctant Fundamentalist and Khuda Kay Lye

The current study explores the devastating aftershocks and identity crises caused by 9/11. It furthermore, presents the upheavals through two different forms of literature: The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid and the cinematic film Khuda Kay Liye by Shoaib Mansoor. The study employs a post-colonial lens, utilizing the concept of marginality to examine identity crises and the traumatic aftermath of 9/11. In addition, the study highlights the main characters of both the literary forms: novel and film, demonstrating how they face marginalization at various levels—cultural, religious, and international. The background of the study encompasses the Afghan-Russian war in 1979 and the 9/11 attacks, which profoundly affected Afghanistan and northern Pakistan, fueling terrorism and raising questions about identity. Religious figures, as the research uncovers through the character of Changez in The Reluctant Fundamentalist, were often labeled as terrorists. On the other hand, Mansoor, Maryam, and Sarmad are marginalized in Khuda Kay Liye. Mansoor faces racial prejudice in the USA, while Sarmad and Maryam encounter religious extremism in Pakistan. While weaving together the theme of identity crises, the study adopts the framework of marginality, a significant aspect of post-colonial literature. With a clear understanding of the issues, the study utilizes post-colonial theory, using Edward Said's seminal work, Orientalism. Additionally, the researcher recognizes the significance of marginality, which is central to both the genre fiction and the films The Reluctant Fundamentalist and Khuda Kay Liye.

The Role of Political Leadership in Countering Violent Extremism in Pakistan from 2001 to 2022

Pakistan has been facing internal security threats from extremism, terrorism, and militancy for several decades. These challenges have led to a struggle against different extremist groups, which has severely affected the country's internal security, stability, and progress. These profoundly entrenched phenomena have led individuals and groups to embrace extremist ideologies, undermining the nation's efforts toward stability and progress. The purpose of the study is to recognize the multifaceted nature of extremism and the hard and soft approaches by the government to counter the spread of extremist narratives and ideologies. This research explores the shift from a military approach to soft measures, including deradicalization programs, counter-narrative campaigns, educational reforms, and community-based initiatives. Through extensive secondary data collection and analysis, the impact of Pakistan's soft strategy on different target groups, such as youth, former militants, and vulnerable communities, was examined. The study revealed how drivers like political, social, and religious have been associated with violent extremism and how different extremist groups use these factors as a yardstick to get involved in violence. The analyses provide the basis for a common framework for resisting extremist ideology. It revealed that critical stakeholders, including religious leaders, civil society organizations, and educational institutions, are critical in promoting counter-narratives and fostering an environment of tolerance and moderation. By drawing insights from successful international practices and models, the study provided recommendations for strengthening Pakistan's strategy in countering extremism through community resilience, capacity building initiatives, and a comprehensive national action plan for a coordinated and sustainable approach.

‘Afghan Factor’ and the Challenge of Religious Militancy and Extremism in Pakistan: A Discursive Analysis

‘Afghan Factor’ and the Challenge of Religious Militancy and Extremism in Pakistan: A Discursive Analysis

Sufism A Peace-building and Resilient Strategy to Curb Violent Extremism in Pakistan

This paper aims to emphasize the need to develop a counter-narrative strategy by the state of Pakistan in order to dismantle and deconstruct Taliban’s proliferating ideology that is currently challenging the writ of the state. The mindset and ideology of Taliban legitimize the use of violence or cause terror by harming or endangering people’s life and security and promote legal impunity against them. The phenomenon of global terrorism was surfaced after the 9/11 terrorist attacks on US and Pakistan had to confront the long-term consequences of its unconditional support as a frontline ally of US to fight the global war against terrorism. On the other hand, the ideological contours of Taliban focus on two key agendas that are abhorrence towards the anti-Islamic and imperialist states and to entice and recruit new supporters to the cause. On the other hand, the state and society are failed to construct an effective counter-narrative. The state’s approach to tackle the issue by using hard power and military strength led towards the birth, growth and proliferation of terrorist outfits. However, the use of traditional kinetic approach to curb violent religious extremism has been proved unsuccessful. Resultantly, the US after spending several billion dollars and tons of state of the art military weapons, had to withdraw its forces for the second time by terminating the longest physical and military mission in Afghanistan after two decades without achieving success. The paper tries to explore that Sufi approach instead of traditional hard military power can prevent and counter violent religious extremism (P/CVRE) in Pakistan and can bring peace and stability.

Significance of Critical Thinking through Education in Countering Violent Extremism in Pakistan

Pakistan is not an exception to the severe problem that violent extremism poses to nations worldwide. This article examines how important education is in preventing violent extremism and promoting a more accepting and inclusive society. Education gives people the skills they need to reject extremist beliefs and look for peaceful ways to resolve disputes by encouraging critical thinking, religious and cultural tolerance, and civic ideals. The article evaluates current programs in Pakistan, including the "Sabawoon Rehabilitation Center," which is run by the Pakistan Army, and cites successful educational initiatives from other nations. In order to guarantee the efficacy of educational programs, monitoring and assessment become essential elements. Stakeholders can optimize the impact of their contributions by defining clear indications of success and fostering a culture of continual development. The document ends with a call to action, calling all parties involved—including government organizations, civil society groups, religious institutions, educators, and communities—to prioritize and fund education as a long-term preventive measure against violent extremism in Pakistan. A more robust and peaceful society can be created by combining efforts and strengthening minds via education, paving the road for a better future.

The Role of Religious Political Parties in Democracy-Reasons for Their Influence on the People of Pakistan

In Pakistan's political system, religious political parties do play a significant role. These parties have generally fought for legislation that is in line with Islamic ideals and has the support of conservative, religiously motivated population segments. They have successfully influenced the nation's political discourse and energized citizens around religious themes. Their impact has also been a contentious issue. According to critics, religious political parties foster intolerance and extremism, which can harm societal cohesion and minority rights. This has given rise to challenges such as sectarian conflicts, the persecution of religious minorities, and the demise of some spiritual institutions, but it has also given rise to a framework for governance. National and local political parties must cooperate at the federal and provincial levels to combat Islamic extremism in Pakistan. In order to create policies that support tolerance, diversity, and respect for minority rights while respecting the Islamic principles that are essential to the nation's identity, collaboration is essential. This demands a holistic approach encompassing education, discourse, and efforts to alleviate socioeconomic factors that can contribute to extremism. Furthermore, promoting an atmosphere that supports moderate and forward-thinking readings of Islam and principles of peace, coexistence, and social harmony is critical. This can be done by encouraging a pluralistic understanding of Islam involving religious scholars, local leaders, and civil society organizations. Strengthening democratic institutions and fostering a climate of religious freedom and pluralism are essential for combating religious extremism. The rights of religious minorities must be protected, and their equal participation in political processes must be guaranteed. To maintain Pakistan's political environment as inclusive, tolerant, and respectful of the rights and aspirations of all its residents, it is important to balance Islamic principles and democratic norms.

Terrorism and Extremism in Pakistan: The Need for a Comprehensive Approach

Terrorism and radicalism have kept Pakistan in turmoil for decades that induced immense socio-economic harm to the country. The persistent challenge has brought about elevation in casualties, dissolutions of government and worsen law and order scenarios. Till present, the governments have been unable to root out the extremist elements from the society. This paper offers outright approach to comprehend these defies. The paper considered multifaceted elements; such as; scarcity of education, political stability, sectarianism, destitution etc. as a core for the rise of extremism. Besides, Afghanistan being the neighboring country to Pakistan has served as a sanctuary for extremist groups. Thence, Pakistan has to deal with the national and international terrorist groups. This study does the appraisal of the endeavors made by the government for hindering the terrorism. So far, the chief government strategy has been to launch military action, terrorism prevention plans and dialogue against terrorist and extremist groups that caused soaring number of civilian casualties and remained in vain to get away with these social evil. The paper adopts comprehensive ground to address the problem under study. The factors viz a viz; social reforms, economic prosperity and political stability are true remedies to defies. But, these remedies could only been effective if civil society, government in power and international stakeholders will work together for pragmatic resolutions. The paper argues that peace and instability could be happen in a country through a comprehensive approach towards the matter.

Religious Extremism in Pakistan

Religious Extremism in Pakistan

Countering Violent Extremism and Combating Models in Pakistan

Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) has become redoubtable task to combat the amorphous nature of conflicts around the globe. Extremism is a daunting phenomenon which requires persistent efforts at societal, political and socio-economic level to counter the recurrence, resurgence and involvement of hostile extraneous agencies to disrupt the peace in Pakistan. The study familiarizes the reader with the application of non-kinetic measures to counter violent extremism through deradicalization and undercutting the ideological and violent discourse narratives. This study is an endeavour to construct a context-based and multi pronged model of countering violent extremism in Pakistan. Counter violent extremism (CVE) helps in combating the scourge of terrorism through countering the extremist narrative, prevention, rehabilitation and after care programmes of terrorists. This research helps in devising the CVE models to deal extremism on Macro, Meso and Micro level. The research methodology is qualitative, based on the study of research journals, article, books, newspapers, non-structured interviews and personal reflections.

Socio-Cultural Capital and Community Resilience: Perception of University Students about Violent Extremism in Pakistan

The importance of Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) has been a topic of recent interest for the global community. Pakistan is no exception to this trend. In recent years, university students have often been targets of extremist violence propaganda. This study aimed to explore perception of university students about violent extremism and the role of socio-cultural capital and community resilience in CVE. Quantitative research design was used to survey students belonging to various public and private universities in three major cities of Pakistan: Rawalpindi, Islamabad, and Peshawar. Due to the COVID-19 lockdown and closure of universities, the online survey technique was used by posting the survey on social media; using personal contacts; and emails. The ‘Building Resilience Against Violent Extremism’ (BRAVE) scale was used to assess the students’ perceptions and behaviour towards violent extremism. 480 students participated in the study over a two-month period. The findings demonstrated a significant role of socio-cultural capital in propagating as well as resisting violent beliefs and behaviour. The study concluded that culture, ethnic background, support from family and community, contribute to strengthening resilience against violent extremism among university students. It is recommended that Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs) should promote tolerance and peace through a more human rights-centric curriculum and education about different cultures as well as unbiased teaching practices to promote peaceful ways for resolving conflicts when they arise.

Extremism in Pakistan’s Society and the Role of Madrassas: A Critical Analysis

Extremism in Pakistan’s Society and the Role of Madrassas: A Critical Analysis

Socio-economic impacts of North Waziristan Agency’s internally displaced persons on Lakki Marwat: 2014-2017

The implications of the 9/11 incident affected the whole region, but unfortunately, Pakistan was at the most. Due to the NATO forces attacks, most militants migrated to Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) for the sake of refuge, which caused the growth of militancy and extremism in Pakistan. To cope with terrorism and stop the advancement of this evil, the government decided to launch operation Zarb-e-Azb as a last vengeance in North Waziristan Agency to evacuate citizens and then extinguish militants. Resultantly, around about 1 million IDP’s displaced to the adjacent areas, i.e., Bannu, Lakki Marwat, Karak etc., in the mid of June 2014. This research article focuses on IDPs hosted in Lakki Marwat and their socio-economic impact on the host community. The research is descriptive-exploratory based on a mixed study approach; data used in this research were collected from both primary & secondary sources. The people of the host community argue that IDPs create a number of socio-economic problems like a rise in prices, compromised quality of goods, shortage of houses, occupation of schools, increase in crime rate, security problems etc.

Poverty, regional inequality, and the role of governance: tracing geographies of violent extremism in Pakistan

Poverty, regional inequality, and the role of governance: tracing geographies of violent extremism in Pakistan

MUSLIM FEMINISTIC NARRATIVE IN POETRY: A LITERARY ANALYSIS OF FAHMIDA RIAZ'S POEMS

Background and Purpose: Fahmida Riaz was able to articulate precise feminist politics through her voice because she was audible to many women in the Pakistani context. The current study investigates how her writings about the female body were not merely a tool to celebrate or raise the sexual distance, but also influenced a political intervention and shifted the dominant patriarchal structures present in literary as well as other social and political levels. The purpose of the research is to shed light on how a specific poet's voice was able to reach a large audience of women and articulate explicitly feminist politics in Pakistan.
 
 Methodology: The Feminist Discourse Analysis (FCDA), another dimension of CDA, is employed in the analysis. The application of the FCDA model is adapted to examine how textual representations of gendered practices produce and sustain one gender power and dominance over the other. For the study, an operational method based on four models has been developed: the Fairclough Model, the Porreca Model (Porreca, 1984), Halliday's Transitivity Model (1985), and the FCDA (Lazar, 2005).
 
 Findings: The findings clearly demonstrated how power abuse and gender domination are explicitly present in women's literature. The analysis discusses in detail how gender is constructed in these poems, and how this construction gave women a new perspective on life and defined how they are exploited in the name of social and religious cultures.
 
 Contributions: With the rise of religious extremism in Pakistan, the male-dominated patriarchal narrative is receiving renewed attention. However, based on the findings obtained, greater attention should be paid to the female narrative and the discourse produced by female writers. A similar analysis can be performed on the writings of Kishwar Naheed, another feminist writer, to gain a better understanding of the poetics of Muslim Feminist Narrative.
 
 Keywords: Feminist politics, feminist critical discourse analysis, Porreca Model, Halliday’s transitivity model.
 
 Cite as: Basra, Z., Alvi, U. F., & Nadeem, M. (2022). Muslim feministic narrative in poetry: A literary analysis of Fehmida Riaz’s poems. Journal of Nusantara Studies, 7(2), 424-443. http://dx.doi.org/10.24200/jonus.vol7iss2pp424-443

PAK-US ALLIANCE ON WAR OF TERROR: EVOLUTION OF PAKISTANI CONTEMPORARY ART IN THE WAKE OF INCREASED VIOLENT EXTREMISM

This paper presents the findings of exploratory research that attempts to establish the relationship between the Pakistan-United States of America alliance in the post-9/11 era and increased violent extremism in Pakistan. Moreover, its efforts to link the rise of violent extremism with the evolution of Pakistani contemporary artwork – demonstrate greater political activism. Pakistan emerged as a frontline state and key non-NATO ally of the US and the West for the War of Terror. The study offers a perspective on changes in the artwork in terms of themes and messages. The study findings suggest that Pakistan’s participation in the US-led War on Terror did work to transform the political and religious sentiments, having security implications across Pakistan. The most profound changes are evident in terms of violent extremisms in particular suicide bombing and the State’s response in waging military operations against extremist elements. The changing landscape did influence the societal sentiments and heightened skepticism of the Pakistan-US partnership. The mounting skepticism and antagonism worked to influence the artistic expressions with the rise of political activism in contemporary artwork. The artists used the visual artwork (of painting) to express their political ideas, which demonstrates a marked departure from pre-9/11 artwork. The study’s findings suggest that the artwork became more critical of the changing realities and questioned both the government and the extremist elements, including Pakistan's relationship with the US. The study concludes that the Pakistan-US partnership did result in hardening the extremist views and as a consequence rise of violent extremism. And in turn, it changed the contemporary artwork in terms of themes and messages and the emergence of political artwork in Pakistan. Keywords: War on Terror, Violent Extremism, Pakistani Contemporary Art, Political Imageries.

Socio-economic impacts of internal displacement on the internally displaced persons of North Waziristan: 2014-2017

After 9/11 incident, when the NATO forces attacked Afghanistan, most of militants migrated to FATA, Pakistan for the sake of refuge, which resulted in the growth of militancy and extremism in Pakistan. To counter terrorism and to stop the advancement of this evil, Pakistani government launched operation Zarb-e-Azb as a last vengeance in North Waziristan Agency with the aim to evacuate common people and then to extinguish militants. Consequently, about 1 million IDP’s displaced to the adjacent areas i.e., Bannu, Lakki Marwat, Karak etc. in the mid of June, 2014. Usually, displacement brought a number of socio-economic problems in the fate of IDP’s. That is why this research article focuses on the socio-economic problems of the North Waziristan Agency IDP’s hosted in Lakki Marwat from 2014-2017. This research is descriptive-exploratory nature based on mixed study approach; data used in the research collected from both primary & secondary sources. IDPs argues that they left their homes with empty hands and migrated to adjacent arears in the miserable situation. Government and Non-governmental organizations tried their level best to facilitate IDPs with honour and dignity. But the IDPs showed dissatisfaction because of unmatchable ratio between problems and facilitation.

The Study on Islamic Extremism in Pakistan and Its Influence

Islamic extremism has been a hot issue in international relations research in recent years. The key problems including how to treat Islamic extremism and what the root cause and harm are to be solved in this paper. Pakistan has become a typical victim of Islamic extremism due to its unique geopolitical characteristics and historical factors. Characterized by long-term nature and complexity, Islamic extremism in Pakistan has become an important part of transnational terrorist forces. Therefore, it is of great significance to the security and development of South Asia to study the development history, essence and harm of Islamic extremism in this country.

The role of peace education in countering violent extremism in Pakistan: an assessment of non-governmental efforts

ABSTRACT This article is located in the wider discourse on the nexus of policy, research and practice of peace education for countering violent extremism (CVE) with a focus on learnings and insights from non-governmental initiatives in Pakistan. It presents an analysis of how the diverse and complex school education system in Pakistan ‘does’ and/or ‘does not’ respond to the challenges of an increasing scale and manifestations of violence, conflict and extremism in society. Moving beyond the discussion on the historical emergence, drivers, actors and characteristics of violent extremism in Pakistan, this paper engages with the erstwhile literature on the research-policy-practice nexus to examine nine peace education projects – mostly foreign-funded – in Pakistan. Considering the insights from these nine projects, the paper finds that there are several examples of successful stand-alone peace education for CVE projects but without a link to policy and research. Despite producing good quality CVE and peace education material, and applying these materials successfully in the diverse education setting of the country, many projects lacked sustainability due to over-dependence on foreign funding. Due to comparatively consistent external funding in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the organisations there are more successful in their peace education interventions than the ones in Punjab and Sindh.

Khamosh Pani: Partition trauma, gender violence, and religious extremism in Pakistan

This paper looks at the question of partition of British India in 1947 and the rise of religious extremism in Pakistan through an analysis of internationally acclaimed and award-winning Pakistani film Khamosh Pani (silent waters). The paper uses Symbolic Interactionism and Feminist Theory with a critical perspective to establish how the present-day religious extremism in Pakistan has its roots in the colonial history of the country. However, it also highlights the diagnostic inability of Symbolic Interactionism as it smacks of the volunteerism and overlooks how statist and organized institutional power infringes upon socio-political meaning making processes. This paper argues that the film connects the communal nature of pre-partition violence to grassroots contemporary religious extremism in Pakistan to show how the rupture of a village life is the continuation of colonial heritage of communal violence. We argue based on the findings of this study that religious extremism that is manifest in today’s Pakistan is not a break from the past; instead, it is rooted in the colonial history connecting the national Pakistani elite with the regional neo-colonial interests.