KARACHI:
Pakistan has long been suffering from extremism. The country is muddled in an identity crisis with deep-rooted divisions and confusion regarding important aspects of life such as religion and politics. Extremism first took root in Pakistan with the initiation of the Soviet Jihad. Pakistan actively participated in the struggle against the USSR and exported the jihadist mindset along with Kalashnikov culture.
From a sociological perspective, extremism flared due to the poor socio-economic condition of a marginalised faction of society. The elites and political pundits have ostensibly disenfranchised and exploited the abject faction of our society. In retrospect, due to lack of education and unemployment, the people from this faction get their satisfaction by indulging in the menace of extremism as a form of defiance. The brutal lynching of Priyantha Kumara and Mashal Khan are incidents that speak of the sheer amount of frustration the masses are pent up with.
Pakistan needs to seriously look into the causes of extremism and take steps to alleviate this illness from society. Until and unless tolerance is achieved within the different segments of society, the situation cannot be defused. The government needs to focus on educating the masses so that they are not kept hostage to radical views.
Seerat Fatima
Gujranwala
Published in The Express Tribune, May 3rd, 2022.
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