According to the Oxford dictionary, the word extremism means political, religious and social ideas or actions that are extreme and not normal, reasonable or acceptable to most people. Though there is no consensus over the definition of extremism among scholars but there is agreement over the reasons that lead to extremism. These include ideological and cultural inclinations, distortions and/or inhibitions, the perception of political deprivation, lack of even playing ground for socio-economic development and external intervention. In the regional context, common factors leading to extremist inclinations may be poverty and exploitation, natural calamities, inter-state tensions and non-resolution of core disputes, hegemonic policies of external state actors leading to intervention, and threat to the sovereignty of smaller nation states.
Scholars have also put extremism into two categories: non-violent extremism and violent extremism. There are several reasons given for adopting violent methods by a community. Among them are to create high profile impact on the public with the goal of undermining public confidence in their own government, to make routine social activities difficult, to inflict as much damage as possible, to seek vengeance, to create physical pain and to inject negative psychological emotions such as panic, chaos, unrest, fear, paranoia, anxiety, anger, grief and a sense of tragedy in society.
Pakistan is extremely concerned about the rising extremism in the world generally and on its own soil in particular. It considers extremism an international phenomenon that requires international cooperation. Pakistan has always condemned terrorism and extremism in all its forms and manifestations. After 9/11, Pakistan aligned itself with the international community in general and the US in particular to fight against terrorism and extremism. Pakistan arrested and handed over to the US over 700 suspected al Qaeda members. Pakistan has played an effective role in countering and combatting extremism and terrorism at the national, regional and global levels. It has voted in the affirmative for all UN Security Council (UNSC) resolutions to combat terrorism and is in compliance with all such resolutions and other instruments on this subject.
Pakistan has divided its counter-extremism strategy into two parts to fight the menace of extremism and militancy. First of all, it has launched numerous military operations in militant infected areas including Operation Rah-e-Rast, Operation Rah-e-Nijaat, Operation Khyber-I, Operation Khyber-II and the most recent Operation Zarb-e-Azb; all this to try and prevent terrorist threats from reaching urban centres. Meanwhile, the government had tried to approach some Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) factions for negotiations. The negotiations’ process lasted for four months but failed because of the inflexible attitude of the militants and their continued acts of terrorism. In fact, this dialogue was used by the militants as a tool to gain time to regroup. Many local level agreements and commitments were broken by the militants as and when they felt strong enough to do so. Therefore, military operations remained the last resort against those militant outfits. Secondly, the government has tried to undertake development activities in the troubled northwest of the country, hoping to prevent the people there from militant influence by addressing their economic grievances.
Pakistan firmly believes that conditions such as prolonged unresolved conflicts including the Kashmir dispute, discrimination at the regional and international level, political exclusion and socioeconomic marginalisation based on ethnicity, nationality, gender and religion or belief need international commitment and special measures by the international community to be addressed. Furthermore, Pakistan believes that acts, methods and practices of violent extremism in all their forms and manifestations are activities aimed at the destruction of human rights, fundamental freedoms, threatening territorial integrity, security of states and destabilising legitimately constituted governments. The international community should take the necessary steps to enhance cooperation to prevent and combat violent extremism.
Pakistan is also focusing on strong engagement with members of local communities to counter the violent extremist narratives that can incite acts of terrorism and is addressing the conditions conducive to the spread of violent extremism, including empowering the youth, women, religious, cultural and educational leaders, and members of all other concerned local communities to counter recruitment to this kind of violent extremism and promote social inclusion and cohesion. Pakistan also believes that extremism should not be associated with any religion, nationality or civilisation.
Pakistan has achieved great success in countering violent extremism. Therefore, on the basis of the experience that Pakistan has so far gained and the success it has achieved in its efforts towards containing and defeating the scourge of violent extremism, the country is prepared to contribute to all genuine and comprehensive efforts on the bilateral, regional and global levels. Cooperation on all these levels is imperative for defeating violent extremist organisations including the TTP, Islamic State (IS), al Qaeda and their affiliates because they represent a global threat that jeopardises not only local communities but also those located far from the centres of these crises. It is hoped that regional and global stakeholders will sooner rather than later recognise this imperative and engage with Pakistan in this collective endeavour.
The writer is a freelance columnist