Pakistanis believe extremism a major threat: survey

NEW YORK: Overwhelmingly, Pakistanis are worried about the impact of extremism on their country and people, says a new survey conducted by PEW (IRI) global research.

In 2008 72 per cent said they were concerned about Islamic extremism in their country, and over half — 54 per cent — said they were very concerned, the highest per centage among the eight countries on the survey where the question was asked (the others were Egypt, Jordan, Indonesia, Lebanon, Nigeria, Tanzania, and Turkey).

Similarly, an October 2008 IRI poll found that 60 per cent of Pakistanis characterized religious extremism as a serious problem. However, the same poll found limited support for using the Pakistani military to combat extremist groups.

Just 38 per cent of Pakistanis supported using the Army to fight extremists in NWFP and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), while half opposed such efforts. About one-third said they would like to see the Army confront al Qaeda, while 52 per cent disagreed with this view. There was even less enthusiasm for taking on the Taliban – 30 per cent favoured this approach, 56 per cent opposed it.

Nonetheless, support for military action had increased since IRI’s previous poll in June 2008, when only 27 per cent wanted the Army to fight extremists in NWFP/FATA, 22 per cent said it should fight al Qaeda, and 20 per cent felt this way about the Taliban.

The October poll also found considerable support for cutting a deal with radical groups — 54 per cent agreed with the statement ‘I support a peace deal with the extremists,’ while just 35 per cent disagreed. The question did not specify any particular groups of extremists, but it is clear that, as a general approach, the Pakistani public preferred compromise. Here again however, the minority supporting confrontation was growing — in June, 64 per cent had supported a peace deal and only 18per cent had opposed one.

As recently as 2004, roughly four-in-ten Pakistani Muslims said suicide bombing and other forms of violence against civilians could be justified to protect Islam from its enemies. However, by the time of the April 2008 Pew Global survey — following a four year period in which numerous suicide attacks took place within Pakistan — only 5 per cent held this view.

Attitudes toward Osama bin Laden have also turned more negative, although the decline is less steep. In 2005, about half of Pakistanis expressed confidence in bin Laden to do the right thing in world affairs. Three years later, roughly one-third (34 per cent) voiced this opinion.