Abstract
This research explores Pakistan’s fight against religious extremism in Malakand
Division. It examines initial negligence, failures, half-hearted efforts to solve the
issue and then gradual successes of the State of Pakistan, in the region, against
fanaticism. It seeks how the problem had been originated, how the extremist
element was either ignored or supported by the State in early years? how the
zealots reached to the level of no-return and became enormously violent? It
further investigates when had the State realized the acuteness of the issue and
decided in favour of taking action against the radical element of Malakand
Division; from soft to hard action? This study finds that Pakistan’s response and
fight against religious extremism and terrorism in Malakand region had passed
through five stages and had been proved successful only on later stage; after
observing many weaknesses, failures, compromises and hardships.
The case of Malakand division has been opted for this study because extreme
version of religious radicalism was prevailing there since 1990s after
establishment of Tehrik-i-Nifaz-i-Shariat-i-Mohammadi (TNSM). The founder of
TNSM was purely a fanatic cleric who had only incomplete knowledge of the
religion. He was against democratic system, modern courts, lawyers and judges
and considered all such elements as un-Islamic.1
It is unfortunate that religious
extremism, with various unrealistic ideas, was not only tolerated and ignored by
the State but also was accommodated throughout 1990s. That element crossed all
limits of patriotism and religious harmony gradually; starting from leading a
private band of militarists to fight Afghan Jihad against USA in 2001-02 to
introduction of tyrannical rule of Maulana Fazlullah’s Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan
(TTP) in between 2007-09 and then ended up on declaring Pakistan’s Constitution
as challengeable in 2009. It was only after the last challenge that a successful
military operation was materialized.
Naumana Kiran, Muhammad Iqbal Chawla. (2019) Pakistan’s Challenges and Response to Religious Extremism in Malakand Division: A Critical Reappraisal, Journal of the Research Society of Pakistan, Volume 56, Issue 1.
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