Islamist Militancy in Pakistan: A View from the Provinces

Program on International Policy Attitudes (PIPA)

Islamist Militancy in Pakistan: A View from the Provinces

dc.contributor.author	Program on International Policy Attitudes (PIPA)
dc.date.accessioned	2010-06-15T19:47:02Z
dc.date.available	2010-06-15T19:47:02Z
dc.date.issued	2009-07-24
dc.description.abstract	In Pakistan's struggles with Islamist militant groups--foreign and homegrown--the country's provinces have experienced levels of violence that differ widely by type, severity, and consequences. An analysis of a recent WorldPublicOpinion.org poll of Pakistan reveals that these different provinces vary significantly in their views of militant groups and the recent government's actions to an extent that is relevant for policymakers. Of special interest, support for the Pakistani government's efforts and concern about specific militant groups prove to be strong in some unexpected places. Pakistan is home to numerous ethnic groups, who tend to be clustered in specific provinces, e.g.: Punjabis tends to be clustered in the Punjab, Pashtuns in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP), the Baluch in Baluchistan and Sindhis in Sindh. Of course, there has been tremendous migration within Pakistan. Karachi, in Sindh, is now to home to more Pashtuns than any other city in Pakistan and ethnic Punjabis are settled throughout Pakistan. Indeed, these internal demographic changes have often been a source of conflict among different ethnic groups. While many U.S. analysts focus upon "Pakistan," and "Pakistani opinions," it is useful to consider sub-national analyses of data. For example, provinces differ by voting patterns, access to education and other public services, representation in government institutions (including the armed forces), and literacy among other factors. These enormous inter-provincial differences tend to be overlooked by policy makers. This paper begins with the opinion survey's timing, its methodology, and a few caveats on its provincial comparisons. It then offers a brief summary of provincial differences in attitudes. It then considers the provincial responses to specific questions on three topics: beliefs about Islamist militants' activities and objectives; views of the Pakistani government and its response to the militants, especially in Swat; and attitudes toward foreign militant groups, the Afghan Taliban and al Qaeda.	en_US
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/1903/10134
dc.language.iso	en_US	en_US
dc.relation.isAvailableAt	Digital Repository at the University of Maryland
dc.relation.isAvailableAt	University of Maryland (College Park, Md)
dc.subject	Pakistan	en_US
dc.subject	Islamic militant groups	en_US
dc.subject	Ethnic groups	en_US
dc.subject	Demographics	en_US
dc.title	Islamist Militancy in Pakistan: A View from the Provinces	en_US
dc.type	Article	en_US