New Delhi : The rising tide of violence and terrorism in Pakistan has its basis in its society and polity which enable a culture of intolerance and hatred, a report analysing violence in Pakistan said here Thursday.
The report, “Unending Violence in Pakistan: Analysing the Trends, 2013-14”, published by Pakistan Project at the Delhi-based Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA), examines political violence, sectarianism, insurgency, militancy and terrorism in Pakistan.
The report says that intolerance and hatred is so deeply entrenched in Pakistan that it has made the “state’s fight against terror extremely difficult”.
“The overall internal security situation gets even more complicated because of the fact that various sectarian groups and radical organisations like the TTP (Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan) and other fundamentalist forces are not only closely networked, but also have an ideological affinity and provide each other sanctuaries and bases,” the think tank stated.
There are radicals within the ranks of the army, political parties and civil society who support these groups and their activities; and rather than accepting that Pakistan is plagued by home-grown radicalism, they resort to diversionary tactics and put the blame on external powers, which inevitably weakens the domestic resolve to fight the growing menace of terrorism and extremism, the report adds.
It also analysed approaches of political parties and government and the implications for the society and polity of Pakistan.
The report focuses on a one-year period after the May 2013 general elections in Pakistan, which saw the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) assuming power in Islamabad with the provinces being led by other national and regional parties.
The Pakistan Project team consists of a dedicated group of scholars monitoring developments in Pakistan closely, and analysing the trends from the perspective of their implications for India and the region, the IDSA said.