Understanding the Causes of Terrorism in Pakistan

Abstract

The wave of terrorism surfaced in Pakistan after 2001, largely due to Pakistan’s involvement in the ‘War on  Terror.’ The most intense wave of terrorism faced by Pakistan was from 2008 onward and was mostly in  response to how state authorities failed in handling Lal Masjid Operation. Since then, terrorism has become a formidable challenge to the socio-economic and political landscape of Pakistan. This paper aims to find out the causes of terrorism, its fallout for Pakistan and way forward. Based on secondary review of academic sources,  his article identifies some gaps in the governance and the society of Pakistan causing violence and terrorism.  The living conditions of the people and hindrances in the development of Pakistan have pushed some groups to become radical. Given the fact that the country is a soft target of terrorist activities, an inquest of the internal problems linked to terrorism is mandatory. Hence, qualitative analysis has been used to discover the real causes of terrorism. A good number of articles, monographs, newspapers, books and websites have been analysed to extract actual causes of terrorism. The central conclusion is that with some ideological factors of terrorism, poverty, unequal distribution of resources, poor understanding and lack of knowledge prompt minds to go for justice in violent manners. Therefore, some consolidated actions are required to fight against
terrorism, instead of blaming single factor.