March 31, 2008	Monday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 22, 1429

Fighting terror will be a major challenge for the new government. While political and military responses are needed to tackle the problem, the other major simultaneously executed mode should revolve around the socio-economic aspects of life in general and in the country’s dark spots in particular. For, terror may be driven by hard line viewpoints fuelled by injustices, the militant outfits have roots in deprivation. People cannot find opportunities for productive engagement in the formal sectors of the economy. Denied the opportunities, people from such parts have zero tolerance for progress. The challenge is, therefore, manifold.

Political/military approach would need to be coupled with not just economic uplift strategies but also with an effort to transform the mental outlook much dependent on how the fruits of economic development are shared with those denied access to income and assets. The situation will continue to be a serious lag in the country’s economic progress.

Militancy is also disguised in a caricature of religion. It is little wonder that girls’ schools are destroyed which is a sure recipe for socio-economic under-development. This means that anti-terror and development strategies will go hand in hand. Terror is insidious as it creeps into the social norms through a thought pattern that inhibits human progress and development.

It is imperative that people be pulled out of their state of income and asset poverty through redistributive policies that begin to integrate the poor in formal economy without further loss of time. As they are integrated into economic activity, they will not be able to spare themselves or their family members for informal terror activity.

As was always viewed skeptically by independent analysts, the poverty reduction claims made by the previous government are now contended by none other than the World Bank (WB) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB). According to these banks, poverty has increased since 2004.

Rise in poverty and unemployment would continue to be a source for militancy and only Pakistan-specific solutions can resolve this problem. The World Bank the and the Asian Development Bank are alert to the fact of rising poverty. They, however, want their funds to be channelised through the Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund (PPAF), micro-finance banks, and reputed NGOs. One needs to know the extent to which these channels have been able to make a dent in poverty picture. Their outreach is known to be limited.

A crucial question, therefore, is the extent to which this route will be able to pull the poor safely above the poverty line. Impact assessment of the proposed path needs to be done before it is considered as a sure-fire route to poverty alleviation/eradication. Unless we know the poverty gap that this scheme has closed thus far and will be able to close in the future, we cannot conclude definitively that this is all that we need for the purpose of poverty reduction/eradication.

If quantifiable poverty reduction claims cannot be made about the above incremental approach, a transformational approach is required. Transformational approach in the realm of poverty reduction certainly requires direct engagement of the peasant with the piece of land that he tills. While this path is consistent with anti-terror goals, it is feasibility of this transformational change that will need to be worked out failing which a quantum dent in the poverty picture is not likely to be made.

A terror-abatement strategy will also need to revolve around a mass literacy and education campaign. This will require definite inclusion of tribal areas where lighting the torch of knowledge will be a major revolution unto itself. Enlightened education is the need of the hour so that the irreligious thinking is challenged through the true view of deen that is the path of justice and not otherwise. When the light of education begins to shine, the potential of women and young men alike is released for contribution to and integration into national development.