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AS military strikes in North Waziristan continue, the expected wave of IDPs has swelled — up to 300,000 people are expected to leave the tribal agency. And as in previous instances, there is little in the way of state preparation to greet them.
Caught in the crossfire and forced to flee, IDPs correctly invoke sympathy and their plight often contributes to dwindling support for military action against militants. This is exacerbated by the fact that the terms in which they are portrayed by the media emphasise their poverty — they are depicted as fatigued, malnourished, polio-ridden, laden down with buckets and blankets, with cattle in tow.
But it is worth remembering that the IDPs who have been inundating Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are those fortunate enough to have the resources to save themselves and their families. According to news reports, the cost of hiring vans has surged to Rs35,000 and more while rents in Bannu and other KP destinations are also soaring. One can only assume that hundreds of people who would prefer to leave North Waziristan have been unable to do so because of inadequate funds.
The poor are among the worst-affected by terrorism.
This is the latest reminder that Pakistan’s poor are among the worst-affected by terrorism, a fact that is often lost in the media din — you’d think only English-speaking ‘liberal fascists’ and Imran Khan’s urban, elite supporters are affected by terrorism, since it is primarily their voices that manage to participate in the national dialogue about militancy.
But the poor suffer in myriad ways. Having fewer options to safeguard themselves, they are the most exposed. The soft targets that militants have hit in recent years include markets, mosques, open-air volleyball courts, girls’ schools, government hospitals, and more. These are not the fortified sanctuaries of the elite, though those too are increasingly vulnerable to attack. The sense of fear among political elite, senior police officers, high-ranking military officials, and public figures who condemn terrorism — most recently Tahirul Qadri — is justified and valid. But the focus on their security too often masks the fact thatthe poorestare just as — if not more — vulnerable.
Much of the impact of terrorism on the poor is indirect: a loss in daily wage earning following a terrorist attack; reduced freedom of movement owing to the higher frequency of checking and intimidation at police checkpoints; fewer employment opportunities as elites in the professional and private spheres increasingly worry about militant infiltration; the diversion of charity from the truly needy to radicalised groups that have better networking and fundraising processes.
Ironically, attempts to secure richer and more influential Pakistanis against terrorism often come at the expense of the poor. For example, barriers erected in cities to protect government buildings and posh residential areas also obstruct ordinary, innocent people trying to reach workplaces and markets. Those from beyond the barrier are thought of as threats, and are offered no recourse against the daily perils they face. Think, for example, of Lyariites in Karachi who have to endure gangs but are seen as criminals outside their own slum. And as researcher Sobia Kaker has pointed out, any attempts by these vulnerable groups to protect themselves — whether through ad hoc barriers or armed neighbourhood groups — are automatically criminalised, despite playing the same role as privatised security for the affluent.
Recent academic research (for example, a 2012 paper by Blair, Fair, Malhotra and Shapiro) has consequently found that the poor — particularly the urban poor — are more opposed to militancy than those in the middle class, likely because they are more exposed to and negatively impacted by terrorism.
Despite this, Pakistan’s poor are too often presumed to be militants-in-waiting, if not already radicalised. Rather than explore how terrorism might exacerbate poverty, public discourse in Pakistan focuses on how the poor are more vulnerable to being ideologically brainwashed or frustrated by their lack of options and thus more easily enticed by militant groups. These perceptions also partially inform the fear in urban areas of IDPs.
Development money continues to be allocated for poverty alleviation in the hope that it will check the spread of extremism and terrorism. But perhaps more research and funding should be allocated to ensuring that all Pakistani citizens can protect themselves — or be protected — against militancy, which is certain to surge in response to government and military efforts to clamp down on terrorism.
There is an urgent need for better urban planning and regulation to ensure that mega-projects do not cut off swathes of urban areas from each other, keeping some people secure while locking all those below certain income levels into violent enclaves. Community responses to help those injured, traumatised or rendered jobless by terrorist incidents also need to be cultivated. Without such measures, terrorism will be yet another factor driving inequality in Pakistan.
The writer is a freelance journalist.
Published in Dawn, June 23rd , 2014
