WHILE Pakistan has been ravaged by militancy for many years, there have not been enough efforts, neither at the state level nor within academia, to discover what makes a militant. While blanket terms such as ‘extremism’, ‘fundamentalism’, etc have been employed to explain the triggers that drive people to commit violence against others, a more scientific approach is required to find out the causative factors behind militancy, and develop measures to address these. To this end, the Sindh Police’s Counter-Terrorism Department has made a small effort in a recent survey that discusses the profiles of some 500 militants lodged in the province’s jails. Some interesting facts have emerged: for example, the survey says that most militants suffered from psychological problems, while economic hardship drove over 40pc to take up the gun. Most incarcerated fighters belonged to the low-income group; moreover, while nearly 200 said they were motivated to join banned groups due to a “hatred of the West and India”, 125 militants said they signed up in order to take advantage of the opportunity to collect extortion money.

While the sample is quite small, the CTD survey does offer a peek into the murky world of militancy. Indeed, what is needed are bigger studies across the country to determine the profiles of militants, and formulate workable counter-extremism policies. Nacta, which is underutilised at the moment, is ideally placed to carry out such research. A one-size-fits-all approach to counterterrorism is not likely to stem the tide of militancy in Pakistan due to a variety of factors that drive people towards militancy. Perhaps greater research will reveal clearer links between militants operating in different parts of the country, and how to counter them. While some hard-core fighters are unlikely to want to join the mainstream, others could be prevented from walking down the path of militancy if the state makes a greater effort to address the factors contributing to it.

Published in Dawn, April 19th, 2017