Extremism and Militancy

Pakistan, since its inception as a nation-state faced the challenge of extremism and militancy. Created on the basis of religion, the new state of Pakistan faced not only leadership crisis but also the task of national integration remained unfulfilled resulting in the disintegration of the country on December 16, 1971. In fact, Pakistan was the only post-colonial state to have experienced disintegration and secession of the majority part of its population. The post-1971 Pakistan, however, missed opportunities for ensuring social justice, cohesion and moderation which caused the surge of ethnic nationalism in its provinces of Sindh, Baluchistan and Northwestern Frontier Province (now renamed as Khyber Pakhtunkhwa). Along with the assertion of ethnic and lingual forces, religious militancy also gained ground during 1980s onwards.