Extremism and its Causes in Sindh

Extremism; Home Grown or Imported?

 

 

Sindh has been a land that once was proud in its diversity and respect for minorities even at the time when other parts of the country were less tolerant about the minorities. Sindh's centuries-old secular environment significantly started to lost its presence and waves of extremism in the forms of sectarian conflicts and attacks on minority groups engulfed the entire province since the last decade. Extremism has never been part of Sindh because people of this land have a history of softness and gentleness, Extremism can be linked with the proxy of regional powers specifically between the gulf and Iranian decade-old fight for dominance in the Muslim world and for which they use lands of other nations to build or protect their particular interests, Sindh is one of these lands who became a victim of this power game.

 

What options does Pakistan have to counter extremism all over the country in general and particularly in Sindh province? because Sindh witnessed a significant surge in violent extremist incidents. Before dipping down into the issue, we need to understand the different dynamics of Sindh province, such as it has a rich diversity, different people belong from different ideologies are inhabitants of this land and for decades they lived peacefully but due to international waves of extremism, intolerance and propagandas of some wasted-interests influenced negatively and impacted the existed tolerance in people. So, there are some suggestions that could effectively control the emergence of extremism and intolerance from our society.

 

· political vigilance and activeness are crucial in this regard because they could play a part to effectively engage people in politics through which the message of tolerance could be imparted to the masses and the conflict resolution system should be developed to help people of different ideologies and religions to engage in peaceful and meaningful dialogues instead of going violent.

·         Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs) Should be effectively developed the trace and track extremists which are spreading extremist ideologies within people and provoking them to engage in violent behaviors.

·         Provincial governments should develop policies that would increase the capabilities of different institutions which are the part of the Criminal Justice System (C.J.S) because better organized and better-empowered institutions could efficiently deal with groups and organizations which are involved in extremist activities

·         To reduce extremism through educational means, such as, to develop an educational syllabus that promotes religious, racial, and sectarian tolerance and discourages discrimination. Second, governments should start the vocational training and seminars which educate people to live in harmony

·         The enhancement of courts to effectively process the cases of extremism and radicalism to create the deterrence and realization in the minds of those who have the potential to engage in violent extremist activities.

 

 Extremism would be no longer here if we start to take right and timely measures with the help of experts and through understanding ground realities. The extremism which we are witnessing is not homegrown but instead, it is enforced due to the ongoing proxies in the region. Several measures have been taken by the state institutions which significantly reduced the extremist waves but it is not eliminated from the land which is why LEAs should still proactively track and trace them and neutralize them.