War on Terror and its impact on Development in Pakistan

Over the years Pakistan has fallen victim to the affects of war on terrorism. Slowly but surely Pakistan’s social structure, economic development and political systems are being eroded. Due to its geo-strategic position, Pakistan has faced adverse affects because of the invasions in Afghanistan by the USSR and U.S. The country also faces internal threats by religious and linguistic groups that help increase terrorism in Pakistan. Terrorism is destroying Pakistan infrastructure by reducing human capital, diverting foreign direct investments and redirecting public investment funds to national security.

Terrorism can be defined as “the use of violent acts to frighten the people in an area as a way of trying to achieve a political or social goal” (). Terrorism has now become a global problem and Pakistan is among one of the countries that has been highly affected by it. After the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979, the Taliban surfaced as a resistance movement aspiring to eject the Soviet troops from Afghanistan. The United States and Pakistan provided considerable financial and military support to the Afghan Mujahedeen who were able to impose heavy losses on the Soviet troops. Following the 9/11 attacks, the U.S. declared a war against Afghanistan. at this point the U.S. recognized the seeds they had sown. Taliban was a creation of the Pakistani intelligence agency (the ISI) but was funded by the U.S. The U.S. provided $3 billion to build this Islamic group by providing ammunitions, which they forgot to keep track of after the Soviet war. The U.S. was taken a back when the millions worth in weapons that they had provided were now being used against them.
These radical groups who were nurtured by Pakistan’s military since 1980’s looked for the government to support them against the U.S and wanted to implement their own version of Islam in the country. But when Pakistan sided with the U.S. after 9/11, a majority of the Mujahedeen’s turned against Pakistan. The most extreme of these militants came under the influence of al Qaeda, and formed in late 2007, the Pakistani Taliban, an umbrella organization for militant groups based in the tribal areas. The Pakistani government reacted by starting military operations against the Taliban in FATA and Swat, where Taliban had power. Besides military operations the US started attacks on tribal areas of Pakistan by aerial vehicles (UAV) to target Taliban and Al-Qaeda leadership. Since then, the group has lead constant streams of retaliation against Pakistan which has had extreme effects on Pakistan’s ability to develop and prosper.
Pakistan is also plagued by by ethnic and sectarian conflicts. Sectarian issue in Pakistan is a major disrupting factor for the country’s, social, political, religious and security order. Pakistan has the world second largest Muslim population, facing an uprising of intolerance, extremism, hate and violence targeting Shia Sunni communities. It was only after the debated process of Islamization released by the military ruler of Pakistan, General Mohammad Zia-ul-Haq that sectarian conflict took a vicious turn in the country. Zia’s policy to introduce Islamic Sharia, crushed the link of unity between Shias and Sunni communities. The implication of Zakat in Pakistan by the administration of Zia-ul-Haq in 1980 was challenged by Shia leader. An important Shia cleric, Mufti Jaafar Husain claimed that if Pakistan was to have Islamic law, the Shi’a should be allowed to follow their own laws. The sectarian lines were drawn as the Shias in Pakistan motivated by the Iranian Islamic revolution denied to pledge to the Sunni based Shariah laws and necessitated that their identity as a separate sect in Islam must be acknowledged.
The Shia population in Pakistan is variously estimated as being between 5-20% of the country's total population, while the Sunni population in Pakistan is estimated to be 70-80% of the total population. ( Pakistan Vision Vol. 9, No.1) Since the 1980’s thousands of people have lost their lives in sectarian violence. There have been immeasurable suicide attacks at the religious sites of Sunnis and Shiites which have not only created more religious divisions but also led to the assassination of many professionals from both sides. Sectarian groups developed during 1980s, followed a policy of destroying each other. By late 1980s, as an outcome of continued violence against each other, a point came when some Sunni and Shia groups began to declare each other as non-Muslims. By condemning each other’s religious beliefs, Sunni and Shiite leaders amplified instability and crisis at a societal level.
Pakistan is a country which has unique ethnic diversity. Karachi is port city and the largest city in Pakistan, with an estimated population of 18 million. Much of the violence in recent years has risen from “turf wars” between leaders and activists of the Awami National Party (ANP) and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM). The two parties are involved in a vicious battle for political influence, and have also aligned themselves with slum landlords, drug barons and other criminal elements as they seek to gain control. The vast majority of people killed in the violence are ordinary workers targeted for their ethnicity.
Terrorism has not only broken down bricks of Pakistan’s social structure but has also had negative effects on the country’s economic growth. According to the study on the impact of terrorism on developed and developing countries by Sandler and Enders (2005), “Terrorism affects developing country’s much more severely than developed ones, as developed countries have diverse economies and terrorism results only in reallocation of resources to more secure sectors of economy, while in case of developing countries, where there is much concentration of resources in certain sectors, are more affected “. Pakistan being a developing country faces more difficulty in fighting terrorism as compared to a developed country which has superior institutions and markets to engross the effects of terrorism.