Poverty main cause of extremism in Pakistan's tribal areas, finds research

Islamabad, July 18 (ANI): Poverty and a sense of deprivation are the major reasons for extremism and radicalisation in the tribal areas of Pakistan , and there is a need to address their socio-economic problems and empower them economically and politically by including them in legislation and consultation process of policy-making, a research report has said.

The research report titled, "Extremism and Radicalisation: An Overview of the Social, Political, Cultural and Economic Landscape of FATA", was aimed at seeking public views on the conflict in Afghanistan and the war against terrorism and extremism in FATA, reports The Express Tribune.

Further, it zeroed in on the social, political, cultural, economic, infrastructure and gender issues among communities to determine the factors that lead to the spread of extremism in the region.

According to the survey, around 94% respondents considered poverty a major issue of the area, followed by the problem of unemployment. A majority of people said that empowerment of women through provision of health and education facilities are imperative for development.

A majority of people also said they see no improvement in economic stipulation of their areas, and noted existence of corruption and misuse of power by government officials.

For the study, around 200 interviews were conducted, while 2,000 survey forms were distributed amongst the participants from the seven agencies of FATA and the six frontier regions. (ANI)