Fascinating: Terrorism and Public Opinion in Pakistan
Courtesy, this article on the CounterTerrorism Blog, I came across this fascinating survey conducted almost exactly a year ago which has some revealing insights. A small sample:
- 33% Pakistanis view Taliban, Al-Qaeda and radical Pakistani Jihadi groups favourably (while 43% oppose them)
- 38% favour Taliban (while an equal percentage oppose it)
- 37%-49% favour local radical Pakistani Jihadi extremist groups (only 24%-29% oppose them)
- 46% of Pakistani’s view Osama bin Laden favorably (only 26% have an unfavourable view of him)Â and finally,
- 76% of those polled believe that implementing strict Sharia law throughout Pakistan is either a “very important” or “somewhat important” long-term goal for the government of Pakistan.
Read the full report here: http://www.terrorfreetomorrow.org/upimagestft/Pakistan%20Poll%20Report.pdf
http://www.rediff.com/news/2008/aug/11jk2.htm
100 CHUHE KHAKE BILLI HAJ KO CHALI…..
Surprisingly not many of the leading Indian dailies would carry the results of such a poll. They would want the people to believe that India’s neighbors are friendly, moderate and tolerant (all false).
The only surprising fact is that the numbers probably do not include the far flung provinces, like Baluchistan, which are controlled by the rebels.
Why just Land of the Pure? Muslims students living in UK’s universities, presumably many British citizens, had similar approval of jihadis in a recent survey!
Excerpts from The Saudi-isation of Pakistan by Pervez Hoodbhoy
Read the article in full
See also this comment to the Notes from an Island Post.
It’d be interesting to see the results of a similar survey done in India and compare the response of Indian Muslims to Pakistani Muslims.
Thanks to Acorn for highlighting this. Excerpts from What Do the Pakistanis Think?:
Selected excerpts, from an ICM survey of 500 Muslims in the UK over 16 years old conducted earlier this month:
“100 saal baad bhi kuttey ki dum tedi hi raheygi”. pakistan will remain pakistan. who is this taliban or other terrorist they are pakistani only, name changes and place or enamy changes but ppl are pakistani only. it is our fault that we always expect that they will change or things will change. no matter how much USA or WORLD pressur them, nothing gona change cos it is by people’s choice.it is there will to support this so called JEHAD. it is not a new thing just confirmation of wht we all know.
but the actual point is wht lesson or preparation we as india or neibour is doing. are we really prepare for future? are we ready to live with JEHADIES as our neibours? do we have THAT WILL to keep them under control? do we have that system and people, so our country is safe as neibour?
Pl see point #5 in the post above and then read Majority of Pakistanis for ‘Islamisation’ of society: Poll:
PTI | Jun 1, 2011, 04.48pm IST
ISLAMABAD: A majority of Pakistanis favour the government taking steps for the “Islamisation” of society..
A total of 67 per cent replied in the affirmative when they were asked during the survey carried out by Gallup Pakistan whether the government should take steps to “Islamise” the society.
..Forty eight per cent of respondents said steps to Islamise the society “should be taken one by one” while 31 per cent said the “steps should be taken at once”.
Positive news: Concerns about Islamic Extremism on the Rise in Middle East. Some excerpts:
…As well-publicized bouts of violence, from civil war to suicide bombings, plague the Middle East, Africa and South Asia, concern about Islamic extremism is high among countries with substantial Muslim populations, according to a new survey by the Pew Research Center. And in the Middle East, concern is growing. Lebanese, Tunisians, Egyptians, Jordanians and Turks are all more worried about the extremist threat than they were a year ago.
Meanwhile, publics hold very negative opinions of well-known extremist groups, such as al Qaeda, Hamas and Hezbollah.
In Nigeria, the vast majority of respondents, both Muslims and Christians alike, have an unfavorable view of Boko Haram, the terrorist group that recently kidnapped hundreds of girls in the restive north of the country. And a majority of Pakistanis have an unfavorable view of the Taliban.