Terror, terrorists, and terrorism are more frequently
burning issues of the media. After 9/11 the phenomenon of terrorism has
drastically changed the socio-economic and geo-political scenario of the
Pakistan. It has shaken the social fabric of Pakistan. Terrorism is the result
of extremism which results in different forms of manifestation of violence.
Terrorism is a tree and extremism provides balance food to grow the tree
properly. Different accused groups allegedly involved in terrorism are the
branches of this tree. Terrorism is the social evil and problem of today. The phenomenon
of the terrorism has
occurred due to socioeconomic injustice, political
disparity and quest of selfish individuals and groups to retain the power for their
vested interests. No doubt, terrorism upsets humanity on the whole and creates
unrest in the society. Although the acts of terrorism are visible everywhere in
the world, but Pakistan is facing the phenomenon of terrorism directly and
severely as a social problem. Pakistan is the front line state among
international community and consequently the people and state of Pakistan are
facing the outrage of the terrorists. The society of Pakistan was considered to
be the most peaceful society, but since 1979 after the Russian invasion in
Afghanistan the society saw great twist in the social fabric and politico
economic system. The world super powers encouraged the militant organizations
to promote the culture of Jihad (Islamic holy war) to defeat Russia. The world
powers provided their huge support to the government of Pakistan and related
militant organizations in the form of money, weapons and politico moral
support. Meanwhile, political instability, corruption, social injustice and
economic disparity added fuel on fire in giving rise to different forms of
manifestation of terrorism. With the collapse of Russia from the world order
the geo-political situation of Pakistan changed. In this changed scenario the
terrorism strongly gripped and swiftly spread in Pakistani society. Its most
visible manifestation was sectarianism in 1990s triggered by religious
extremism. After 9/11, Swat and Waziristan Mission Rah-e-Nijaat, Pakistan once
again became the front line state in war against terror. Pakistan played its
role effectively to curb terrorism and militant groups which increased the acts
of terrorism in Pakistan. This research seeks to find the impact on social life
and culture of Pakistan, the ways to defuse the fear and effects of terrorism
for social well being. Terrorism is one of the social evils not only for
Pakistan but also for all over the world that negatively hit the society as a
socio-economic and political problem.
CHAPTER NO.2
LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 Terrorism
The word Terrorism can best be defined as “The
calculated use of violence (or threat of violence) against civilians in order
to attain goals that are political or religious or ideological in nature; this
is done through intimidation or coercion or instilling fear “Or “Terrorism is
the use of threats and violence to frighten or alarm people.” Terrorism is
a term used to describe violence or
other harmful acts committed (or threatened) against civilians by groups or
persons for political or ideological goals. Most definitions of terrorism include only those acts which
are intended to create fear or “terror”, are perpetrated
for an ideological goal (as opposed to a “madman” attack), and deliberately target “non combatants”. The terms
“terrorism” and “terrorist” (someone who engages in terrorism) carry
a strong negative connotation. These terms are often used as political labels to condemn violence or threat of
violence by certain actors as immoral, indiscriminate,
or unjustified. Those labeled “terrorists” rarely identify themselves
as such, and typically use other
generic terms or terms specific to their situation, such as: separatist, freedom fighter, liberator, revolutionary, vigilante,
militant, paramilitary, guerrilla,
rebel, jihadi or mujahidin,
or any similar meaning word in other languages. In simple words
terrorism is the state of fear created through the act of violence. The common
understanding about the terrorism is that “Terrorism is an organized system of intimidation,
especially for political ends”. Different stakeholders such as terrorist
groups, states and social scientists have arch differences over the definition
of the terrorism depending on the complexity of the circumstances. There is a
great controversy over how to term various freedom movements as a liberation
struggle or terrorists’ movements. An act of certain group is freedom fight for
some people and terrorism for others. This phenomenon makes it difficult to
agree on exact meaning and definition of the terrorism. Every one explains the
terrorism according to his/her certain connotation and vested interests. Some
definitions and versions of terrorism are mentioned below to understand the
phenomenon more profoundly. Terrorism is the public harassment, wave of
agitation, protest against the government, damage to public and private
property, in order to draw the attention of authorities. It can be asserted
that terrorism is absolutely against peaceful political set-up. According to Encyclopedia
of political thought it is a form of political violence, directed at a
government but often involving ordinary citizens, whose aim is to create a
climate of fear in which the of the aims of the terrorist will be granted by
government in question.
Charles Townshend (2002) describes the US and British
version of terrorism in his book entitled “Terrorism a very short Introduction”
as “The terrorism is the calculated use or threat of violence to inculcate
fear, intended to coerce or intimidate governments or societies”. Terrorism is
the language of being noticed (Delillo, 1992).
According to the Dictionary of Social Sciences “Terrorism
refers to the illegitimate use of force by those who oppose existing social,
political or economic arrangements”
In short it can be concluded that the terrorism is an act
of violence performed by any rebellion group or individual to get the certain
viewpoint acknowledged or recognized by the society and government. It is a use
of force to impose the vested interest of the extremist schools of thoughts and
violent groups. Terrorism may be described as a strategy of violence designed
to inspire terror within a particular segment of a given society. Terrorism is
a state of intense fear which threatens the most fundamental human drive the
will to survive intact. When the certain groups or certain school of thought
are not given due socio-political acknowledgement and accommodation they turn
to violence to show their existence. It is the extreme of imposition of the
will by the rulers or dissident groups on the society.
2.2 Types of Terrorism
The phenomenon of the terrorism is very complex on the
whole in all aspects. There is disagreement among the scholars over the types
of the terrorism unlike its definition.
Various attempts have been made to derive the most common
types of terrorism. Some of them are highlighted below:
2.2.1 Suicide
Terrorism
Suicide
terrorism is the readiness to sacrifice one’s life in the process of destroying
or attempting to destroy a target to
advance their goals. The aim of the psychologically and physically war-trained
terrorist is to die while destroying the enemy target. A suicide terrorist attack (also known
as suicide bombing, homicide bombing or
“kamikaze”) is an attack intended to kill others and inflict
widespread damage, while the attacker intends to die as well in the process.
Modern suicide terrorism is aimed at causing devastating physical damage,
through which it inflicts profound fear and anxiety. Its goal is to
produce a negative psychological effect on an entire population
rather than just on the victims of the actual attack. The large
number of casualties guaranteed in such attacks ensures dramatic and
spectacular media coverage (Schweitzer,
2000). Methods of suicide terrorism include blowing up
airplanes in mid-air, the use of weapons of mass destruction, and
the use as missiles of ordinary moving objects such as aircraft,
motor cars, boats, wagons, trucks, motorcycles, bicycles, animals, and
young men and women. Over the past two decades acts of suicide terrorism have
been reported in Lebanon, Kuwait, Sri Lanka, Israel, Palestine (West
Bank), India, Panama, Algeria, Pakistan, Argentina, Croatia, Turkey,
Tanzania, Kenya and the USA. Between 1980 and 2002, an estimated 340
suicide–homicide terrorist acts have been reported, with an
estimated number of victims varying from none to 3000 per incident
and number of suicides ranging from 1 to as many as 16 in a single
act of suicide terrorism. There are currently ten religious and
secular groups that are known to have used suicide–homicide acts as
a tactic against their government or against foreign governments.
Some of the terrorist suicide groups are motivated by nationalism,
ethnic nationalism, religion or religious ethnic nationalism (Schweitzer,
2000). The literature on suicide terrorism
refers to the beliefs and personality of the leader, the social
structure of the group, and makes references to irrationality,
brainwashing and morbid psychology (Hazani,
1993; Lamberg,
1997; Dein
& Littlewood, 2000; Colvard,
2002). The powerful hold that the leader has over the group
members, generally referred to as ‘charisma’, and the leader’s
patience and goal-directedness are the most common factors in all
suicide terrorist groups. Followers and potential suicide terrorists
are indoctrinated to believe in their immortality and assured
ascendance to a heavenly paradise which they are made to believe is physically
present. Suicide terrorists are convinced of their immortality, a belief that gives them sufficient drive to carry out
the fatal act (Hazani,
1993), a complex convergence of political, cultural and
religious ideas, economic hardship and, in some cases, psychological
instability (Hazani,
1993). However, it is not clear from the available literature
whether mental illness among suicide terrorists is any higher than
in the general population. It is possible that those who have
demonstrated mental illness were ill before joining the terrorist
organisation (Lamberg,
1997). Suicide terrorists who execute acts such as the
attack on the World Trade Center on 11 September 2001 may be people
who are not necessarily violent but who embark on violent actions and are prepared
to die for what they believe to be the greater good of their society
(Colvard,
2002). The primary aim of suicide terrorists is not
suicide, because to the terrorist groups suicide is simply a means to an end,
with a motivation that stems from rage and a sense of
self-righteousness. They see themselves as soldiers willing to
sacrifice themselves for a higher purpose and are convinced of an
eternal reward through their action (Ganor,
2000). Two main motivations can be identified in the vast
majority of suicide terrorist acts: the first is anger and a sense
of hopelessness; the second is a deep religious belief that a better
life awaits in paradise.
2.2.2
Political terrorism
Political terrorism is a violent criminal behavior designed primarily to
generate fear in
the community, or substantial segment of it, for political purposes.
2.2.3 Non Political terrorism
Non-Political terrorism is a Terrorism that is not aimed at political purposes but
which exhibits “conscious design to create and maintain high degree of fear for
coercive purposes, but
the end is individual or collective gain rather than the achievement of a
political objective.
2.2.4
State Terrorism
State terrorism has
been used to refer to terrorist acts by governmental agents or forces. This
involves the use of state resources employed by a state’s foreign policies,
such as using its military to directly perform acts of terrorism.
2.2.5
Democracy and Domestic Terrorism
The relationship
between domestic terrorism and democracy is very complex. Terrorism is most
common in nations with intermediate political freedom, and is least common in
the most democratic nations. However, one study suggests that suicide terrorism
may be an exception to this general rule. Evidence regarding this particular
method of terrorism reveals that every modern suicide campaign has targeted a
democracy- a state with a considerable degree of political freedom. The study
suggests that concessions awarded to terrorists during the 1980s and 1990s for
suicide attacks increased their frequency. Some examples of
“terrorism” in non-democracies include ETA in Spain under Francisco Franco, the Shining Path in Peru
under Alberto Fujimori, the Kurdistan Workers
Party when Turkey was ruled by military
leaders and the ANC in South Africa.
Democracies, such as the United States, Israel, Indonesia, India, and the Philippines, have also
experienced domestic terrorism. While a democratic nation espousing civil
liberties may claim a sense of higher moral ground than other regimes, an act
of terrorism within such a state may cause a perceived dilemma: whether to
maintain its civil liberties and thus risk being perceived as ineffective in
dealing with the problem; or alternatively to restrict its civil liberties and
thus risk delegitimizing its claim of supporting civil liberties. This
dilemma, some social theorists would conclude, may very well play into the
initial plans of the acting terrorist(s); namely, to delegitimize the state.
2.3 Social
Life
Social life is the combination of various
components: activities, people, and places. While all of those components are
required to define a social life, the nature of each component is
different for every person, and can change for each person, as affected by a
variety of external influences. There are different kinds of things that affect
one’s social life. There are the obvious factors that affect our social lives
over the course of our lifetime, like age – a teenager’s social life of hanging
out at the closest mall accessible by bike is different from a 35-year olds social
life of going to a dinner party at a friend’s house, or even stage in life –
two 30-year-olds will have very different social lives if one is married with
three kids, living out in the suburbs. There are also more immediate things
that can affect one’s social life on a day-to-day basis. Availability of
friends and/or dates, current cash flow, personal schedule, recent positive
restaurant reviews, and perhaps a post on where the celebs are hanging out can
all determine with whom you interact, the nature of activities, how often you socialize,
and where such social activities take place.
2.4 Social
Impact
The word social
Impact tells us about the Society, In order to understand it first we’ll
discuss the definition of society.
“An extended social group is having a distinctive
cultural and economic organization”
Or
“A formal association of people with similar interests”
As the definition shows, a
society is a grouping of individuals, which is characterized by common
interest and may have distinctive culture and institutions.
In a society members can be from a different ethnic group. A
“Society” may refer to a particular people such as Pakistani,
or to a broader cultural group, such as Western society. Society can
also be explained as an organized group of people associated together for religious,
benevolent, cultural, scientific, political, patriotic,
or other purposes. Implicit in the meaning of society is that its members share
some mutual concern or Interest, a common objective or common characteristics.
CHAPTER NO.3
HYPOTHESIS
These were the following hypothesis formulated for our research:
·
H-1 Terrorism is affecting the social life and
culture of Pakistan
·
H-2 People are bravely facing the current
volatile and adverse situation
CHAPTER NO.4
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
The methods selected for the
research were as follows:
·
Survey
·
Secondary Analysis
·
Documents
4.1 Survey
The primary research was carried
out through surveys including questionnaires and interviews. The interviews
were taken from our relatives and different faculty members of our university
including students. Questionnaire was particularly devised for testing the
selected hypothesis by randomly selecting the individuals of different age
groups of Air University Islamabad.
There were eight close ended
questions and one open ended question. They were informed about the key terms
and guided in order to remove any sort of confusion which could lead to
inappropriate results. The total sample size of the questionnaires was 100.Some
of the questionnaires which were not filled properly were discarded, 100
questionnaires were floated out of which 90 were selected. The results are
analyzed based on assessment of individual question given in later section of
this report.
4.2 Secondary Analysis
The secondary data and researches
that were already there helped us study and brain-storm about what we wanted to
get out of this research. This research methodology was mainly used to test our
second hypothesis that people of Pakistan are bravely facing the current volatile
and adverse situation. It helped us a lot to get the desired information and
come up with the effects of terrorism on their social life and culture.
4.3 Documents
Internet, Magazines, Articles & Journals, Newspapers, Library books
of AU were mainly used to collect all the information related to the
effects of terrorism on social life and culture of Pakistan.
CHAPTER
NO.5
RESULTS
ANALYSIS
5.1 Discussion
Nowadays people avoid going to social gathering due to terrorist attacks
which clearly shows that the terrorism has affected the social life of general
population. Nobody can afford to trust in their social circle and personal life
now. They are afraid of being the victims of terrorism. Most of them agreed
that the violent acts of terrorism has badly damaged their mental growth and created a constant stressful
situation for them and their family. A
situation full of stress, frustration only helps in boosting troubles for them
thus frustrated and stressed out due to everyday terrorist activities. Religion is our core value which however
started being affected by the terrorism. The
question we asked in relation to this was that “Do you feel safe to offer
prayers in the mosque?” 50% preferred to stay neutral; the other major portion
that is 20% strongly disagreed. This shows that people are confused right now,
but yes they did have an impact. The cultural value of Pakistan like
hospitality is changing due to the terrorist actions. Hospitality is again a core value of our nation
which is on its way to down. Like said above, there’s word trust does not lie
anymore anywhere, the good example of hospitality will be even before you say ‘Salam’
to a plumber, you make sure he leaves your place as soon as possible. People
have been psychologically affected due to the current adverse scenario of the
country. Terrorist activities have affected our social relationships with other
countries. 46% of the respondents strongly agreed to it.
We have lost our respect internationally. The good example is that Cricket
champion’s trophy was to be held in Pakistan, instead in South Africa. Each year there is an arts festival held in
Lahore where performers from all over the world come, it was cancelled.
Moreover, we have to hear now ‘do more do more’ slogans which further
frustrates our nation. The open ended question that the measures taken by the
government to prevent terrorist attacks are satisfactory was designed to check
the solidity of the people and their trust on Government. Many valuable
inputs also came in with this question. Respondents said that creating a war
like situation in the country like these huge concrete walls, sand bags, no
they will also build a concrete wall between divider on Islamabad highway, they
won’t help in preventing terrorist attacks. They were of the opinion that the
Government should rather take concrete measures then creating a war like
situation as it is in Iraq. For detailed results (see Appendix-B)
5.2 Analysis
Eighty two percent of H1 is fully
accepted which shows that the
terrorism is effecting the social life and culture of Pakistan. H2 is accepted
through our secondary analysis including different videos proving that the
Pakistanis are bravely facing the current volatile and adverse situation. This
can be authenticated through our study as both the hypotheses have been proved.
CHAPTER
NO.6
EFFECTS OF TERRORISM ON SCOIAL
LIFE AND CULTURE OF PAKISTAN
The end sufferer of the terrorism is the general public.
It is general consensus among the social scientists that human conflict and
corruption cannot be done away from the society. The human conflict results in
the form of violence or terrorism. The repercussions of the terrorism are very
serious for the masses. No doubt, the terrorism not only directly affects economic
development and prosperity but the psycho-social repercussions and heavily damage
human personality and the society. The effects of terrorism may vary from
different persons to different societies. These are some of the following
effects and impacts devise through our research:
·
First
of all the terrorism has created a sense of fear in the minds of the people.
This fear has further lead to sense of dissatisfaction and terror among the
people.
·
Due
to terrorism the sense of helplessness has prevailed in the human minds. This
sense of helplessness has further lead to hopelessness among the people
regarding their personal and social well-being.
·
The
violent acts of terrorism has badly damaged the mental growth of the human
beings and put them in to constant stressful situation. Such attacks
especially, leave harmful and far reaching effects on the minds of the children
when they see dead bodies and horrible scenes of the terrorism on the media.
These days the media gives extra ordinary coverage to the incidents of
terrorism all over the world and people find themselves involved very much
which creates resentment in their minds.
·
Being
affected by the repercussion of the terrorism the snobbish attitude has been
developed among the masses. It has further damaged human and familial
relationships which ultimately affects the working performance of the
individuals.
·
Government
has lost their trust and solidity. It has enhanced anger and resentment among
the masses against the government and the state apparatus.
·
The
people have become the victims of psychological diseases such as anxiety and
frustration, aggression, and deprivation. The social relationships have
severely suffered from great loss in the presence of these psychological
diseases.
·
Due
to terrorism social splits has widened among the people belonging to the
different schools of thought. This split has become the cause of significant
social division which harms the social fabric and unity negatively.
·
Due
to the fear of terrorist attacks the people are trying to escape from their
social and professional responsibilities. For example a soldier cannot perform
his duty if he/she has witnessed other companions dying in the deadly terrorist
attacks. Of course, one will join his/her duty but due to constant fear of
losing the life he/she would perform duty in the state of fear.
·
Terrorism
has promoted social segregation and isolation among the different strata of the
society. It has created distance between the supporters and suffers of the
accused terrorist attacks. That means the terrorism has enhanced the social
disturbance and people feel divided in the society.
·
Terrorism
has affected the social progress and well-being of the people. Because of the
terrorists activities the businesses and economy of the country has suffered a
great loss. As a result poverty has increased which damages the society very
much.
In short, terrorism has long lasting effects on the individuals,
groups and overall society. The social prosperity and the well-being of the masses
are at the risk and in the situation of constant strain and stress. The human beings
find it difficult to live their life properly and calmly. The violent behavior
develops among the people who lead to socio-economic decline and destroy the
human and social relationships.
CHAPTER NO.7
CONCLUSION
7.1 Implication
Our research project can be very useful
for the Government, Public, Sociologist and Psychologist to study and work on
these effects of terrorism on social life and culture of Pakistan.
7.2 Research Limitations
Due to some limitations we
weren’t able to conduct research up to its full potential level. Security
concerns in Pakistan limited our research to the greater extent. Many of the
respondents were avoiding talking on this topic because of the current adverse
scenario. We were bound to research within the university and couldn’t visit
different people who are actually the sufferers of terrorism to carry out the
research work.
7.3 Future research
Future researchers on this topic
can research on the causes and cures of these effects of terrorism on social
life and culture of Pakistan.
7.4 Recommendations
·
Government
should establish some rehabilitation centre for the sufferers who have become
the victims of these psychological diseases due to the psycho-social effects of
terrorism.
·
The effort of the international community in general
and the institutions working against terrorism in special should help individual
states in diagnosing the causes and issues which need to be resolved.
·
The international community should try to agree upon
the minimum common agenda to curb terrorism.
·
The clear cut distinction should be established and
maintained to work closely in the fight against terrorism.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
·
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_impact_theory
·
The British
Journal of Psychiatry (2003) http://bjp.rcpsych.org/cgi/content/full/182/6/475
·
CHARLES, TOWNSHEND (2002). Terrorism a very Short
Introduction. Oxford University Press, Pakistan.
·
MUHAMMAD, IMTIAZ ZAFAR DR. (2007). Violence Terrorism
and Teaching of Islam. Higher Education Commission, Pakistan.
