Majority in Pakistan see extremism as serious threat: survey

WASHINGTON: A vast majority of people in Pakistan see religious extremism a serious threat to their country, a US think tank said in a survey report, ARY News reported on Wednesday.

The Pew Research Centre, Washington in a survey report said that 66 per cent people in Pakistan see religious extremism as a serious threat to their country.

The survey shows that bouts of violence, suicide bombings and fears of civil war in South Asia, the Middle East and Africa have increased concerns about religious extremism in countries with substantial Muslim populations.

The survey, shows that there are still 24pc Pakistanis who do not see extremism as a serious threat. But when it comes to the Taliban, most among these 24pc also want to stay away from them.

Almost 60pc of the population in Pakistan sees the Taliban unfavourably. Only 8pc have a favourable view of the extremist organisations.

The people’s opinion towards specific groups of the Taliban, such as Tehreek-i-Taliban and the Afghan Taliban, are also negative.

In a spring 2013 survey, both those groups received low ratings in Pakistan — 56pc unfavourable and 47pc unfavourable, respectively.

In the Middle East, concern about extremism is growing. Lebanese, Tunisians, Egyptians, Jordanians and Turks are all more worried about the extremist threat than they were a year ago.

Most people hold very negative opinions of well-known extremist groups, such as Al Qaeda.