Why educated youth inclined toward extremism: A case of higher education institutes of Pakistan
| Author | Muhammad Ismail,Azmat Ali Shah,Kashif Saleem,Alveena Khan |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/2057891120926567 |
| Published date | 01 September 2022 |
| Date | 01 September 2022 |
| Subject Matter | Research Articles on South Asian Politics |
Why educated youth
inclined toward extremism:
A case of higher education
institutes of Pakistan
Muhammad Ismail
Qurtuba University of Sciences and Information Technology, Pakistan
Azmat Ali Shah
Qurtuba University of Sciences and Information Technology, Pakistan
Kashif Saleem
Qurtuba University of Sciences and Information Technology, Pakistan
Alveena Khan
Qurtuba University of Sciences and Information Technology, Pakistan
Abstract
This article highlights the determinants leading to extremist behavior, i.e. the push and pull factors.
The pull factors include: humanitarian causes; radical Islamic ideology; stipulation of a “purpose and
mission”; propaganda through media; attraction to martyrdom; and misinterpretation of religious
ideas by religious and non-religious extremists. The push factors are local conditions that force
people to hold close the violent ideology of radical or extremist Islam. These comprise: local
reaction against Americanization/globalization; lack of basic human rights; authoritarian/oppressive
political systems; corruption/lack of meritocracy; high youth unemployment; state collapse; and
porous borders. To investigate the causes of extremism in higher education institutes, Positivist
philosophy (survey method) was adopted. A self-administered structured questionnaire was used
to collect data from a sample of educated youth from all over Pakistan, collected via the probability
sampling technique. It was revealed that ‘Promotion of Martyrdom’ was highly correlated with
extremism, and contributed more than other variables to causing extremism.
Corresponding author:
Muhammad Ismail, Department of Politics and IR, Qurtuba University of Sciences and Information Technology, Dera Ismail
Khan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.
Email: dr.ismail@qurtuba.edu.pk
Asian Journal of Comparative Politics
ªThe Author(s) 2020
Article reuse guidelines:
sagepub.com/journals-permissions
DOI: 10.1177/2057891120926567
journals.sagepub.com/home/acp
2022, Vol. 7(3) 419–434
Research Articles on South Asian Politics
Keywords
extremism, madaris, Pakistan, universities, youth
Introduction
In Pakistan’scontext, few scholarsbelieve that extremismemanates from religiousseminaries, known
as madrassas. Hoodbhoy(2017) states that madrassasare responsible for the nourishmentof extremist
thoughts,which may be true to some extent.However, in the past few years,higher education institutes
also seem to have contributed toward extremism. The education institutes, instead of imparting
awareness in the society,themselves became hubs of extremism. Luckert(2016) throws light on the
new tacticsof the extremist organizations.He says that they now recruithighly educated youthto deal
with the advanced technology required for extremist activities. Thiswas further established when in
September 2017, in the industrial and economic hub of the country, Karachi, a group of highly
educated youthattempted to assassinate the leaderof the political party the MuttahidaQaumi Move-
ment (MQM), Khawaja Izharul Hassan. This highlighted that not only madrassas are the source of
extremism.The conviction of Saad Aziz, a graduateof one of the top business schools of Pakistan,for
the Safoora Goth massmurder and for the murder of human rights advocateSabeen Mahmud, shows
that the militant background in Pakistan has evolved significantly(Dawn ,2017).
Pakistan shows warning signs of a high level of extremist behavior among youth. Factors for
this could be the below-average system of education, socio-economic and political inequality, and
economic inequality across diverse sections of society (Yusuf, 2008). Yusuf argues that these
factors increase the possibility of youth being attracted to extremism and extremist behaviors.
He commented that the existence of th e infrastructure of extremist elem ents in society, their
immaculate organizational authority and regulation, along with the prevalent social systems of
the Islamic political as well as militant outfits in the country, a failure of the moderate forces to
deliver credible results. The prejudiced policies of the United States further increase the extremist
elements’ influence in Pakistan (Yusuf, 2008).
Yusuf (2008) believes that the aspirations of Pakistan’s youth to obtain education and reputable
employment could work as a driving force for transformation in the country, but a practical and
comprehensive policy approach is essential to produce these effects. He further argued that due to
the country’s strategic significance, as well as its prospective to disturb the peace and stability of
the whole South Asian region, the global society has an elevated stake in guaranteeing a con-
structive transformation. Yusuf (2008) further suggested that important policy interferences nec-
essary in the near future, at the same time also upholding a broader objective, are obliged to
exclusively aim at the youth of the country.
The first objective of this study was to analyze the causes of extremism among educated youth
in the higher education institutes of Pakistan. The second objective was to investigate the connec-
tion between causes and level of extremism in the higher education institutes. Furthermore, we
highlight the role of sociodemographic variables on the views of the educated youth studying at
different universities in the country and on turning youth toward extremism.
Literature review
In the recent past, it was considered that madrassas served as a breeding place for extremists and
that all those individuals involved in extremist acts were the products of madrassa. But recent
420 Asian Journal of Comparative Politics 7(3)
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