Terrorism vs status of women

There is a strange coincidence in the timing of a major terrorist attack on the high-security Bannu Cantonment in Pakistan early this week and the release of the Global Terrorism Index 2025 by the Institute of Economics and Peace (IEP), with its headquarters in Sydney.

We had to contend with two setbacks, in a sense. Because the gravity of the Bannu attack, with its many casualties, was fully matched with our ranking in the Global Terrorist Index. Take it as an unpleasant revelation that Pakistan has risen to second place in the Global Terrorism Index 2025, based on the number of deaths in terrorist attacks during 2024. As if to further underline the significance of acts of terrorism, a startling surprise was delivered from Washington DC. It came totally out of the blue when US President Donald Trump named Pakistan during his first address to Congress.

It may have surprised or even shocked many that Trump, who is all set to overturn the existing world order, did not refer to Pakistan to speak for a jailed leader. He, in fact, praised the government of Pakistan for arresting a terrorist who was the mastermind behind a bombing attack at the Kabul airport in 2021 in which over a dozen American servicemen were killed, in addition to 170 Afghans.

Here, then, is an entire scenario of terror that has particularly become a challenge for the rulers in this country, compelling them, hopefully, to take stock of the strategies and policies that have led Pakistan into this quagmire – and then take the right decisions. Trump is not a good example of how drastic changes are introduced in a system but the situation in Pakistan does call for a new beginning, for turning a page.

I have emphasised the element of timing in the occurrence of these three events. The dramatic oddity of this coincidence is certified by the fact that they appeared as big headlines in Thursday’s newspapers in Pakistan. Each of these headlines deserves a detailed analysis to highlight a situation that has become very critical for Pakistan.

But before I make an attempt to do that, I have to point out another coincidence that I find more meaningful in the context of Pakistan’s evolution as a progressive and modern country, a country that is not number two in the Global Index of Terrorism, placed between Burkina Faso and Syria.

And what is that? Well, this is also the week that marks International Women’s Day and there is a history of how the struggle of the Pakistani women for emancipation and empowerment has tested the limits set by our rulers and their ruling ideas.

Now, consider the stark contradiction that is located between the passions that provoke violent extremism and terrorism and those that inspire a social change to be built on the foundation of educated and enlightened women. Experts are agreed on the truth that educating the girl child is the precise route to social and economic development of a society.

Ah, I have another coincidence in comparing terroristic violence and the status of women in Pakistan. I have noted that Pakistan has risen to the second place in the Global Terrorism Index. We were already there regarding gender issues – number two from the bottom in a global ranking.

Yes, Pakistan ranks among the worst countries in the world in the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report of 2024, issued in June last year. Our rank is 145 out of 146 countries. The WEF’s gender parity is judged across four dimensions: economic participation and opportunity: educational attainment; health and survival; and political empowerment. When we look at ourselves and consider the image we hold of Pakistan, it becomes hard to accept the low ranking of the country in almost all social development surveys. Obviously, there are certain aspects of the reality of Pakistan that we tend to ignore, or we are not adequately conscious of the deficits that stare us in the face.

For instance, there is ample justification for the leaders of women’s organisations to demand that gender-based violence should be declared a national emergency. Statistics that relate to education, particularly of girls, are exceptionally depressing. Religious extremism, dogmatism and tribal values have polluted the minds of ordinary citizens who are easily transformed into unruly mobs.

An increase in terrorist violence in which security forces have lost precious lives is evident and statements have been made about the will and the ability of the authorities to deal with this menace. The terrorism index tells us that terrorist attacks rose by 45 per cent in 2024, to reach a total of 1,081.

Apparently, not much attention is being paid to building a society that does not provide an enabling environment for violent extremism to survive and grow. We have examples of a number of countries that overtook us and have now become economic giants. One of the things they did in their times of difficulties was to provide a good education to their girls.

There would be many other things to do, of course. But there seems no political will to change the national sense of direction and learn lessons from other countries that have made progress. It is actually a matter of shame that we lag behind all the other countries of South Asia in indicators that relate to social development.

Let me conclude with a personal encounter that I may have mentioned before. Some years ago, I was asked to write an article that exuded hope in the future of Pakistan for the Independence Day supplement of this newspaper. The challenge was formidable because I was a proclaimed pessimist due to how I interpreted the ongoing state of affairs.

I did want to write that piece and thought a lot about what I could do. Finally, I wrote my article with this headline: “Hope is a little girl going to school in a village”. It should, actually, be every little girl, everywhere in Pakistan, going to school and being happy about it.

The writer is a senior journalist. He can be reached at:

ghazi_ salahudin@hotmail.com