An analysis of general pervez musharraf’s approach to extremism and militancy in pakistan post 9/11

General Pervez Musharraf took over the reins in Pakistan by staging a coup in October, 1999. Even while he was struggling hard to curb the rising radicalization and extremism inside, the catastrophic 9/11 incident happened. Musharraf could not put offpressures of America to be an ally in ‘War on Terror’. The partnership with America rained hell on his regime as he saw every move of his government producing reaction bigger than before. The menace of extremism remained uncontrolled, rather exacerbated to the extent that Pakistan saw almost an insurgency in the border regions of FATA and NWFP. The Paper attempts an analysis of the approach of then President Musharraf on militancy and extremism and draws conclusion that Musharraf’s policies backfired.

Methodology: The Paper adopts Content Analysis and Historical Methodology. For this the available government documents as well as secondary data have been used. For statistical analysis, South Asia Terrorism Portal Database has been used.