Why Pakistan's middle class backs terror while poor suffer from it
Team TOI Plus
TIMESOFINDIA.COM
Updated: May 18, 2025, 18:41 IST IST
A 2012 study, which has acquired new relevance after Pahalgam and Operation Sindoor, reveals that Pakistan's urban middle class — shielded from violence and ideologically invested — sustains extremist groups
For years, the dominant explanation for terrorism in Pakistan has rested on a simple idea: that poverty breeds radicalism. It is a narrative among global policy experts that has shaped the direction of billions of dollars in international aid and development programmes.
Now, with Pahalgam and India's Operation Sindoor reigniting the debate over cross-border militancy, a 2012 Princeton-led study has acquired fresh relevance, revealing that the true drivers of extremism may lie closer to comfort than crisis.
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