Pakistanis are worried about the impact of extremism on their country and most see it as a "serious problem" now, according to a new survey conducted by two leading American think tanks.
Seventy-two per cent of Pakistanis interviewed by as part of a survey by the Pew Research Center and International Republican Institute late last year said they were concerned about Islamic extremism in their country and over half or them, or 54 per cent, said they were "very concerned".
In the October 2008 poll, 60 per cent of Pakistanis characterised religious extremism as a serious problem. However, the same poll found limited support for using the Pakistani military to combat extremist groups.
Just 38 per cent of Pakistanis supported using the army to fight extremists in the North West Frontier Province and the tribal areas while half opposed such efforts.
About one-third said they would like to see the army confront Al Qaeda while 52 per cent disagreed with this view.
There was even less enthusiasm for taking on the Taliban -- 30 per cent favoured this approach and 56 per cent opposed it, the Pew Research Center said in a statement.
The support for military action had increased since IRI's previous poll in June 2008, when only 27 per cent wanted the army to fight extremists.
At that time, 22 per cent said the army should fight Al Qaeda and 20 per cent felt this way about the Taliban.
The October 2008 poll also found considerable support for cutting a deal with radical groups ¿ 54 per cent agreed with the statement "I support a peace deal with the extremists" while just 35 per cent disagreed.
The question did not specify any particular groups of extremists, but it was clear that, as a general approach, the Pakistani public preferred compromise, the Center said. In June 2008, 64 per cent had supported a peace deal with extremists and only 18 per cent had opposed such a move.
During a 2004 survey, four in 10 Pakistani Muslims said suicide attack and other forms of violence against civilians could be justified to protect Islam from itsenemies.
However, during the April 2008 Pew Global survey — following a four-year period in which scores of suicide attacks took place within Pakistan — only five per cent defended such violence.
Attitudes toward Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden too turned more negative, although the decline was less steep. In 2005, about half of Pakistanis expressed confidence in bin Laden to do the right thing in world affairs. Three years later, roughly one-third (34 per cent) voiced this opinion.
The 2008 poll also found that Pakistanis expressed negative opinions of Al Qaeda and the Taliban though about one-quarter of them had favourable views of these groups.
The survey also found that younger Pakistanis were less likely to embrace extremism. Only 3 in 10 people under the age of 50 expressed confidence in Bin Laden, compared with about half (52 per cent) of those aged 50 and more.
