Political Extremism and the Legal Framework in Pakistan: A Critical Analysis
Keywords:
Political Extremism, Violence, Radical Speech and Propaganda, Suppression, Dissent, PluralismAbstract
The purpose of the present study was twofold; to identify various forms of political extremism and to examine the efficiency of Pakistani legal framework to address the political extremism. After deploying qualitative approach by combining doctrinal methodology and socio-legal perspective, the study found that political extremism may be adjusted into three major categories based on their severity; violence based, radical speech and propaganda, and suppression of dissidents and pluralism. The study further found that the Pakistani legal framework especially its criminal law largely addressed the instances of violence based political extremism. However, regulation of radical speeches and propaganda remained weakly regulated in the existing legal framework. On the other hand, the suppression of dissidents and pluralism was mostly unregulated by the legal framework in Pakistan. The study recommended targeted legal reforms in the existing legal order to effectively curb the problem of political extremism in Pakistan.
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