Illiteracy: A Threat to Peace in Federally Administrated Tribal Areas (FATA) of Pakistan

Abstract

Pakistan’s decision of participating in the war on terror has put the entire country especially FATA on the mercy of extremist and terrorists. The current layer of terrorism and extremism has destroyed the peaceful traditional tribal society. The present study was conducted during 2013 to probe the effect of illiteracy on peace in the war-affected zone FATA. The major findings of the study reveal that illiteracy ratio was high at FATA, making FATA safe haven for militants and it was one of the main cases of terrorism, leading to violence, making the illiterate youth and madrasa students more vulnerable to militancy. Furthermore lacks of interest in education, dysfunctional education institution, and preference to madrasa education were also the variables, which were affecting peace in FATA. The study also reveals that in the presence of illiteracy sustainable peace is not possible in FATA.