Pakistan is a gun loving country where owning a gun is a status symbol and matter of pride. Guns are an integral part of Pakistani culture and society. In rural and tribal areas, particularly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Baluchistan there is a tradition of using guns for protection, hunting, and settling disputes.
Guns, especially high-end models, are seen as a status symbol. They are used to convey wealth, and power, particularly among men who use guns for hunting, sport, or self-defence. Firearms are often seen as a means of protecting oneself and one’s family. There is a common belief that owning a gun enhances personal security. This is particularly true in areas where law enforcement is perceived to be inadequate or where the state’s presence is weak.
In some areas, guns are gifted or used during wedding ceremonies, as symbols of strength, power, and social standing. Pakistan has a rich tradition of hunting, especially among the elite and rural communities.
The problem is compounded by the fact that Pakistan has a thriving illegal arms trade, with many firearms being smuggled into the country from neighbouring Afghanistan and Iran.
Unrestricted availability of firearms in Pakistan leads to high crime rate, including armed robberies, kidnappings, and homicides. Firearms are also used by terrorist organisations to carry out attacks. Shootings are not uncommon in political confrontations, personal disputes, and even criminal activities. The influence of organised crime in major cities like Karachi has been partially attributed to the easy availability of illegal firearms. Lack of proper training and safety measures leads to accidental shootings, resulting in injuries and fatalities.
Consequences of Gun Violence
Easy access to firearms is the reason behind mushrooming gun violence in Pakistan, compounded by poverty, unemployment, social inequality and lack of effective gun control laws.
Over 600 people die every day due to firearm violence worldwide – a significant portion of these deaths occur in Pakistan. Gun violence has a profound impact on Pakistani society, affecting not only the victims and their families but also the broader community. Gun violence leaves many survivors with debilitating and life-changing injuries, requiring long-term medical and social care. The presence of firearms leads to psychological trauma and a sense of fear and insecurity. Gun violence disrupts children’s education, and makes it difficult for them to attend school. The economic cost of gun violence in Pakistan is substantial, with significant expenses incurred for medical treatment, rehabilitation, and lost productivity.
Unrestricted availability of firearms in Pakistan leads to high crime rate, including armed robberies, kidnappings, and homicides. Firearms are also used by terrorist organisations to carry out attacks. Shootings are not uncommon in political confrontations, personal disputes, and even criminal activities. The influence of organised crime in major cities like Karachi has been partially attributed to the easy availability of illegal firearms
Is Pakistan paying the price for its own sins?
A commonly used phrase in people’s minds is that Pakistan is paying the price for its illegal activities like arms trafficking, military interventions, and support to militant groups. Some of these activities include:
Support for Militants and Proxy Wars
Gen Zia and Op Topac plan: Gen Zia-ul-Haq, the military dictator of Pakistan from 1977 to 1988, conceived of the controversial “Operation Topac” (Op Topac) Plan to destabilize and “make India bleed.” His strategy was to weaken India through indirect means by supporting low-cost insurgency without engaging in direct military confrontation. Gen Zia started the practice of providing logistical, financial, and military support to groups like Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) to carry out guerrilla warfare against Indian forces and create internal disturbance in Kashmir. Operation Topac’s larger goal was to use proxy warfare not just in Kashmir, but across India. Pakistan began to train and equip militants who could carry out attacks in India, creating long-term destabilisation without triggering a full-scale war.
Pakistan’s ISI (Inter-Services Intelligence) played a central role in providing training and resources to insurgents. Militants were provided with arms, trained in guerrilla tactics, and provided logistical support to infiltrate across the Line of Control (LoC) into Kashmir. The Pakistan army also helped coordinate these operations. By supporting insurgency in Kashmir, Pakistan wanted to highlight the Kashmir issue on the international stage, as an indigenous struggle for self-determination rather than terrorism backed by Pakistan.
Kashmir and proxy wars against India: Partition of India in 1947, created the two separate nations – India and Pakistan, but left Kashmir as a disputed territory. Pakistan has been providing moral, logistical, and financial support to terrorist groups such as Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) fighting for the “liberation” of Kashmir leading to persistent violence, and instability in the region. These groups have been involved in the 2001 Indian Parliament attack and the 2008 Mumbai attacks. Pakistan denies direct involvement but has been criticised for providing moral, logistical, and financial support to these groups, which are seen as part of a broader proxy war against India. There is evidence of ISI’s involvement in training, equipping, and financing militant groups in Kashmir.
Khalistan Movement and Support for Punjab Militants: During the late 1970s and early 1980s, Punjab was experiencing significant tensions. Sikh religious leaders were calling for greater autonomy for Punjab, and creation of an independent Sikh state called Khalistan. Pakistan under Zia used it as an opportunity to weaken India from within and started providing funding, weapons, and moral support to the Sikh separatists led by Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale. Bhindranwale’s supporters took refuge in the Golden Temple in Amritsar. As a result the Indian Army had to launch Operation Blue Star to flush out the militants hiding inside the Golden Temple in 1984. The operation resulted in heavy casualties, parts of the Golden Temple were destroyed leading to widespread resentment among the Sikhs. Bhindranwale was killed in the operation but his death became a rallying cry for Sikh separatists in Punjab. Gen Zia’s government used this to spread hatred against India and brew widespread violence in Punjab during the 1980s. Thousands of people were killed. In October 1984, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated by her Sikh bodyguards in retaliation for the military operation in the Golden Temple. Her assassination sparked violent anti-Sikh riots across India. The assassination and the subsequent riots contributed to the cycle of violence in Punjab.
Relationship with al-Qaeda and Osama bin laden: Pakistan’s relationship with al-Qaeda and its founder, Osama bin Laden, is a highly controversial issue. The September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks altered Pakistan’s position in the global political arena. The U.S. demanded that Pakistan choose sides in the “War on Terror”. Eventually Pakistan, under President Pervez Musharraf, agreed to support the US-led coalition in the invasion to dismantle al-Qaeda and remove the Taliban from power. Accordingly the U.S. Navy SEALs located and killed Osama bin Laden in a compound at Abbottabad in Pakistan’s Punjab province, 35 miles away from Islamabad on May 2, 2011. Pakistan found it difficult to explain how bin Laden could live in such close proximity to key military institutions and hide there without the support of ISI and the Pakistan government. The raid strained U.S.-Pakistan relations as many people felt that Pakistan had been indirectly harbouring bin Laden, or actively shielding him.
Afghanistan (1970s-1980s): During the 1980s Pakistan aligned itself with the United States in the Afghan war and allowed the use of its territory for operations against the Soviet Union in return for military and financial support. Pakistan’s inter-service intelligence agency (ISI) supplied arms and training to the Afghan mujahideen fighters. After the war many of the weapons ended up in the hands of the Taliban, Al-Qaeda, and other militant groups, some of which are now being ploughed back to Pakistan.
Support to terrorists and underworld dons: Pakistan has been providing sanctuary, financial backing, and support to criminals and terrorists, like Dawood Ibrahim — one of the most dangerous and influential figures in the world of organised crime as part of its broader strategy to destabilise India through irregular warfare, terrorism and organised crime. Dawood Ibrahim is the leader of the D-Company, a criminal syndicate involved in drug trafficking, arms smuggling, money laundering, extortion, and terrorism.
Dawood is said to be the mastermind behind the 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts, in which over 250 people were killed and more than 700 were injured. Following the incident Dawood Ibrahim is understood to have fled to Pakistan where he has been provided protection by the ISI to escape being arrested by the Indian authorities. Dawood Ibrahim is believed to be living in Karachi and Islamabad from where he is running his criminal empire without any interference by the authorities despite being designated a “global terrorist” by the United Nations and several other countries, including the United States.
Pakistan’s ISI is coordinating with Ibrahim’s D-Company to facilitate criminal activities, like distribution of fake Indian currency, money laundering, illicit sale of drugs, arms, and other illegal goods to support terrorist groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), which are involved in militancy in Kashmir and other parts of India.
India has consistently raised the issue of Dawood Ibrahim’s sanctuary in Pakistan at international forums but Pakistan’s government dismissed the claims, saying that Ibrahim was not in their country. Even the Interpol has issued a Red Corner Notice for Dawood Ibrahim’s arrest, but he continues to operate freely in Pakistan.
Gen Zia-ul-Haq, the military dictator of Pakistan from 1977 to 1988, conceived of the controversial “Operation Topac” (Op Topac) Plan to destabilise and “make India bleed.” His strategy was to weaken India by indirectly supporting insurgency. Gen Zia started the practice of providing logistical, financial, and military support to groups like Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) to carry out guerrilla warfare against Indian forces and create internal disturbance in Kashmir
Nuclear Proliferation
Pakistan’s pursuit of nuclear weapons in the 1970s and 1980s, particularly under the leadership of General Zia-ul-Haq, led to significant tensions in the region. Pakistani scientists like Dr. A.Q. Khan was involved in the illegal transfer of nuclear technology to countries like North Korea, Iran, and Libya. As a result of its nuclear weapons program and its support for international terrorism, the United States and other Western nations imposed sanctions against Pakistan. These sanctions, combined with Pakistan’s involvement in illegal arms proliferation, have contributed to Pakistan’s economic struggles and political isolation at times.
Heaven for illegal firearms:
Pakistan has around 43 million civilian firearms – almost 10 firearms per 100 people. A large number of these, almost 80% in areas like Balochistan, Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), and other conflict-prone regions are unregistered or obtained through informal or illegal sources. Pakistan is considered a hub for the smuggling of firearms due to its porous borders with Afghanistan, and Iran. The arms smuggling networks regularly supply firearms to the militant groups or criminal organisations in these neighbouring regions.
As per United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) estimates Pakistan is a major transit point for smuggling of illegal weapons, including automatic rifles, handguns, and grenades. The modus operandi for smuggling of firearms involves hiding weapons in vehicles, cargo shipments, or even on people’s bodies (concealed in bags, clothing, or backpacks). Firearms hidden in containers, mixed with legitimate commercial goods like construction materials, textiles, or food products are also trafficked through the Port of Karachi, which is one of the primary maritime routes for smuggling firearms into Pakistan by sea from where they are moved inland by road.
The Afghanistan-Pakistan Border as well as Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan, and FATA are some of heavily used transit routes for smuggling firearms through Pakistan because of their remote location, and poorly monitored border security. Karachi’s Jinnah International Airport and Lahore’s Allama Iqbal International Airport are prominently used to smuggle illegal firearms by air into Pakistan hidden in shipments falsely declared as legitimate goods. Firearms thus transported to Pakistan are then dispatched to conflict zones in the Middle East (Yemen or Syria), Central Asia and sub-Saharan Africa to meet the growing demand by various rebel and militant groups.
Instability and Extremism inside Pakistan
Pakistan’s strategy to support militant groups in the 1980s and 1990s seems to have backfired — leading to radicalisation of its own population. Extremist groups like the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) which was trained and armed by ISI to fight in Afghanistan, have crossed over and started fermenting trouble inside Pakistan.
Many of these groups have become a nightmare for Pakistan and started targeting Pakistan’s military, political leaders, and security forces. The TTP, a coalition of former Pakistani militant groups, follows the same radical Islamic ideology as the Taliban in Afghanistan and aims to overthrow the Pakistani government and establish an Islamist rule. The TTP has been responsible for numerous suicide bombings, assassinations, and high-profile assaults on Pakistani military installations targeting both civilians and military personnel, leading to thousands of deaths. The emergence of such groups has destabilised the country and led to a rise in sectarian violence, ethnic tensions, and a growing insurgency in the tribal areas.
On May 2, 2011, the U.S. Navy SEALs located and killed Osama bin Laden in a compound at Abbottabad in Pakistan’s Punjab province, 35 miles away from Islamabad. Pakistan found it difficult to explain how bin Laden could live in such close proximity to key military institutions and hide there without the support of ISI and the Pakistan government. The raid strained U.S.-Pakistan relations as many people felt that Pakistan had been indirectly harbouring bin Laden, or actively shielding him
In recent years, the Pakistani government has launched numerous operations to eliminate these extremist groups, and curb their activities. But in spite of this belligerent groups like the TTP continue to operate in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and tribal areas of Pakistan and attack security forces and civilians, complicating Pakistan’s internal security situation.
This has led to a peculiar situation where Pakistan’s security forces are engaged in long-term counterinsurgency operations against militants on its own soil.
Death comes cheap due to firearm-related injuries
According to the Global Burden of Disease Study, a significant number of deaths in Pakistan – around 2,500 deaths per year including homicides, suicides, and accidental shootings– are caused by firearms or firearm-related injuries. A majority of these deaths are due to homicides, followed by suicides and accidents.
Conclusion: the long-term price
Presumably Pakistan is paying the price for its own sins and bearing the brunt of its long-term policies which have created deep-rooted instability and external isolation. Pakistan is still grappling with the ramifications of these policies, as militancy, arms proliferation, and internal divisions continue to have a significant impact on its political, social, and economic stability.
Lately, the country has been the target of numerous terrorist attacks, some of which were launched by the very groups that Pakistan once supported. The internal security situation in Pakistan has deteriorated over the years, with bombings, attacks on military installations, and sectarian violence by groups which operate both within Pakistan and across its borders.
It is hardly a surprise why Pakistan is called a “gun-crazy” country, as well as a centre for manufacturing, trade, and smuggling of illegal firearms.
–The writer is a seasoned media professional with over three decades of experience in print, electronic, and web media. He is presently Editor of Taazakhabar News. The views expressed are of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the views of Raksha Anirveda
