Historically, women in Pakistan’s northwestern territories bordering Afghanistan haveplayed a critical role in providing money and men to jihadist organizations such as theTaliban, Al-Qaeda, and “Islamic State in Iraq and Syria” (ISIS). Lack of education, toolittle exposure and a male-dominated conservative milieu constitute some of the ingredientsof support for these outfits. This was true for over three decades and the phenomenonremained restricted to the rural, backward northwestern regions. But since the early 1990s,outfits such as the Al-Hudda Foundation – an exclusively women-focused organization – beganserving as the initial hooks for middle- and upper-class women whom the Foundation targets.It brainwashes women into using hijab, and also into believing that theyneed to forge an alliance against the West and work for an Islamic, Sharia-based state. Thisadvocacy turns many affluent women into religious radicals who can potentially work as thefirst line of recruits for extremist outfits like Daesh/IS. However small their numbers,these women represent a big threat to the global liberal values of society.
