Actually no. Consider it anecdotal as well as a desire to see what the common man on the street thinks of these parties. After all the support these parties have received is minimal in a majority of cases. And more specifically there was a great deal of dissatisfaction when these groups were in power.
Just because you can’t read it on Dawn while sitting in the West doesn’t mean it is not true.
Samb welcome to the problem with statistics. How many people were taken into account for this poll? 15% of 10 people is not a lot. 15% of 1 million is a whole damn lot.
I do not for an instance deny that their popularity has waned. But lets take this in perspective. How many people supported the Taliban because they agreed with their views and actions in Afghanistan and Pakistan, vs how many supported them because they were fighting the US.
Secondly which group of Taliban are we talking about the TTP? The Quetta Shura? The Haqqani group? The Afghani Taliban that have taken a much larger presence in Konduz? Which group are we speaking off?
Because if you ask the average person in Pakistan they will make a distinction between the TTP and the Afghani Taliban.
Samb then by your comments Zaid Hamid is not an extremist. Seriously.