Non-State Actors can be defined as organizations or individuals that have significant political clout but are not legally associated with a state. Non-State Actors may have state patronage but they are never considered to be the part of the state apparatus and the state sometimes uses them for their interests, overtly or covertly. Non-State Actors may range from individuals to groups of people, from (Non-Governmental Organizations) NGOs to (Multi-National Corporations) MNCs, from non-violent pressure groups to violent militant organizations and the list goes on. These Non- State actors may be based on the foundations of religion, ethnicity, business interests, and many others, but the point which is common in them is that they pressurize the state with different tactics to change its policy.

In Pakistan, the history of usage of Non-State Actors dates back to the partition of the Indian-Subcontinent and the War of 1948 over Kashmir, when Pakistani tribal fighters entered Kashmir to help their fellow Muslims. Some Analysts call it the start of the patronage of Non-State Actors by the Pakistani state but it was done entirely based on the need of that time. At that time Pakistan had no sufficient resources and military men to overcome the situation at its borders. So, Quaid-e-Azam appealed to the Muslims to wage the Holy Jihad against the Dogra Maharaja. Ultimately, tribesmen followed the appeal of their leader and started going towards Kashmir where they fought bravely and snatched freedom for a part of Kashmir with the help of local Kashmiris but it set a precedent which kept on hampering the state for years.

The War of Bangladesh saw another such patronage with armed religious guerrillas such as Al-Badar and Al-Shams were being supported by the state of Pakistan but that too was out of compulsion. Indian Media was sowing the seeds of hatred among the Bengalis against the state of Pakistan and militant organization Mukhti Bakhni was fighting an armed guerrilla war against Pak Army with the help of the Indian State.  To counter the Indian proxy war Yahya Khan supported the establishment of an armed group from the cadres of Jamat-e-Islami. Mujahideen of Al-Badar and Al-Shams fought bravely against the Indian agents of that time and they sacrificed their lives in support of the Pakistan Army. 1980’s Counter-Soviet operation in Afghanistan was the biggest exercise by the state of Pakistan to use Non-State Actors for repelling the enemies of Islam and Pakistan. Pakistan military establishment and to be more precisely, ISI (Inter-services intelligence) sheltered and funded Afghan Mujahideen with the financial backing of the United States of America and other anti-communist countries.  Mujahideen got military training from the camps established by ISI and then fought against the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Due to their heroics, the Soviet Union was defeated and it disintegrated into pieces. The focus now shifted towards Indian occupied Kashmir.

Armed Religious organizations such as Jaish-e-Mohammad and Lashkar-e-Toiba emerged out of Afghan Jihad and started waging Jihad against the brutal Indian occupation of Kashmir. Local Kashmiris disgruntled from the Indian occupation were inspired by the success of Afghan Jihad. They took arms and formed their own armed groups like Hizbul-Mujahideen, Al-Badar Mujahideen, Al-Omar Mujahideen, and Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front. All these organizations were not a threat to the state of Pakistan until 9/11 when Pakistani state under the pressure of Bush-administration tracked back from their support.  Pakistan also abandoned the Afghan Taliban as the Western world started the war against terror.

The massive crackdown of the state against the local militants resulted in the formation of the notorious Pakistani Taliban, who were not directly linked to the Afghan Taliban but they had ideological similarities with them. However, after the APS attack, the state decided to clean up the mess and had cleared all the territory from these terrorist organizations. It is up to the state to decide that who will be declared a terrorist and who will not be but Kashmiri Mujahideen cannot be brought into the net of terrorist organizations because they are fighting for the right to self-determination. The state has now given a comprehensive plan of action against non-state actors which can be a threat to the state. The operations codenamed "Radd-ul-Fassad" launched under the current Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa has focused on Intelligence-based operations to remove any threat to the state. The operations are going in almost all parts of the country including FATA and Balochistan. Karachi has also been brought under the control of the state after a massive operation against MQM (Muttahida Qaumi Movement) and other non-state militant organizations.