Re-imagining Pakistan: In Search of a National Narrative Selected papers from the International Conference on Women, Religion and Politics Special Bullen 2013 Women’s Resource Centre Copyright © Shirkat Gah 2013 Edited by Shahina Hanif Designed by Muhammad Asim Printed by Creative Designing & Printing Published by Shirkat Gah - Women’s Resource Centre P.O. Box. 5192, Lahore - Pakistan E-mail:
[email protected] Website: www.shirkatgah.org This publication has been made possible through the generous support of The Royal Norwegian Embassy. Contents Acknowledgements ____________________________________________________________ 4 Introducon __________________________________________________________________ 5 Refracted Dynamics of Gender, Polics and Religion _________________________________ 7 — Farida Shaheed Pakistan: A Pluralisc State? ____________________________________________________ 25 — Anita Mir Pakistan and Nature of the State: Revisionism, Jihad and Governance __________________ 41 — Khaled Ahmed Reconstrucng Patriarchies: Naonalism, Religion and Women’s Educaon ______________ 57 — Rubina Saigol Red Hot Chilli Peppers Islam: Is the Youth in Elite Universies in Pakistan Radical? _________ 85 — Ayesha Siddiqa Gender and Power: Challenges Surrounding Women’s Parcipaon in Naonal Polics ____ 113 — Amina Samiuddin Acknowledgements Shirkat Gah Women’s Resource Centre in collaboration with Heinrich Böll Stiftung, held a national conference in 2010 on “Women, Religion and Politics in Pakistan”. This was followed up with an international conference under the same theme in 2011. This publication is an outcome of this collaborative project. We would like to express our gratitude to Heinrich Böll Stiftung for their continued support and cooperation in making this publication possible. We would also like to thank the esteemed contributors – Farida Shaheed, Anita Mir, Khaled Ahmed, Rubina Saigol, Ayesha Siddiqa and Amina Samiuddin – for allowing us to publish their papers and for their constant patience and cooperation during the editing process.