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Religion, Politics and Governance in Pakistan

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Religion, Politics and Governance in Pakistan Religions and Development Research Programme Religion, Politics and Governance in Pakistan Mohammed Waseem Mariam Mufti Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) Working Paper 27- 2009 Religions and Development Research Programme The Religions and Development Research Programme Consortium is an international research partnership that is exploring the relationships between several major world religions, development in low-income countries and poverty reduction. The programme is comprised of a series of comparative research projects that are addressing the following questions: z How do religious values and beliefs drive the actions and interactions of individuals and faith-based organisations? z How do religious values and beliefs and religious organisations influence the relationships between states and societies? z In what ways do faith communities interact with development actors and what are the outcomes with respect to the achievement of development goals? The research aims to provide knowledge and tools to enable dialogue between development partners and contribute to the achievement of development goals. We believe that our role as researchers is not to make judgements about the truth or desirability of particular values or beliefs, nor is it to urge a greater or lesser role for religion in achieving development objectives. Instead, our aim is to produce systematic and reliable knowledge and better understanding of the social world. The research focuses on four countries (India, Pakistan, Nigeria and Tanzania), enabling the research team to study most of the major world religions: Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Sikhism, Buddhism and African traditional belief systems. The research projects will compare two or more of the focus countries, regions within the countries, different religious traditions and selected development activities and policies. The consortium consists of six research partner organisations, each of which is working with other researchers in the four focus countries: z University of Birmingham, UK: International Development Department, Department of Theology and Religion, Centre for West African Studies, Centre for the Study of Global Ethics. z University of Bath, UK: Centre for Development Studies. z Indian Institute of Dalit Studies, New Delhi. z Nigerian Institute of Social and Economic Research, Ibadan. z University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. z Lahore University of Management Sciences, Pakistan. In addition to the research partners, links have been forged with non-academic and non-government bodies, including Islamic Relief. http://www.rad.bham.ac.uk Contact: [email protected] Religions and Development Working Paper 27 Religion, Politics and Governance in Pakistan Mohammed Waseen Mariam Mufti Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) ISBN: 0 7044 2764 8 978 0 7044 2764 8 © International Development Department, University of Birmingham This document is an output from a project funded by the UK Department for International Development (DFID) for the benefit of developing countries. The views expressed are not necessarily those of DFID. 2 Working Paper 27 Religion, Politics and Governance in Pakistan Contents Summary 1 Acknowledgements 2 List of figures 2 List of tables 2 Acronyms 3 Glossary 5 1 Introduction 7 2 Setting the analytical context 12 3 Islam and politics: a qualitative assessment 18 3.1 From colonialism to independent statehood 20 3.2 State-building and nation-building, 1947-1971 23 3.3 From populism to praetorianism 27 3.4 Terrorism and anti-terrorism 31 4 The Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) in politics and government: national and provincial dynamics 35 4.1 The MMA Alliance 37 4.2 The MMA’s rise to power 39 4.3 The MMA’s political vision and practice 41 5 Religion, politics and governance: a case study of NWFP 44 5.1 The MMA government in NWFP 44 5.2 The MMA government’s development initiatives 51 5.3 Regional development: a comparative analysis 54 5.4 Relations between the MMA government and donors 67 6 Conclusion 71 Appendices 74 1 Additional tables 74 2 List of interviews 76 Notes 77 References 79 2 Working Paper 27 Religion, Politics and Governance in Pakistan 1 Summary This report presents the findings of a study of Islam in Pakistan that aimed at understanding and evaluating the relationships between Muslim organizations and activity in the formulation of development policy. The question at the heart of the inquiry is whether religion can play the role of a driver for change in terms of pro-poor policy and practice. The study analyses the nature and direction of the latent force and dynamism of the Islamic establishment, especially in its organizational setting, both in government and in opposition. It shows that the state in Pakistan has typically pursued a policy of exploiting the functional uses of Islam as a source of legitimacy in the absence of, or in combination with, a mass mandate. In so doing, it has played on the turf of Islamic groups by seeking to control the production and spread of the religious message, co-opting the ulema and managing religious affairs, ranging from levying Islamic taxes to the management of shrines, policies towards madrasas and a role in sectarian conflict. However, it is necessary to go beyond a purely instrumentalist explanation of how religion is used by the state to understand the structural dynamics of Islam as a constant, pervasive and intense force that includes, but at the same time transcends, the manipulations of the ruling elite. The genesis of Pakistan lay in the partition of India on the basis of religion, which therefore assumed a role with no parallel in recent history except in Israel. This, however, needs to be put in perspective in view of two countervailing forces: a secular constitutional state based on the Westminster model and the cosmopolitan, Westernized, liberal and secular character of the elite both in and outside the state. On the one hand, the state has all along struggled to define religion as part of its political discourse. On the other hand, the ulema have relied on the supreme legitimizing potential of religion to hold the state to its promise to establish Sharia in the country. The present study regards Islam as an oppositional force that has consistently been engaged in carving out a niche for itself in the system, shaping the political discourse in the process. It focuses on the role of religion in governance, with reference to development policy formulation and public administration. This role is analysed in North West Frontier Province, where an alliance of religious political parties, the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), was in power between 2002 and 2007. Drawing on an in-depth study of three districts, the paper examines how the Islamic government adjusted to the prevalent legal-institutional framework of authority in order to survive in office. It analyses the extent to which the government was able to translate its ideological objectives into development outcomes, noting that it suffered from the usual maladies of governance in Pakistan: corruption, nepotism and inefficiency. 2 Working Paper 27 Acknowledgements This research and the preparation of this working paper was coordinated by Prof Mohammed Waseem. The assistance of the following research associates is acknowledged: Mariam Mufti, Asma ul Hasna Faiz, Abdurrehman and Najeebulah Khan. Mariam Mufti carried out the fieldwork in Lahore, Islamabad and Peshawar, which is written up in Section 4; she also wrote Section 3 based on contributions from the other research associates. Asma Faiz wrote Section 2 and assisted with the editing. The willingness of our informants to respond to our questions is also acknowledged. Most assented to their responses being attributable; the desire of some for anonymity has been respected. List of figures Figure 1: Total number of health projects and budget allocation from 2002-6 53 Figure 2: District map of NWFP. 55 List of tables 1 Party/ Alliance positions: National Assembly 2002 35 2 Net Federal transfers to NWFP (2002-2005) in Rupees Million 47 3 Provincial tax receipts as percentage of total tax receipts received by NWFP (2002-2006) in Rupees Million 48 4 Comparison of education indicators for NWFP 52 5 District-based Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) 2001 58 6 District-wise comparison of enrolment in schools in 2002 and 2007 58 7 District-wise comparison of the number of government schools in 2002 and 2007 59 8 District-wise comparison of teaching staff in government schools in 2002 and 2007 60 9 Health facilities in Dir, Peshawar and Bannu 61 10 District-wise comparison of the proportion of eligible people reached by selected health programmes in 2002 and 2007 62 A1 Ranking of districts in NWFP according to 5 main health indicators in 2005-2006 74 A2 District-wise comparison of population statistics 75 Religion, Politics and Governance in Pakistan 3 Acronyms ADB Asian Development Bank ADP Annual Development Programmes ANP Awami National Party CII Council of Islamic Ideology CM Chief Minister DFID Department for International Development DSP Decentralization Support Program EPI Expanded Immunization FATA Federally Administered Tribal Areas GRAP Gender Reform Action Programs GTZ German Technical Cooperation HUA Harkat-ul-Ansar HUM Harkat-ul-Mujahideen ICG International Crisis Group IRI Islamic Research Institute ISI Inter Services Intelligence ISO Imamiya Students Organization JAH Jamiat Ahle Hadith JI Jamaat-e-Islami JUI Jamiat-e-Ulema-i-Islam JUI-F Jamiat-e-Ulema-i-Islam (Fazlur Rehman Group)
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