Islam and the Paths of Pakistan's Political Development
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BRIEFING CARNEGIE Vol.11 MOSCOW CENTER issue 2 APRIL 2009 Islam and the Paths of Pakistan’s Political Development PETER TOPYCHKANOV SUMMARY n National identity remains a very serious issue in Pakistan today. There has never been a clear answer to the question of how many nations live within the country — one or more. n The constitutional process, accompanied by tensions in communal relations, bears witness to serious ideological differ- ences in society over the role religion should play in social and political life. n Pakistan’s Islamization, through giving traditional Muslim standards legal force, has not been completed, but many tra- ditional standards have now been written into law and have thus become an integral part of the country’s political and legal system. n Solutions to Pakistan’s problems should be based on comprehensive approaches that avoid experiments with Islam — one of the foundations of Pakistan’s statehood — and emphasize administrative, social, economic, and security issues. In the words of the country’s first prime min- Analysts have identified two groups of is- ister, Liaquat Ali Khan, Pakistan is the “heart sues facing Pakistan: of Asia.”1 Located at the crossroads between Political problems (unstable and ineffec- the Middle East and South and Central Asia, tive democratic institutions; the closed na- Pakistan has indeed proved the truth of these ture of Pakistan’s elite, which makes it hard to words throughout its history. Today, with achieve broad national consensus; the armed neighboring Afghanistan in dire straits, many forces’ and security agencies’ excessive influ- are looking to Pakistan in search of solutions ence on the political process; and weak gov- to Afghanistan’s problems, among them U.S. ernment control of the tribal areas bordering Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who has Afghanistan and Iran); repeatedly said that Afghanistan cannot be International security problems (ensuring stabilized without simultaneously tackling the safety of nuclear weapons, technology and the challenges of Pakistan.2 materials; the presence of international terror- 2 BRIEFING [ VOL. 11 ISSUE 2 ] ist groups in the country); regional security introduce the idea of a single Pakistani nation, issues (the unresolved problem of Kashmir; saying, “Hindus would cease to be Hindus and the dispute with India over the division of the Muslims would cease to be Muslims, not in Indus River’s water resources; the unresolved the religious sense, because that is the personal issue of the Afghan-Pakistani border; the activi- faith of each individual, but in the political ties of regional extremist and terrorist groups sense as citizens of the State.”4 on Pakistani and Kashmiri territory); and do- After Jinnah died in 1948, Prime Minister mestic security issues (anti-government activi- Liaquat Ali Khan assumed the reins. On ties by terrorist and extremist groups; conflicts March 7, 1949, he presented the Objectives between Sunni and Shiite religious groups; Resolution on constitutional organization to separatist tendencies, not yet very widespread, Pakistan’s Constituent Assembly, which had Peter Topychkanov is a junior among Baluchis and Pashtuns). the task of adopting the country’s constitu- researcher at Moscow State In addition, Pakistan faces serious social tion. The resolution stated that Pakistan must University’s Institute of and economic problems. “observe in full the principles of democracy, Asian and African Studies It is clear that in order to stabilize Afghanistan freedom, equality, tolerance and social justice, and coordinator of the and guarantee international and regional secu- as required by Islam, must give adequate guar- Carnegie Moscow Center’s rity in general, Pakistan needs to be a united antees for minorities to freely practice their Nonproliferation Program. and stable state with an effective government, faith and develop their cultures, and must ad- so as to prevent terrorist and extremist organi- equately protect the lawful interests of minori- zations from influencing the Pakistani public ties and backward and oppressed classes.”5 It is and carrying out their activities both inside worth noting that the need to comply with the and outside the country. As far as those or- principles listed is based on the requirements ganizations themselves are concerned, many of Islam. Liaquat Ali Khan did not see any studies interpret their ideologies as a distortion contradiction between prioritizing Islam and of Islam,3 which is a veiled way of recogniz- upholding basic democratic principles. As he ing the link between the religion’s fundamental stated on May 3, 1950, “We pledge our loy- role in the country’s social and political life and alty to the principles of democracy, freedom, the spread of terrorism and extremism. This equality, tolerance and social justice in accord- interpretation sometimes produces recom- ance with Islam. This does not mean theocracy. mendations to reduce the role of Islam in the Islam does not imply that the clergy has the country’s life, for example, in the educational leading role… No, our concept of democ- system, which supposedly fosters extremism. racy is even more comprehensive than the one But a look back through Pakistan’s history based on universal suffrage and government by shows that these views are one-sided, and thus the majority. We call all of this the Islamic way such recommendations are debatable. of life, and we adhere to it because, as Muslims, we cannot follow any other ideology.”6 The author is deeply grateful One nation or two? But in practice, the priority given to Islam to Professor Vladimir N. Pakistan appeared on the world map in 1947, in social and political life can lead to restric- Moskalenko, Chief Researcher as a result of the Muslim League’s struggle for tions on the basic rights and freedoms of non- at the Institute of Oriental a Muslim state. The party’s ideology was based Muslim citizens. This was the line taken by Studies of the Russian Academy on the theory that India was home to two Abul Ala Mawdudi, leader of the Jamaat-e- of Sciences, for his helpful nations — Hindus and Muslims. But after the Islami (The Islamic Society). In his view, re- comments on the draft of the establishment of the Pakistani sovereign state, strictions on non-Muslims’ social and political Briefing. its leader, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, tried to activities were justified by the need to preserve ISLAM AND THE PatHS OF PAKistan’S POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT 3 internal peace and ensure religious minori- same time, the status of non-Muslim com- ties’ security.7 He thought that non-Muslims munities could be lower than that of Muslim should not play important roles in Pakistan communities. This raises the question of and, in particular, should not be allowed to Pakistani citizens’ identity: who are they — hold senior government posts. This ideology first Pakistanis and then Muslims, Christians, clearly divides citizens into two categories. Hindus, etc., or the other way round? It was not just Mawdudi’s supporters who The religious factor has played the central saw the potential for the division of Pakistani role in the search for a national identity in society into Muslim and non-Muslim groups Pakistan. The Muslim League’s response to with different statuses in Liaquat Ali Khan’s res- the identity question was its slogan of the olution. It raised concerns among the religious early 1950s: “One Nation, One State, One minorities (Hindus, Parsees and Christians), Language”. Islam and the Urdu language were whose members held almost 20% of the seats defined as the foundations of the Pakistani in the Constituent Assembly. One of them, nation (two other components made up the Jogendra Nath Mandal, Pakistan’s first justice state ideology: Kashmir as an inalienable part and labor minister, was deeply disappointed by of Pakistan, and the armed forces as the guar- the resolution’s pro-Islamic character. He sent antee of the country’s development and integ- the Prime Minister a letter of resignation, in rity).10 The Muslim League’s slogan signaled which he stated, in particular: “Muslim League a retreat from the principles advocated by leaders are repeatedly making declarations that Muhammad Ali Jinnah. Pakistan is and shall be an Islamic State. Islam is being offered as the sovereign remedy for Pakistan’s history shows that giving priority all earthly evils....In that grand setting of the to Islam can be combined with a democratic system Shariat, Muslims alone are rulers while Hindus of government, as well as with an authoritarian and other minorities are jimmies [from Arabic regime. Ideologically it can take both moderate and dhimmis, members of other faiths, living in a radical forms, as is the case with any other religion. Muslim state] who are entitled to protection at a price.”8 In 1952, Bhupendra Kumar Datta, another member representing the Hindu mi- The choice of Urdu as one of the nation’s nority in the Constituent Assembly, called cornerstones was not supported by members of attention to the incompatibility between the the Hindu minority, who were unhappy that idea of an Islamic state and the institution of the Bengali language had not been granted parliamentary democracy.9 the status of an official state language, along The religious minorities’ criticism of the with Urdu. In February 1948, Dhirendra concept of an Islamic state highlights two re- Nath Datta, a member of the Constituent lated issues: its compatibility with the prin- Assembly from East Bengal, proposed rec- ciples of democracy, and the possible division ognizing Bengali as the state language, as ac- of society into Muslims and non-Muslims cording to his estimates it was spoken by the that implementation of this concept could majority of the country’s people (64%). The entail in practice. In a society based on this country’s leaders saw this proposal, supported concept, the community, with broad religious in the Constituent Assembly by Hindus alone autonomy and partial legal and economic au- at the beginning, as a sign of disloyalty to the tonomy, would be the basic unit of society, state and an attempt to split the unity of the like the millet in the Ottoman Empire.