Pakistani National Identity: Muslim, Multilingual and Multicultural?
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Pakistani National Identity: Muslim, Multilingual and Multicultural? : Saeed Shafqat: Professor Et Director, compete and pursue their goals, and in the process may Centre for Public Policy and Governance (CPPG), cause the exclusion and marginalization of their competi Forman Christian College (A Chartered University) tors; In South Asia, it is religion, more than nationalism that 1. The Islam ists persists as identity maker. ResuItantly, nationalist aspira 2. The Pluralists tions are couched in religious and ideological overtones, 3. The Nation-Statists. which in turn erode the culture of tolerance in South Asian societies. This has given birth to the exclusion and The Islamists: marginalization of some groups (particularly, religious and The proponents of this group argue that Pakistan was cre ethnic minorities) within Pakistan. ated in the name of Islam and that remains the only bind ing force. They maintain that sole reason for the creation The persistent instrumentalization of religion has pro of Pakistan was preserving 'Islam' and not simply 'Muslims duced contradictory, conflictual and competitive social of un-divided India' as opposed to Hindus; they prefer forces in a number of South Asian states where, on the Islamic belief over group as the primary source of identity. one hand, religious minorities (Ahmadis, Hindus and Chris Therefore they assert and demand enforcement of Islamic tians in the case of Pakistan, Muslims in the case of India) Shariah (laws). According to this school, following and ac and ethnic groups (i.e. Sindhis Et Baloch in Pakistan) feel cepting the centralizing role of Islam could harmonize the excluded and marginalized, and, on the other hand, com country's ethnic and linguistic diversity. Islamic ideology pete to access state resources. These social forces have is presented as a panacea for ethnic demands and political conflicting visions about the role of religion in their soci and socio-economic ills. This group invokes the Objectives eties and, increasingly, the trend is to enforce an exclusiv- Resolution (March 12th, 1949) and asserts that Pakistan ist ideological nationalism rather than seek reconciliation, was "founded in the name of Islam". Among Pakistani accommodation or power sharing. Two critical questions rulers, General Zia-ul Haq (1977-88) is recognized as the are how, and why, the state in South Asia instrumentaliz- most ardent promoter of this school. (Paradoxically, both es religion to promote nationalism? Flow does this lead to civilian and military regimes in Pakistan have also utilized a culture of intolerance and the exclusion of many citizen Islam as 'official ideology' and as a policy choice to groups from the nation building process? counter demands for ethnic and cultural autonomy.) The To address these questions, I will focus primarily on the supporters of the Islamist school use Islamic ideology to experience of Pakistan, where religious groups and the suppress ethnic and cultural pluralism and thus encourage state - sometimes independently and at others times in centralization, authoritarianism and anti-federation senti concert - continue to invoke religion to patronize some ment. Two influential writings illustrate this point. Justice groups while excluding others. The state instrumental- (retired) Javid Iqbal has made a revisionist interpretation izes religion for the purpose of building nationalism, of the Two Nation Theory by arguing that Islam provides while competing visions shape the process of exclusion a "common spiritual aspiration" and, as such, the issue of and inclusion in pursuit of defining national identity and national identity must be resolved in the context of Is promoting nationalism. Thus contestation on 'Who is a lamic values. It is within this context that Islamic ideology Pakistani' and why Pakistani identity is nebulous con and nationalism get used interchangeably. In a more nu- tinues to be an important source of discourse among anced style, Professor Fateh Mohammad Malik has coined scholars on Pakistan1. a new phrase, the "Islamian-e-Flind," for the "Muslims of India". Fie claims that based on Islamic identity and ideol For purposes of brevity and conceptual clarity, let me ogy, Islamian-e-Hind demanded a separate homeland for identify three types of groups and the ways in which they Muslims through 'democratic struggle'. Thus Malik gives an Islamic and ideological color to the Pakistan Movement and redefine the soul and substance of Pakistani national and vigorously claims that today their (Pakistanis) survival identity? While conceiving to implement these steps the is also tied to protecting and defending this ideological resistance from Islamists and the Nation-Statists must not unity.2 Javid Iqbal and Professor Malik uphold the rel be under estimated. evance of the Two Nation Theory and Islam in defining Pakistani identity; reinforcing the Islamist view, but a U Will the Pluralist forces more disturbing factor is that both Javed Iqbal and Malik prevail and redefine the seemingly prefer centralization rather than pluralism. Thus soul and substance of for Islamists centralization and ideologically driven unity remains principle tenet of nationhood. Pakistani national identity? The Pluralists: The Nation-Statists: This group is composed of those who argue that Pakistan This group argues that nation-building and national does not have a single culture and highlight its pluralist identity can be understood by focusing on Pakistan's an content and character. They argue that Pakistan is a mul tagonism towards India. According to this school, Pakistan tilingual and multicultural state; therefore, its languages "relies more on anti-Indian nationalism than on national and cultures should be allowed to grow and develop in the integration." The logic of the argument is that ethnic di broader context of national history and cultural experi vergence is so strong that hardly anything binds Pakistan ences. They contend that the regional cultures and Islam together internally, and anti-Indian nationalism is the have been in existence prior to the creation of Pakistan only binding force; it is "nationalism without a nation"3. and both can flourish together. From this perspective, it is This position is one-dimensional and overplays the role of not Islamization but greater decentralization and en the perceived enemy in defining Pakistani national iden hanced provincial autonomy that would promote national tity. It merits attention that this position has been utilized integration and give substance to Pakistani national iden by the civil and military regimes in Pakistan through state tity. This view has gained momentum and legitimacy in controlled television and other media outlets to produce post 1971 Pakistan but not sufficient success and recogni 'enemy images' and to promote exclusion. This view has tion; people have become more assertive about projecting been dominant and potent both in defining national and protecting their ethnic demands and rights. The out identity and promoting exclusionary nationalism. But in come of the February 18th 2008 elections and the victory this age of satellites, fax, email and internet it is losing of the Pakistan Peoples Party(PPP),the Pakistan Muslim ground. As citizens, particularly the younger genera League-N(PML-N), the Awami National Party(ANP) and tion, have access to alternate channels, the dynamics of the Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM) has given new defending and defining Pakistani nationhood and identity confidence and promise to Pluralist thinking and ideals. It are increasingly internal and global and not simply anti- is disturbing to observe that the political parties and their Indian. The very logic of this school promotes exclusion leadership have been passive and slow in demonstrating and marginalization by invoking the imagery, fear and a spirit of accommodation, reconciliation and harmony hatred of the 'enemy'. Both the Islamists and the Nation- that continues to elude Pakistani political elites. Yet, Statists remain a potent force in shaping the contours of the continuity and sustenance of parliamentary political and discourse on Pakistani national identity. process holds signs of promise whereby the creation of Qilgit-Baltistan province, agreement and announcement Given these dynamics, it needs to be borne in mind that of 7th NFC Award and November 23rd Baluchistan Pack competing ethnicities do not mean the absence of a age could be considered as important initial steps towards nation-state but indicate that multiple identities reflect the pluralist-federal ideal. Will the Pluralist forces prevail another complex facet of the nation building process. Taking a cue from the nationally celebrated and respected lens of territory and domestic culture, the more coherent poet Faiz Ahmad Faiz, let me construct a model of Paki and integrated our identity becomes. Here one needs to stani national identity4. It is multifaceted and formed in look at the geographical compactness, contiguity, histori concentric circles, approaching one, opens the door to cal and political circumstances that make contemporary another. In Pakistani case, the inner most circle is that Pakistan a distinct civilization (Qhandara, Flarapa and of Islamic values, which comprises the nucleus of values; Mohenjodaro) and geopolitical entity. This has led some espousing social justice and tolerance, respect for women, analysts to project and portray Pakistan as a transitory protection of minority religions and