1

Research Assignment

Topic: Role of Religion and State of

Identity in Pakistan (New Ethnic
Identity)

Submitted to: Sir Rana Eijaz

Submitted by: Muhammad Arslan
Roll no: 28
Class: BS Political Science (2)
University of Punjab Lahore
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Content:
 Introduction
 Role of Religion in Politics

 Islam as an Identity Maker in Sub-Continent

 Politics of Religion in post partition scenario

 Ethicizing Islam: State sponsored and anti state Islam

 Mohajars and Modernist Islam

 Literature Review

 Research questions

 Analysis

 Conclusion

 References

 Bibliography

Introduction:
Religion and ethnicity are the two key dynamics of the politics ofidentity in Pakistan. The emergent
significance of religion as an architect of identity and an instrument of political mobilization is
reshaping the political landscape of ethno-religious conflicts in Pakistan. This research paper
expounds that in case of Pakistan, religion is more influential to shape a violent ethnic and sectarian
divide as compared to other bases of ethnicity like language, race, and region. Over emphasis on
religious paradigm by authoritarian state discourses as the primary source of integration and its
relevance to regime legitimacy made Islam a significant identity of various groups to contest power
and influence. The evident ability of religion to form a group identity in Pakistan is leading to form a
new ethnicity, which are exclusively based on the contrary, Islamic interpretations Where the
concept of ‘others’ seems to be less Compromising, more antagonistic as compared to linguistic and
regional forms of ethnicity. It identifies another aspect where religion and ethnicity are largely
intermingled in Pakistan as different ethnic categories largely built on language and region are also
associated with various forms of Islam. The underlying study expounds that over the time due to
growing potential of Islam as source of protest and mobility in the politics of identity, it has become
one of the key expressions of ethnicity which led to design an ethicized form of religion in Pakistan.

Role of Religion in politics:

No major religion of the world has been exempted from complexity and violent conflict. Religious
affiliation and convictions often motivates religious communities to advocate and promote particular
philosophies. The religion becomes intertwined with the range of casual dynamics like socio-
economic conditions, the level of political stability in a political system and societal patterns of
cohesion, which define propel and intensity of a conflict. It has been observed that religion has
considerable influence on political attitudes and it causes the great functional value. Mostly in
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traditional societies, religion is a mass phenomenon, politics is not. Religion often serves as a mean
by which masses become politicized. Religion is an identity which creates a sense of belonging
among many people around the world. It appears to be more controversial than other identities as it
often becomes complex due to the support and push of “orthodoxy” which means “correct the
belief “and practice” among the adherents of any faith. Asian political and ethnic settings are unique
in the sense that mostly revivalist movements and ideologies were initiated and propagated by the
religious majority. Fear of being deprived of something can also initiate aggressive, antagonistic
behaviour as religious radical are largely united by fear. Irrespective of the kind of religion, fear of
being deprived of their influence and roles which they expect to achieve are the one of the prime
causes of generating conflicts in many societies. In the case of Pakistan, the role of religion in ethno-
religious conflicts can be understood in the context of Ted Gurr's relative deprivation where element
of fear among religious categories of losing their identity and influence is one of the significant
reasons. Under the typology developed by Smith, Islam can be certainly considered as an organic
religion because Islamic teachings make no differentiation between state and society. Politics and
religion are largely fused in Islam while establishing an ideology formula of two-fold functions.
 
 First it defines individual’s spiritual and temporal existence.
 
 Secondly it unites community of believers to build a socio-political order.

Islam as an Identity Maker in Sub-Continent:

The arrival of Islam in 712 AD in Subcontinent manifested the foundations of differentiation of
identities based on religion with gradual developments regarding reforming the Indian society. The
Sufi and Saints preached religion as a source of stimulation to correct practices to obtain spiritual
purity. Islam was also viewed as a remedy to correct the socio-economic imbalances of Indian
society. The problems of racism, caste system and economic deprivation among certain social classes
of United India provided enough space to the religious ideologies to play its role as a cure. The
concept of equality irrespective of race, colour, language and caste was the prime attraction for the
less privileged and marginalized classes for embracing Islam. The establishment of Muslim rule in
Subcontinent further strengthened the process of reforms based on Islam however relative political
and social consciousness among Muslims based on their religious identity was not arouse to a
substantial level during the respective period. On the other hand, the experiences under Muslim rule
and later British colonization of Subcontinent also made Hindu communities more conscious about
reforming and revival of their religious beliefs. In the context of Islam, secular policies of Muslim
Emperor Akbar and gradual decline of the Mughal Empire caused the self-awakening of the Muslim
communalities as many of the Islamic scholars of that time disapproved the idea of amalgamation of
Hinduism and Islam. Mujaddid Alaf Sani (Shaykh Ahmad Sarhindhi) was one of those Islamic
intellectuals who severely criticized Akbar‟s policies while calling it un-Islamic and rejected his
notion of “Divine Faith‟. In quest of maintaining Islamic identity detached to other
religions,Mujaddid raised the question of “who is a Muslim”. Later Emperor Aurangzeb enforced
state version of Fiqa (Islamic Jurisprudence) entitled as „Fatwa Alamgiri ‟to avoid the potential
political disintegration of Mughal Empire. The religious revivalists like Shah WaliUllah and many
other Ulama (religious Scholars) tried to promote social and religious purity among Muslim
communities through promulgating the strict devotion to Islam and by fostering the Muslim identity
through classification of believers and non-believers. These endeavours of Ulama led to the
emergence of Jihad movement especially in North Western India against Sikhs and later against
British rule continued their efforts with varying intensity to establish their distinctive religious
identify while making political and territorial claims. The development of Muslim distinctive identity
based on Islam in eighteen century as result of revivalist and reformist movements was later
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employed by Muslim Modernist and liberal political leadership as a force against British colonialism
to secure political and economic rights of Muslims of Subcontinent. Conflicts among the different
sects of Islam largely became observable during the Mughal dynasty though remained limited under
British rule. British as expressions of disagreement of these sectarian categories being minorities
were neither sharp nor visibly aggressive towards each other due to lack of their significant share in
power structures and absence of effective channels of communications for the political claims. Hindi-
Urdu controversy of 1867 at the outset started as a controversy of adopting scripts of Persian or
Nagari however it was much augmented when Ghandi through his various speeches and writings
stressed for a common language labelled as ‘’Hindi or Hindustani‟ largely striving for the unity of
Hindus and Muslims.

Politics of Religion in post partition scenario:

In Subcontinent, Islam has played a significant role in transforming the Muslim communities to a
Muslin nation and in the post-partition scenario; it also remained a major dynamic to direct the
politics. After passing more than half century, the relationship between state, society and religion in
Pakistan is blurred. It has been argued that Pakistan emerged as a nation-state although it barely
characterized by any history of national unity as it lacked common language, homogenous culture or
any other valid geographical or economic associations and not even a well-articulated ideology.
It is a matter a fact that the religious identity of state in Pakistan had been never in question as
compare to the existing ethnic-linguistic identities. However religion has been remained one of the
key reasons of various conflicts in Pakistan's politics and an issue which is still not settled.
Ideology of Pakistani state and the centre of national discourse was an attempt to calm down the
representational, political and constitutional demands of various communities and ethnic groups.
The migrant political leadership especially Urdu speaking coming from India lacked the
constituencies in newly born state of Pakistan which largely led them to consider Islam as a key
identity of their political assertions under their fear of losing influence and „Relative Deprivation‟. It
is imperative to note that during the initial years of Pakistan, there were no extensive demands of
structuring the state on Islamic lines from masses, although in 1949,Adoption of the „Objective
resolution‟ directed the constitutional path of Pakistan which developed a contested identity of the
state. This resolution provided a framework of an Islamic state with a federal design which led to
develop the divergence of theory and practice. It became extremely difficult to ensure federal
practices in Pakistan whereas politics was largely driven by integrationist paradigm while preferring
the absorption of all identities into a greater identity of Islam. The state identity of Pakistan itself
became contested as both religion and federalism did not seem compatible with each other at
operational level especially when religion became apolitical instrument of legitimization of
governance. Pakistani state largely emerged as an „Ethnic Hegemony‟ State  where assimilation of
weaker groups was preferred rather than accommodation of its various identities through increasing
their stakes in Pakistani federation by the means of consensus which led to decline the state ability
to manage ethnic nationalism.

Ethicizing Islam: State sponsored and anti state Islam:

Islam and ethnicity are two major principles of political identity in Pakistan which are largely
intermingled. Ethnic categories in Pakistan over the time have been associated with different mode
of Islam, which manifested their identification in the context of religion as largely these ethnic
movements were responding to the state sponsored nation building where religion was the key
ingredient of state policies of integration. Over the time, Islam often proved to be the significant
boundary maker between the various ethnic groups in Pakistan. The infusion of religion with local
cultures of some of the ethnic categories led to define Sindhi identity in the terms of Sufi Islam;
whereas Mohajirs were identified by a modernist version of Islam while Pakhtun largely became
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associated with blend of tribal code and jihad. It has been argued by Verkaaik that Islam in Pakistan
is the key language with which ethnic categories are produced as both ethnicity and Islam are not
mutually exclusive. He further asserts that over the time due to ability of Islam as a major dynamic of
mobilization and protest, it has become the most important identity maker between the various
ethnic categories in Pakistan. Islam as a key factor of politics of identity in Pakistan is not only
significant due to its legitimization of power, but it also has the ability to reforms society and
manifest political culture. The interaction of ethnicity and Islam led to develop an „Ethnicized form
of Islam‟ in Pakistan, largely the product of various political movements to mobilize the masses. This
also depicts a struggle between the notion of state sponsored Islam largely aimed to ensure
legitimacy of the governments or regimes and a counter version of Islam by various ethnic categories
in response to the authoritarian modes of governance of military or military led- establishment.

Mohajirs and Modernist Islam:

Another expression of „Ethnicized form of Islam” was made by migrant population mainly from
North India, largely settled in different cities of Sindh province largely concentrated in Hyderabad
and Karachi. The demographic changes in Sindh paved grounds not only for the contesting the claims
of economic and political power based on ethnic-linguistic identities but also provided significant
divergence of Modernist Islam advocated by Muhajirs and Sufi traditions of mysticism, largely
carried by native Sindhis. The gradual increase in the influence of Urdu-speaking Mohajirs due to
their education, skills and expertise in different professions in Sindh was viewed by native Sindhis as
an outcome of state patronage to them .Mohajirs were largely from those areas of Subcontinent
which could never become part of the Pakistani state and the respective leadership of this set of
population also lacked their constituencies in newly born Pakistan, which led them to assert religion
as their prime ideology to authenticate claims over political power. The emergent phenomenon
of ethnic „Othering‟ led Sindhis and Mohajirs to establish their identification of with their respective
mode of Islam. However, in case of Mohajirs prior to Muhajir Qaumi Movement (MQM) in 1980s,
political preferences were divided. The arrival of MQM in the political scene however altered the
association of Muhajirs with Modernist Islam and their image as Islamic reformists was also
challenged as MQM demanded the recognition on the bases of linguistic and ethnic identity.

Literature Review:
During my research I have come across different thoughts and points about the ethnic identity and
the partition of sub continent and the factors of all these things if I talk about the religion Islam and
the other religions than further in our sects than Islamic fundamentalism  is one of the significant
areas of emergent academic debate on international and national level. It is considered as a major
cause of conflict and disagreement leading to violence and challenging the state authority by non-
state actors. Religious differences provided the basis of strong associations of religious groups with
specific ideologies which not only widen the gap between Sunni-Shia groups but also developed an
antagonism among various Sunni sects. As an outcome of religious and ideological bifurcation of
Pakistani society, lines of differentiation are significantly drawn and Sunni Islam with contesting
versions has been identified as Barelvis, Deobandis and Ahl-i-Hadith. The decade of 1980 has
witnessed the birth of various militant groups and Islamist organizations in Pakistan though their
goals were specific and limited. Some of them focused on Kashmir issue and few like Lashka-i-
Jhangvi and Sipay-e- Sahaba-i-Pakistan targeted their opponent‟ sects as a result of their anti-Shia
stances. If I further talk than In Pakistan, it is comparatively more convenient to tranquilize the
ethnic-linguistic tendencies by addressing their claims of political representation and adequate
distribution of resources. On the other hand, religious „Othering‟seems to be less compromising as
these religious categories, parties and Islamist groups are largely exploitative on certain issues and
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their claim over political power is less on electoral competition and more on their religious
assertions.

Research Question:
Is Pakistani system is much stronger to get hold on sects clashes and to eradicate the violence for
minorities than to maintain the balance between the people of other religions and extremists of
Islam?

Analysis:
Rise of Islamism in Pakistan is mainly the offshoot of global trends of Islamic revivalism however it
strengthened mainly due to its infusion with Pushtun traditions in Pakistan. The rise of ethnic
categorization and its links with Islam and reformist movements in Pakistan provided the emergence
of „Tribal Islam‟. The respective type of ethno-religious category primarily developed as a result of
Islamization policies of General Zia-ul-Haq which sponsored different radical Sunni groups to offset
the Shia opposition against the military regime. General Zia‟s policies of promoting religious
education through funding Madrassahs gradually turned many of these religious institutions as
militant centers provoking radicalism and mobilization for militancy. General Zia‟s pan- Islamist
mode of religion was largely supported and promoted by Jamait-i-Islami (JI) which surfaced public
opinion in the favor of Afghan jihad while considering Mujahideen as saviors. JI remained an ally of
the military regime in local politics due to its close contacts with Pakistan army. However, from 1984
and onwards, as a result of ethnic riots on alarge scale in Karachi, JI changed its strategy and drifted
away from the regime. The violent conflict between the two segments Mohajirs and Pashtuns
required JI to sacrifice its traditional vote bank from Mohajir community and re-align its political
associations with emergent stronghold among the Pashtun population. The culture which is
promoted by Zia ul Haq is now living in us than if we talk about the modern Pakistan than the
extremist are still here because the society remains the same any country who want to change its
culture and traditions according to modern world it takes alot of time to modernize that’s why
Pakistan is still facing the the traditions which set by Zia’s time. There are so many things which must
be change in our country because tourism is promoted in Pakistan beyond the expectations. Our
system is not much stronger to change the living thinking of society and to take the control over the
extremist in our country. If the present Government takes steps to change the regime which is
coming through old times then the Institutes must have powers and supremacy to take hold and
have control on all challenges which are now the main problem in Pakistan.

Conclusion:
The lslam has emerged as a key force of identity politics in Pakistan. There are largely two emergent
dimensions of politics of identity in Pakistan as a result of interplay of Islam and ethnicity. The
policies of civilian governments and military regimes to use religion as a national discourse for the
legitimization of power and to secure popular support led to develop Islam as the most significant
source of identity making for various Islamist groups and ethnic categories. Islam as an ideology in
Pakistan has severed to direct two divergent paths as at certain stages of time it significantly
enhanced the process of nation building as a potent force but on the other hand it also paved
grounds for formulation of different ethnic categories largely based on religious doctrines which are
less compatible with each other and exhibit a religious „Othering’’ process.It is significant to note
that ethnic and linguistic identities often remained violent and aggressive to assert their ethnic and
political claims, however this was mainly due to lack of implementation of constitutional guarantees
and absence of federal practices in Pakistan. The ethnic and linguistic groups in Pakistan largely
preferred to obtain their political demands through electoral and parliamentary measures. It is
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evident from the history of Pakistani politics that ethnic and linguistic identities can be
accommodated by incorporation of democratic practices and constitutionalism as it was somehow
accomplished by addressing their reservation through 18 th amendment into the Constitution of
1973. Moreover development of an ethicized form of Islam was mainly a response to state
sponsored Islam which was meant to discourage the Central State Thesis of Pakistani state. The
ethicized form of Islam with an exception of Tribal Islam had not remained antagonistic towards
other forms of ethicized Islam. Acted as violent and hostile towards other ethnic and religious
categories as it largely interacted with and influenced by the transnational Islamist groups
advocating religious otherness. The emergent process of religious „Othering‟ in Pakistan would not
be easy to tackle. Unlike ethnic and linguistic groups, these religious categories neither intended to
define their political roles through electoral politics nor many of them able to secure reasonable
success on the electoral front. Additionally, their religious-political claims would not be settled down
by providing certain constitutional changes as respective religious doctrines are contrary to power
sharing through parliamentary means and procedures. It is imperative to note that during the course
of history of Pakistani politics, crisis of state has gradually penetrated towards society and now it is
potentially turning back to the state by challenging its authority by protest, mobilization and
agitation which undermined the supremacy of the federal Parliament. This is apt to say that in
Pakistan, Islam is now transforming from a key source of „ideology of protest‟ to “politics of
identity‟. During the course of this conversion, Islam functioned as the supreme source of legitimacy
while defining the parameters of politics, and reforming the society and serving as the major theme
of resisting the state policies in Pakistan.

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NadeemParacha, "Old Sufis, new challenges," DAWN, March 20, 2014, retrived fromhttps://www.da
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