Islam and Politics of Pakistan

Research Questions
How Islam is related to the creation of Pakistan? How Islam or religion played an important role in the politics of Pakistan? How religion was used by different rulers to strengthen their politics agendas? Pakistan's journey towards Islamization and Militant Islam American factor in religiopolitics of Pakistan Is state responsible for choosing the faith of an individual and how Pakistan entered in that domain?

Contents of the Presentation

Introduction Birth of an Islamic State Towards Islamization State as a faith deciding body Militant Islam Ruling the street The American Factor Conclusion/Recommendations

Introduction
Islam has been the one thread creating a national identity in a state otherwise divided along ethnic, provincial, cultural, religious, class, and linguistic lines. Civilian and military leaders have used Islam for power and prestige Radical turn of Islam in Pakistan owes much to Paks involvement in arming the Mujahideen and supporting Islamist Militants Religious extremism and violence by Militant groups

Birth of an Islamic State

All India Muslim Leagues' reliance on religion to be a sufficient rationale for creating a new nation Jinnah being secular wanted religion to be a separate domain keeping in mind the dynamics of the people Bitter opposition of creation of Pak by Religious parties like Ahrar and JI

Birth of an Islamic State

"they were to change their minds after partition" notes Pakistani journalist Ahmed Rashid in his publication Descent into Chaos Soon after the creation of Pakistan, these religious groups who had opposed it started calling for the country's Islamization and adoption of Islamic laws into the future constitution. This launched the struggle between liberals and Islamists. Religious group JI and its founder Maulana Mawdudi played an important role and left their mark on the country's politics.

Towards Islamization
The first compromise: Objective Resolutions 1949 In Making Sense of Pakistan, scholar Farzana Shaikh writes the Resolution highlighted "the growing political muscle of the religious lobby" with two Islamic provisions. First was the affirmation of divine over popular sovereignty, thus setting limits on the scope of parliament and interpreting its responsibilities as "sacred trust." Second concerned the obligation of the state to "enable" Muslims to "order their lives . . . in accordance with the teachings and requirements of Islam as set out in the Holy Quran and the Sunnah.

Towards Islamization cont.

The resolution was "a clear move away from the secular aspirations expressed by" Muslim League's president and Pakistan's founder, Mohammad Ali Jinnah, says Salman Raja, a Lahore-based constitutional lawyer. Jinnah, in his August 11, 1947, speech to Pakistan's constitutional assembly, had laid down his vision for the new state where all citizens would be equal irrespective of "religion or caste or creed.

Towards Islamization: Zias Regime

Under military ruler Zia ul-Haq from 1977-1988, Islamization acquired the full backing of the state Zia co-opted the religious parties, notably the JI, and undertook a process of Islamization that included introduction of new Islamic laws, setting up a federal sharia court, making Islamic education compulsory in schools, and promoting religious schools or madrassas. He took steps to Islamize the army by including Islamic teachings into the military's training. His policies also undermined the status of women through laws governing sexual offenses and by reducing the significance of a woman's testimony to half that of a man in certain trials.

Towards Islamization
State patronage of religious parties has resulted in competition among different religious groups for power, which has increasingly turned violent. With the Pakistani state adopting a clear Sunni bias in its laws and policies, rivalry between Shias and Sunnis--and even among different Sunni groups--became further entrenched. Soon after independence, Pakistan's first instance of sectarian violence targeted the Ahmadiyya community, a small religious group A sustained anti-Ahmadi campaign by Sunni religious groups mainly JI starting in the 1950s led to the martial law on March 6 1958

Towards Islamization
State patronage of religious parties has resulted in competition among different religious groups for power, which has increasingly turned violent. With the Pakistani state adopting a clear Sunni bias in its laws and policies, rivalry between Shias and Sunnis--and even among different Sunni groups--became further entrenched. Soon after independence, Pakistan's first instance of sectarian violence targeted the Ahmadiyya community, a small religious group A sustained anti-Ahmadi campaign by Sunni religious groups mainly JI starting in the 1950s led to the martial law on March 6 1958