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02-14-2005, 12:21 PM
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#1 (permalink)
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Postmaster General
Military Professional
Join Date: 08-20-03
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A Crisis of National Identity?
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A question of national identity
Gulmina Bilal
In recent times, Pakistanis have witnessed two apparently distinct controversies: the religion column in passports and Altaf Hussain's statement that the partition was a mistake. These controversies are actually interlinked as both are based on the question of national identity and how Pakistanis define it or have been defining it through the decades.
Pakistan's creation on the basis of conceptualising Indian Muslims as a separate nation leads to some ongoing questions. Are all Pakistani Muslims? What kind of Muslims? What about non-Muslims? Although initially concerns largely of the bourgeois and urban middle classes, most segments of the population are today engulfed by this dilemma, articulated by Altaf Hussain and reflected in the religion column debate. At this point, it must be said that had Nawaz Sharif or Benazir Bhutto made such a statement, they would have been declared traitors, against national interest and what not. Hussain made this statement in a foreign country and got away with it. Does this reflect a growing tolerance for dissenting views or something else?
Central to the question of identity is the ongoing struggle over various definitions of Islam and its relation to the socio-political body. The early compromise reached was to split the legal system into two with personal status law (marriage, divorce, child custody, inheritance) being articulated in consonance with supposedly Islamic principles, whereas all other issues were framed in line with secular legal traditions.
The issue of national identity raises two pertinent questions. Firstly, what do we mean by national identity and secondly -- an even more abstract question -- why is this sense of national identity so important? The two questions are closely intertwined, with the response to the latter often dependent on the answer to the former. Some would argue that `national identity' is merely a construct, designed to maintain the status quo, which is the existing order of power in society.
Whichever definition or mixture of definitions one adopts, it becomes necessary to address the issue of the value of the protection and continuance of the sense of national identity. The entire debate on the inclusion of the religion column in passports can be understood in this context, that for some people, Islamic identity and national identity are intertwined. This is not surprising as historically we see that no distinction was made between Islamic identity and Pakistani identity.
Pakistan has anchored the concept of its national identity as well as an estimation of its powers in the historical memory of invaders and conquerors that held sway over the subcontinent for nearly a thousand years before the advent of the British Raj. These Persian, Afghan, Mughal and Central Asian adventurers, although Muslim, came to India not to fight holy wars but to plunder wealth or carve out their own kingdoms.Some invaders such as Nadir Shah and Abdali, made no distinction between the faithful and the rest. They raped and plundered them all. In the early 1920s, a handful of Muslim leaders used the slogan of Islam as a national identity to demand a separate homeland for the Muslim minorities of India. It was a corruption of history that led to the belief that a homogenous Islamic state would be superior to the rest of India. This helped gather strength for Pakistan, the promised land of the pure.
After the Partition, the new nation invested itself with an aura of superiority anchored in the historic memory of the soldiers of the Islamic faith who invariably defeated the non-Muslim indigenous forces. This myth was soon shattered in Kashmir, followed by 1965, and finally with their decisive victory of December 16, 1971.
Thus, because of how identity has been carved and interpreted, Pakistan suffers from a sense of vulnerability. [size=3]The sum total nearly amounts to a hysterical national insecurity driven by psychological complex to always be one up on India. This illusion has been deliberately cultivated and sustained ever since Partition, becoming deeply rooted in the national psyche. Since 1998, this question has been further complicated by the insertion of nuclear nationalism. The state is using all its authority and institutional resources to build pride in possessing nuclear weapons into national identity. Pakistanis are meant to rejoice and think of themselves as citizens of a 'nuclear Pakistan', a nuclearised nationalism. Pakistan henceforth, shall be a country whose identity is based not unlike others on a sense of a shared place or history, language, culture or even religion. Its identity shall be inextricably linked to a technology of mass destruction. For some this has already happened. As Nawaz Sharif's information minister Mushahid Hussain, now Senator and general secretary of PML said, 'Chagai has become a symbol of Pakistan's identity all over the world'. How many Pakistanis agree with this definition is the question.
However, just because we find it difficult to locate a fully working example does not mean we should stop trying. It may be that we require more effort. Alternatively, while we may never acquire perfection, it may be worthwhile moving towards a more consensual, a more pluralist society. As Thomas Paine commented: 'While a perfect, wholly inclusive version of national identity might be impossible to formulate, particularly in the context of plural societies it needs to be reasonably inclusive.'In other words, rather than encourage a sense of shared values or experience, which will influence the attitudes and actions of the audience, we could advocate unfettered individuals, with each one free to determine his or her opinion on all matters.
The writer is a freelance contributor based in Islamabad. Email: bilalkor@yahoo.com
http://www.jang-group.com/thenews/
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A very frank opinion expressed in the Pakistani newspaper.
The crisis of identity is not unusual since many years have passed and the fervour of carving a nation on the basis of religious identity has come to grips with the realities of daily existence.
The dreams of any Nation newly carved out, to lace the foundation with brave visions like superiority of race and religion is but natural.
However, the racial and religious fire has been tempered with the realities of the wars fought with the original Nation from which Pakistan was carved out.
The hollowness of escoteric idealism gives way to the harsh realities of daily existence with the passage of time. The sane then takes stock of the situation and adjusts.
The insane dream on of past glories oblivious of the the ruination and sorrows of the modern nation.
India too has a fair share of the insane. But fortunately, the founding fathers foundationed the country on secular ideals and secularism is too abstract for anyone to visualise and none makes it as one's own lein. Had India being a religious entity, then her cup of sorrow would brim over.
India and Pakistan must move forward and go for more confidence building measures. The interactivity of population will heal the scars of Parition and both shall be able to coexist side by side.
Indeed, how many think like the author in Pakistan - that is the major question.
Last edited by Ray : 02-14-2005 at 12:38 PM.
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02-14-2005, 19:36 PM
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#2 (permalink)
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Staff Emeritus
Join Date: 09-10-03
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by Ray
India and Pakistan must move forward and go for more confidence building measures. The interactivity of population will heal the scars of Parition and both shall be able to coexist side by side.
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I hope you are correct. So much more can be done together, than can be done alone.
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I agree completely with this Administration’s goal of a regime change in Iraq-John Kerry
even if that enforcement is mostly at the hands of the United States, a right we retain even if the Security Council fails to act-John Kerry
He may even miscalculate and slide these weapons off to terrorist groups to invite them to be a surrogate to use them against the United States. It’s the miscalculation that poses the greatest threat-John Kerry
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02-14-2005, 20:02 PM
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#3 (permalink)
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Postmaster General
Military Professional
Join Date: 08-20-03
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I am optimistic.
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