Relationship Between Religion and Nationalism in Pakistan : A Study of Religion and Nationalism in Pakistan during the period 1947 to 1988

Religion has always been at the core of the Pakistani national narrative. This research paper argues that the relationship between religion and nationalism in Pakistan is complex and has changed its character during different phases of the Pakistani political history. The aim of this paper was to understand this relationship during the period 1947 to 1988 of the Pakistani political history using the theoretical framework developed by Rogers Brubaker. Our analysis points out that the role of religion and its relationship has taken different shapes during different phases depending on political developments and processes, actors and visions. During the first time frame - from August 1947 - 12 March 1949 - religion under the leadership of the founder of the country Mohammad Ali Jinnah was viewed from the perspective of identity. This is explained by Brubaker’s first approach according to which religion functions as a mode of identification. During the politically chaotic decade after Jinnah’s death, religion was integrated into the organization of the state through the Objectives Resolution and the inclusion of Islamic articles in the country’s first constitution of 1956 and Islam was viewed as the cause of nationalism in Pakistan, explained by Brubaker’s second approach. When General Ayub Khan took over in October 1958 as the first military dictator, the country experienced progressive reforms challenging the role of Islam. This led to agitation from the religious parties who demanded political representation, acting as political claimants. This is explained by the third variant in Brubaker’s first approach in which religion is employed as a way of framing political claims. During Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s tenure, the nations’s Islamic identity was emphasized to establish closer relation with other Muslim nations. Bhutto developed a transnational vision according to which the Pakistani nation was to lead other Islamic countries. This is explained by the second kind of Brubaker’s third approach in which religion is viewed as intertwined with nationalism. General Zia ul Haq’s military dictatorship promoted Nizam-e-Islami to implement a process of Shariatization of the country. General Zia viewed Islam and the Pakistani nation as existentially interdependent and he attempted to bring religion, state and nation into a singularity. This kind of religious nationalism is explained by Brubaker’s fourth approach as a distinctive form of nationalism