Coda: Re-imagining Pakistan

Abstract

Emphasising the centrality as well as the profound influence of “war on terror” discourses in the reframing of Pakistani Muslim identities after 9/11, I have sought to present a big picture of “US realpolitik” in this book by looking beyond 9/11 contexts in fictional narratives by second-generation Pakistanis. My main contention has been that a post-9/11 paradigmatic shift in identity formation — from signifiers of race, gender, class and nationalism to the non-territorial global ummah — cannot be understood in its entirety without referring to 9/11 as a political construct rather than merely considering it a civilisational clash. Situating 9/11 within the parameters of cultural and political encounters as well as economic Manichaeism has enabled my challenge to the centrality of “culture talk” surrounding Islamophobic narratives after 9/11. The connection between increased Islamophobia and 9/11 necessarily engenders a particular kind of attention to historical events such as the “Rushdie Affair”, the Danish cartoon controversy, the Gulf Wars, the Cold War, the Soviet–Afghan war and the Iranian Revolution, which have contributed to radical perceptions about Islam and Muslims (particularly in relation to Pakistan). The present crises cannot be de-historicised; a series of recent events — including hysterical protests against the derogatory “Innocence of Muslims” YouTube video (2012), the persecution of religious minorities (particularly Shia Muslim Hazaras) in Quetta (2013) and the burning of Christians’ houses in the Badami Bagh area of Lahore (2013) over alleged blasphemy, all of which epitomise cultural and religious intolerance — are reminiscent of Muslims’ reactions towards offence in the past.