Pakistani Politics Research Articles

Women Representation in Pakistani Legislatures

Women representation in decision-making and law-making is considered as a vital step in women empowerment. The Martial Law regime of General Pervez Musharraf1 brought in a drastic change in the composition of Pakistani legislatures at both central and provincial levels and has increased 17 per cent of reserved seats for women in 2002. However, this was much less than the 33 per cent stated in Strategic Objective G-2 in the plan. This step was deemed as a landmark in materialising the long-cherished dream of empowering Pakistani women. The purpose of this study is to assess the discourse on women’s political empowerment and their level of participation in mainstream politics by analysing the gender gaps in the Election Laws—General Elections of 2002, 2008 and 2013. Women are now present in all the legislative assemblies of Pakistan from more than a decade. How far this change has remained useful in addressing and solving the problems faced by Pakistani women? Furthermore, how these women legislators have performed on specific women-related issues or is this step just an extension of strengthening the dominant families in Pakistani politics? The issue of quota discourses in the Parliament is also discussed.

Alternative politics and dominant narratives: communists and the Pakistani state in the early 1950s

This article analyzes the role played by the Communist Party in Pakistani politics before it was banned in 1954, a time when it was the centre of a motley variety of progressive movements that expressed regionally variant, alternative visions of politics. It is an attempt to draw out the relationship between the state, and groups who referred to themselves varyingly as ‘communists’, ‘leftists’ and ‘progressives’ within the city of Lahore. This localized analysis of these different yet overlapping groups illustrates how they were all linked within official state narratives to the Communist Party, which was, in turn, constructed as the centre for godless, anti-national sentiment, thereby justifying the repression of all those who were seen to be associated with it. This allowed for the construction of a historical narrative where the role of the Communist Party as political opposition, presenting an alternative in its own right, became subsumed within the wider narrative of the nation state and its friends and foes.

Democratic Values and Support for Militant Politics

A long-standing research tradition on political culture argues that greater support for core liberal values leads to a rejection of destructive political activities and reduced support for violent politics. In this vein, many contemporary analysts of security policy contend that a lack of democratic values in the Middle East promotes the development of violent political organizations. Unfortunately, there have been few direct tests of the hypothesis that an individual’s rejection of democratic values correlates with support for militant groups. We conduct such a test in Pakistan using an original 6,000-person provincially representative survey. We find that strong supporters of democratic values are actually more supportive of militant groups and that this relationship is strongest among those who believe that Muslim rights and sovereignty are being violated in Kashmir. This is consistent with the context of Pakistani politics, where many militant groups use the principle of azadi (i.e., freedom and self-determination) to justify their actions. These results challenge the conventional wisdom about the roots of militancy and underscore the importance of understanding how local context mediates the influence of civic culture on political stability and violence.

Game Changer

Game Changer

The ‘urs of the patron saint of Lahore: national popular festival and sacred union between the Pakistani State and society?

Sufi shrines in Pakistan are the communal loci of popular piety. Through their symbolic meaning and capacity for mobilization, they have become pivotal power stakes in Pakistani politics. Since the late 1950s, the State has attempted to nationalize them and make them tools for the construction of its identity and authority, in a modernist perspective embodied in the Ministry of Religious Endowments ( awqaf ministry). In Pakistan, the veneration of saints takes a spectacularly festive turn during the ‘ urs (meaning ‘marriage’ in Arabic, symbolizing the union of the saint with God). As the anniversaries of the death of saints, the ‘urs have become the focus of yearly pilgrimages. In nationalized shrines, these popular festivals are managed by the awqaf ministry. Among the most notable is the ‘urs of the patron saint of Lahore, Hadhrat Syed Ali Bin Uthman al-Hujweri (1010–1072). His shrine is one of the biggest in Pakistan and his ‘urs constitutes one of the largest religious gatherings in the Pakistani calendar. Massively loaded with nationalist and political symbols, the religious ritual is legitimized as a key element of national identity and, conversely, serves to legitimize the government and its administrative machinery. Hence, the State exploits the pilgrimage as a political platform in order to communicate with the population, through emotional and symbolic means. Thus, the celebration of the union of the saint with God somehow becomes the yearly opportunity for the sacred union between the Pakistani State and society.

Continuity and change in Pakistani politics1

Pakistan's political system is anchored around a series of patronage networks that favour continuity over radical change. These networks are not immune from social, economic and political change, although these tend to reshape rather than restructure the system. Pakistani nationalism will likely influence Pakistani politics more than Islamism.

Provincial Administration in Pakistan and the Crisis of Order and Development

While Pakistani politics regularly employs the rhetoric of provincial autonomy, there are powerful structural and empirical tendencies that have contributed to the centralisation of power. This paper examines the relationship between this concentration of power and the quality of the provincial administration. It argues that unless the provincial administration is rehabilitated and a real measure of fiscal autonomy is granted to the provincial units, Pakistan will continue to suffer a state apparatus and political process that is centralised, arbitrary and ineffective. The effectiveness of the Pakistani state apparatus has become a matter of international concern due to the US-led war on terror and the spill-over of the Taliban/Al-Qaeda insurgency into Pakistan. It is contended that fixing the problems inherent in Pakistan's administration require not only material inputs, but a change in attitude and orientation towards the provincial administration.

“Army Uniform Is Part Of My Skin”

This paper discusses implications of Information Communication Technologies (ICT) growth on the new political discourse in Pakistan. The power play between the civil society and General Pervez Musharraf set new directions for Pakistani politics in 2007. This paper presents a critical discourse analysis of the controversy surrounding Musharraf’s attempt to continue holding the offices of army chief and president of Pakistan simultaneously. He declared “army uniform is part of my skin”. The civil society’s online participation in the political process and the street protests that resulted forced him to flee the country. The paper offers an analysis of ICT growth and politics in Pakistan and provides an understanding of how ICT growth has shaped the political landscape in Pakistan. Social and electronic media have emerged as powerful political players and have influenced Pakistani politics and policy development. This critical discourse analysis explains political changes during 2007 that are generally attributed to ICT growth. The results indicate that ICT growth plays an important role in achieving harmony, coordination, social change, justice, and transparency of government.

Kamila Shamsie’s novels of history, exile and desire

The richness of Shamsie’s fiction is in the ways in which varied themes and stories within a novel are multilayered, interact and are part of each other, so that the narrative about a person or a couple is viewed within a larger, more socially dense context. Her novels both show the difficulty of leaving the society in which one feels at ease and the need to solve present problems through understanding the past. Besides politics threatening or causing loss of family or friends, there is a love story disturbed by differences of class, culture or ethnicity. The novels treat the relationship of national events to the personal. The military is important because it controlled Pakistani politics since the partition of India: Burnt Shadows shows the effects of the Japanese and American military upon individuals.

Hijraism: Jostling for a Third Space in Pakistani Politics

The tropes of mainstream and peripheral transgendered performers are explored for their playful negotiations in the body politic of Pakistan.

Performative Interventions in the Body Politic of Pakistan

In light of the US-led “War on Terror” in which the Pakistani state has and continues to play a pivotal role as a frontline ally, this special section of TDR on Performing Pakistani Politics provides an urgent insight into the role of performance as artivist intervention for a citizenry confronting the tide of rising extremism as well as imperialism.

The Ulama in Pakistani Politics

The ulama are important figures within Muslim societies. In the Indian sub-continent, their influence has transcended the socio-religious realm to include the political realm as well. This paper is an attempt to examine the role of the ulama in Pakistani politics. It also seeks to build a trajectory of their future influence in Pakistani politics. There are four parts to the paper. The first part will examine the historical role of the ulama in the Indian sub-continent. The second part will examine their politics in the period between 1947 and 1979. The third part will highlight how the rise to power of General Zia-ul-Haq and the Afghanistan War of 1979 emboldened the ulama to start seriously contesting for political power. Lastly, the paper will look at how the ulama were again empowered by the military regime of General Musharraf to play an important role in Pakistani politics.

The 2006 Anti-‘Danish Cartoons’ Riot in Lahore: Outrage and the Emotional Landscape of Pakistani Politics

How can a long-distance outrage provoke social protest, even riots? The street demonstration against the ‘Danish cartoons’ that took place in Lahore on 14th February 2006 was primarily an expressive protest, publicly voicing its anger and moral discontent. As such, it offers a fruitful micropolitical site to understand how emotions contribute to shape the culture of dissent in contemporary Pakistan. Based on interviews with protestors, this article elaborates, first, on the linkages between anger, honour, the cognitively framed belief of being ‘provoked’, and biographical emotional repertoires. Second, it looks at the conflicting emotions displayed in the public arena: a desire of communitas yet destruction, an expression of compulsory feeling but subversive emotions as well. Finally, it argues that this protest has to be replaced in the larger framework of the state’s singular politics of emotion that informs public debates in Pakistan, and particularly so in Punjab. Hence, the article focuses on a dimension often neglected in the literature on emotions and social movements: the emotional-institutional context.

Pakistan After Musharraf: Praetorianism and Terrorism

Abstract: An uneasy relationship between military and civilian power hangs like a cloud over the future of democratic reform in Pakistan. Praetorianism has been a deeply-ingrained feature in Pakistani politics since the country’s birth, making depoliticization of the military a nettlesome task for any civilian government, particularly given that the military’s “prerogatives” comprise the defense sector, internal security, legal system, and even foreign relations and nuclear weapons. With the ever-present threat of terrorism and the public insecurity and unrest terrorist acts provoke, authoritarian backsliding remains a sobering possibility.

Mock Courts and the Pakistani Bhānḍ

Munir Hussain (b. 1949), a prominent bhānḍ (wandering comic), playfully teases at the mise-en-scène of Pakistani politics. This contemporary performer in his anecdotes in performances at weddings draws on the long comedic tradition to form a vibrant critique of the present sociopolitical scenario.

Sects Within Sect: The Case of Deobandi–Barelvi Encounter in Pakistan

The Sunni Muslims of South Asia are divided into two major sub-sects, i.e. Deobandi and Barelvi, named after their places of origin in India in the 19th century. Because of abiding differences between them, these two sub-sects have built up walls of hatred and mistrust between them over time. The faultline between them has erupted violently in Pakistan since the late 1970s. While there are some pioneering works available on their separate worldviews, no study has yet been attempted to critically analyse the nature of their interaction at the political level. This article discusses the pattern of interaction between the sub-sects since the colonial days, during the movement for Partition, and later in Pakistani politics.

Prospects for peace in South Asia

Contents 1. Introduction Rafiq Dossani and Henry S. Rowen Pakistan: Politics and Kashmir 2. Islamic Extremism and Regional Conflict in South Asia Vali Nasr 3. Constitutional and Political Change in Pakistan: The Military Governance Paradigm Charles H. Kennedy 4. The Practice of Islam in Pakistan and the Influence of Islam on Pakistani Politics Chris Fair and Karthik Vaidyanathan 5. PakistanAes Relations with Azad Kashmir Rifaat Hussain India: Politics and Kashmir 6. Who Speaks for India? The Role of Civil Society in Defining Indian Nationalism Ainslie Embree 7. Hindu Nationalism and the BJP: Transforming Religion and Politics in India Robert L. Hardgrave, Jr. 8. Hindu Ethnonationalism, Muslim Jihad, and Secularism: Muslims in the Political Life of the Republic of India Barbara D. Metcalf 9. Jammu and Kashmir in the Indian Union: The Politics of Autonomy Chandrasekhar Dasgupta India and PakistanAes Nuclear Doctrines and U.S. Concerns 10. The Stability-Instability Paradox, Misperception, and Escalation Control in South Asia Michael Krepon 11. PakistanAes Nuclear Doctrine Peter R. Lavoy 12. Coercive Diplomacy in a Nuclear Environment: The December 13 Crisis Rajesh M. Basrur 13. United States Interests in South Asia Howard B. Schaffer Index

The role of Islamic parties in Pakistani politics

Islamic parties in Pakistan have been a potent force to reckon with and can be counted among the elite groups that influence political processes and decision‐making in Pakistan. These parties are affiliated to various terrorist organisations which foment trouble in Kashmir and elsewhere. These parties have a tremendous amount of street power, even though they have not done well in terms of votes in Pakistan's elections over the years. This article examines the reasons for the considerable political influence wielded by these Islamic parties which is disproportionate to their electoral support.

Ethnicity and politics in Pakistan

An historical and political analysis of ethnicity's role in Pakistani politics and society. The author has compiled and reinterpreted his writings of 25 years to develop a contemporary account of ethnic differences in Pakistan. This text offers insights into past events combined with theoretical explanation and social analysis but, at the same time, it remains close to the realities on the ground. It will be a source of reference for social and political studies of ethnicity in Pakistan for years to come.

Masjid Manzilgah, 1939-40. Test Case for Hindu-Muslim Relations in Sind

Masjid Manzilgah forms a chapter in a biography of Mohammed Ayub Khuhro on which the author is currently working. Khuhro (1901-80) was an important politician of Sind whose political career spanned over fifty years from 1921 to the end of the ‘seventies. He was a member of the Bombay Legislative Council from 1923 till the severance of the connection between Bombay and Sind in 1935 when the latter province attained autonomy under the Government of India Act of 1935. He was in the forefront of the political struggle for the ‘separation’ of Sind and after 1936 became a front-ranking Muslim League leader who helped organize the party in Sind and put it behind the Pakistan movement. Khuhro was the first Premier of Sind after independence and held that office altogether three times. He came into confrontation with Jinnah over the issue of severing Karachi from Sind and became identified as the protagonist of states' rights (or provincial autonomy) and as a champion of politicians' supremacy in the fight against the domination of the bureaucracy which bedevilled Pakistani politics for nearly half a century of its existence. This fight resulted in his repeated enforced exile from the political field depriving Pakistan of one of its most experienced public men during its formative years.