Dawn News

Nationalism: theirs and ours

NATIONALISM, as the late, great historian Eric Hobsbawm pointed out, is essentially an imagined sentiment.

It is retrospectively, or sometimes concurrently, developed, mostly by invoking a particular understanding of history, the present, and future.

Hence in simple terms, the first step in the construction of a ‘nation’ is the development of its past, the second step is how it achieved or will achieve territorial coherence, and the third step is to recognise what it means to be a part of it.

In the case of Pakistan, the state, specifically the army and bureaucracy, has controlled the nationalist project in a variety of ways, not least through the distortion of history.

The state-sanctioned story of Pakistan starts with the advent of Islam in South Asia, focuses on ideas of Muslim power, decline and revivalism, and creates a linear narrative that connects a lot of disparate dots over a time span of 12 centuries.

In the same vein, the achievement of a separate homeland is explained in terms of the much-vaunted two-nation theory, the idea of Muslims as a separate political and social category in South Asia, and the idea of — ironically enough — minority oppression and religious freedom.

Finally, the state’s response to constant questions of what it means to be Pakistani uses Islam as a source of personal identification, the insistence on using Urdu as a linguistic marker of Pakistaniat, and a whole host of other smaller symbols like shalwar-kameez and cricket.

When one compares it to a standardised check list of sorts, the statist narrative in all its two-nation, Urdu-speaking glory, is fairly comprehensive — at least on paper.

It covers almost all bases — quality and objectivity of that coverage notwithstanding — and provides a coherent, legitimising narrative for the Pakistani state.

It is so comprehensive, in fact, that over the last 65 years, most challenges to the Pakistani state, and specifically to its idea of Pakistani nationalism, have taken the form of diffused ethno-linguistic movements and region-specific subversions — whether it was in East Pakistan, or Sindh, or as we’ve consistently seen, in Balochistan.

In India, contrary to our case, challenges to the state’s hegemonic processes exist at both the local (Assam, Telengana, Kashmir the northeast) as well as the national level.

When the Bharatiya Janata Party attempted to revise school and college textbook curricula between 1998 and 2004, they were countered by strong opposition from opposition parties, like the Congress, secular groups and academics.

Essentially, the controversy showcased how there are competing versions of Indian nationalism and Indian history operating in the same political space.

The move to rejuvenate Ram as a symbol of Hindu masculinity, the portrayal of Mughal rule as being oppressive and the creation of India as the outcome of Hindu aspirations were challenged in both the political domain through political parties and civil society groups, and in universities and colleges — where nationalism itself has become an object of critical academic attention.

So what’s happened in Pakistan? Why hasn’t there been a more coherent and macro-challenge to statist history and religion-laced nationalism?

For starters, the few objective accounts of the Pakistan Movement focus more on elite manipulation in Punjab, the rise of the Muslim middle class in UP and Bengal, and Congress-Muslim League relations as verifiable historical truths.

The analysis of the ‘salariat’ class by Hamza Alavi, or of the politics within the Muslim League by Ayesha Jalal do not offer, on their own, any ideological weight that could justify the creation of Pakistan.

On the other hand, state-controlled history, peddled by a compromised, ideologically motivated academia, and taught in schools and colleges, presents the two-nation theory as gospel, and the creation of Pakistan as the inevitable outcome of a purposeful struggle.

Secondly, political and academic critiques of the state’s oppressive relationship with smaller ethno-linguistic groups, especially during the formative years, have so far been unable to provide a working framework that would accommodate disparate identities within the larger ambit of a single Pakistani polity.

The inevitable question that arises is that if a group or an individual is allowed to identify itself based on ethno-linguistic characteristics, what trait or feature, apart from geographical presence or a CNIC, would determine its overarching identity as a Pakistani?

The state, instead, answers this question by turning to an officially sanctioned religion and the imposition of an official language which, on paper, sidesteps the question of accommodation all together.

Thirdly, and intrinsically connected to the two points raised above, the progressive goals of greater freedom for religious minorities, women and marginalised groups are currently operating under a state that perpetuates individual identity on the basis of religion, and is constitutionally mandated to prefer one religion over the other.

Without an ideological overhaul of how the state itself views other religions, and how it views groups who oppress and discriminate against minorities, the odds of changing the status quo are quite low.

When these three are seen together, it becomes evident as to why the state’s brand of exclusionary nationalism and distorted history has only been countered at a diffused, geographically constrained level.

In 65 years, no ideological alternative has been able to scale itself up to the level where it can offer a comprehensive counter-construction of nationalism that would actually allow for progressive action.

It remains to be seen whether greater academic freedom, especially in the social sciences, and a more critical analysis of history and our current predicaments would allow for the development of more viable alternatives.

Till then, it’s safe to say that the state’s hegemony in the realm of identity and ideas will remain largely intact.

The writer is a freelance columnist based in Islamabad.


Twitter: @umairjav



Comments (11) Closed

Raw Agent
Oct 09, 2012 07:00am
Seems author did not do his home work well..!!
Oct 09, 2012 03:22pm
Pradeep - you make too much sense
Oct 09, 2012 12:36pm
Author(and Pakistanis) at least leave us now. Why do you guys drag, compare etc. with India. For God's sake, leave us alone now.
g m patra
Oct 09, 2012 12:56pm
Excellant article. I hope and pray rthat Pakistan solves its problems asap and becomes an example for India and others instead being the otherway around.
Oct 09, 2012 02:24pm
I have done my schooling and undergrad in India- and never was RELIGION a factor in education ( be it history, political science or anything else). Its funny how pakistanis see anything and everything fromt the religious perspective and I cannot blame them - the basis of the 'identity Pakistan' is religion and only religion.
Oct 09, 2012 04:09pm
Great Read!!! Thought provoking and intellectually stimulating..
Oct 09, 2012 11:59pm
Very very valid point brought up. Good analysis. I dont think I had come across this discussion previously. Glas that you brought it up. I hope this discussion continues and something constructive will come out.
Sue Sturgess
Oct 09, 2012 05:06am
Please explain to me how cricket has anything to do with defining Pakistani nationalism
Oct 09, 2012 05:02am
A true democracy was never been tried out before independence so the notion that Muslims can?t live with Hindus as neighbors in a pluralistic society was just a na?ve idea. Being said that I don?t want to change today?s world order but at least try to tell people that respecting others (whatever culture/ religion) as they are will solve half the problems and other half by admitting the wrongs because only then we can make amends. As said by one famous personality ?Live and let live, listen and learn from people, be not rigid in your views, do some introspection and try to use your most precious commodity (brain).?
Oct 09, 2012 08:59am
you slightly touched the needle in Pakistan's illusion baloon of nationalism. What i have learned since my childhood is , if you dont know to speak "saaf urdu", you are not a real pakistani, period
Oct 09, 2012 04:12pm
If only journalists such as yourself were more prominent on both sides of the border.