The Pakistan Paradox: Instability and Resilience
Christophe Jaffrelot
Abstract
Pakistan was born as the creation of elite Urdu-speaking Muslims who sought to govern a state that would maintain their dominance. After rallying non-Urdu speaking leaders around him, Muhammad Ali Jinnah imposed a unitary definition of the new nation state that obliterated linguistic diversity. This centralization—'justified' by the Indian threat—fostered centrifugal forces that resulted in Bengali secessionism in 1971 and Baloch, as well as Mohajir, separatisms today. Concentration of power in the hands of the establishment remained the norm, and while authoritarianism peaked under military r ... More
Pakistan was born as the creation of elite Urdu-speaking Muslims who sought to govern a state that would maintain their dominance. After rallying non-Urdu speaking leaders around him, Muhammad Ali Jinnah imposed a unitary definition of the new nation state that obliterated linguistic diversity. This centralization—'justified' by the Indian threat—fostered centrifugal forces that resulted in Bengali secessionism in 1971 and Baloch, as well as Mohajir, separatisms today. Concentration of power in the hands of the establishment remained the norm, and while authoritarianism peaked under military rule, democracy failed to usher in reform, and the rule of law remained fragile at best under Zulfikar Bhutto and later Nawaz Sharif. While Jinnah and Pakistan’s second president, Ayub Khan, regarded religion as a cultural marker, since their time the Islamists have gradually prevailed. The latter benefited from the support of General Zia during his presidency, while others, including sectarian groups, cashed in on their struggle against the establishment to gain the support of the disenfranchised. Today, Pakistan faces existential challenges ranging from ethnic strife to Islamism, two sources of instability which hark back to elite domination. But the resilience of the country and its people, the resolve of the judiciary and hints of reform in the army may open a new and more stable chapter in its history.
Keywords:
Pakistan,
Muslim League,
Jinnah,
Zulfikar Bhutto,
Zia-ul-Haq,
Nawaz Sharif,
Islamists,
Urdu,
centralization
Bibliographic Information
| Print publication date: 2015 |
Print ISBN-13: 9780190235185 |
| Published to Oxford Scholarship Online: May 2016 |
DOI:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190235185.001.0001 |
