ISLAM, NATIONALISM AND THE WEST

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ISBN 978-0-333-71109-5

Islam, Nationalism and the West Issues of Identity in Pakistan

Iftikhar H. Malik Lecturer in History Bath Spa University College

in association with PALGRAVE MACMILLAN

First published in Great Britain 1999 by

MACMILLAN PRESS LTD Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS and London Companies and representatives throughout the world

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

First published in the United States of America 1999 by

ST. MARTIN'S PRESS, INC., Scholarly and Reference Division, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Malik, lftikhar Haider, 1949-Islam, nationalism and the West : issues of identity in Pakistan I Iftikhar H. Malik. p. em.- (St. Antony's series) Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index.

I. Islam and state-Pakistan. 2. Islam and politics-Pakistan. 3. Nationalism-Pakistan. 4. Nationalism-Religious aspects-Islam. 5. Pakistan-Politics and government-1977- 6. Islam and world politics. I. Title. II. Series. BPI73.6.M25 1999 320.5'5'095491-dc21 98-53898

CIP

© Iftikhar H. Malik 1999

Soticover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 1999 978-0-333-71834-6

All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission.

No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London WI P OLP.

Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

The author has asserted his right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources.

10 9 08 07

8 7 06 05

6 5 04 03

4 3 02 01

2 I 00 99

ISBN 978-1-349-40393-6 DOI 10.1057/9780230375390

ISBN 978-0-230-37539-0 (eBook)

ISBN 978-0-312-22060-0

ISBN 978-0-312-22060-0 (alk. paper)

To my brother, Imtiaz, for his devotion and commitment

Contents

Acknowledgements viii List of Tables lX

Glossary X

List of Abbreviations Xlll

Preface XVl

1 Islam and the Contemporary Discourse on Collective Identity 1

2 Islam and the West: Politics of Misperceptions and Misimages 20

3 South Asian Islam and Pakistan: Historiographical Debate 38

4 Britain, Muslim India and the Pakistanis: a Transcultural Relationship 72

5 Islam, Muslim Nationalism and Nation-Building in Pakistan: Issues of Identity 98

6 Understanding Civil Society in Pakistan: Imperatives and Constraints 123

7 Relations with India: Nationalism in Contestation 146

8 Kashmir and Pakistan: Politics of Nationalism, Regionalism and Islam 174

9 Pakistan and the Muslim World: National Security Imperatives and Islamic Trans-Territoriality 200

10 Ideals and National Interests: American Public Diplomacy in Pakistan 220

Epilogue 250

Notes 263 Bibliography 337 Index 347

Vll

Acknowledgements

This volume owes itself to suggestions from a number of friends inter­ested in a comparative analysis of the quest for identity among Muslims by threading together the often contentious relationship between modernity and tradition. My own familiarity with recent South Asian history and personal and professional interest in Pakistan, South Asian Islam and Muslim diaspora combined with a significant exposure to Western scholarship played a crucial role in juxtaposing the multiple academic strands. An increased momentum was provided by the ongoing debate - inconclusive, but nevertheless quite exciting - on identity ascription among the various ideological, national, sectarian, ethnic and class-based clusters within the Muslim societies. I acknowledge my indebtedness to fellow historians at the College for their support and to numerous British, Pakistani and American institutions in sharing pertinent statistical information. My deepest appreciation is for Ian Talbot, Gurharpal Singh, Pritam Singh, Subrato Mitra, Ron Nettler, David Washbrook, Yunas Samad, Anthony Hyman, David Taylor and Karam Malik for their consistent support. Above all, hearty thanks to those who helped me during the preparation of this book, especially Zafar Malik, Ziaud Din Sardar, Ishtiaq Ahmed and Ayyub Malik for their stimulating discussions. I would like to thank my family, Nighat, Farooq and Sidra, for being who they are. At St Antony's College, Eugene Rogan, as is his style, gave an enthusiastic support whereas Tim Farmiloe, Aruna Vasudevan and John Smith at Macmillan made the entire experience of doing this third book immensely joyous. A special gratitude is due to the Regents of the University of California for their permission to reprint Chapter 9, and to Villanova University for Chapter 10. Chapter 2 was originally delivered as a lecture for Oxford Project for Peace Studies at St Antony's College. However, all these papers have been duly revised in the light of recent developments and I undertake the responsibility for any error in judgement or otherwise.

Vlll

List of Tables

4.1 The British Council's expenditure in South Asia, 1990-91 91

4.2 Expenditure by Country in South Asia, 1991-92 92 4.3 Rhodes Scholars from Pakistan at Oxford 96

10.1 USIA library-related programmes 229 10.2 Sponsored Pakistani visitors to the US 230 10.3 Regional breakdown of visitors 231 10.4 American speakers and cultural programmes 231 10.5 International students in the USA 232 10.6 The Fulbright Grantees, 1951-88 239

IX

Glossary

ahimsa amir asabiya ashra'af ashram awa'am bap basti bazaree bhadralok bidda biradari burqa buzkashi cha'adar

cha 'ardiwari Din fa twa fiqah!fiqh fitna Hadith hari hartals Hindutva hukumat-i -ilahaya Ijma'a ijtiha'ad ikhtala'af insan-i-kamil Izzat jagirdar Jahaliyya jama'at jihad jirga

non-violence leader communitarian feelings pl. of sharif Hindu holy centre laity father cluster of make-shift huts and homes commercial class lit. gentlemen, Bengali professional elite classes negative innovations extended family veil lit. goat-dragging, traditional polo-like Afghan sport wrap-around, used by Muslim women to cover head and face lit. within four walls, inside home code of life decree Islamic jurisprudence discord the tradition of the Prophet landless peasant in Sindh strikes Hindu nationalism Divine rule consensus innovation difference perfect human being honour major landlord period of ignorance (pre-Islamic Arabia) a party holy war the assembly of Pushtun elders

X

Glossary XI

jotedar Bengali landholder katchi abadis temporary settlements Khilafat Caliphate madrassas Islamic schools maghribzada brainwashed in the West Mahajan Hindu moneylender mai mother marabous African Muslim populists maulvis Muslim priests mofussil periphery, rural areas mohalla an inner-city locality/neighbourhood Muhajir immigrant from India Muhajireen pl. of Muhajir mujaddid revivalist Mullaism institutionalized clergy murid follower of a pir mushawara consultation naib viceroy Panahguzeen lit. shelter-seekers, refugees pir spiritual guide Pirism institutionalized sainthood proja Bengali tenant purdah veil sahabi a male companion of the Prophet sahabiya a female companion of the Prophet sajjada nishin successor to the pir and sufi Sangathan Hindu revivalist organization Shari a Islamic law sharif Muslim gentry shoora advisory council Shuddhi Hindu revivalist movement silsilah a hierarchical chain of saints sufi Muslim mystic syed descendant of the Prophet Tabligh Muslim missionary movement taqlid unquestioned imitation ulama/ulema Muslim religious scholars ummah Trans-national Muslim community wadera Sindhi feudal lord waqf mechanism to look after Muslim shrines Wilayat Britain

xii

zamindar zat zinna

landholder caste rape

Glossary

List of Abbreviations

AAAS ABC AID AIML AlPS AMSS ANP APIN APP APRO ASEAN ASRC ASSP ATI BALAD BAPS BBC BCCI BBCD BJP BSO CAPA CARs CBS CENTO CIA CNN COP CRE CTBT ECO EU EWC FIDH

GATT

American Association of Asian Studies American Broadcasting Corporation Agency for International Development All-India Muslim League American Institute of Pakistan Studies Association of Muslim Social Scientists Awami National Party Asian Pacific Information Network American Participant Program American-Pakistan Research Organization Association of South East Asian Nations American Studies Research Center Anjuman-i Sipah-i Sahaba-i Pakistan Anjuman-i Tulba-i Islam Baluchistan Area Development Project British Association for Pakistan Studies British Broadcasting Corporation Bank of Credit and Commerce International British-Born Confused Desis Bharatiya Janata Party Baloch Students Organization Center for Asian Pacific Affairs Central Asian Republics Columbia Broadcasting Service Central Treaty Organization Central Intelligence Agency Cable News Network Combined Opposition Parties Commission for Racial Equality Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Economic Cooperation Organization European Union East-West Center Federation Internationale des Ligues des Droits de !'Homme General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs

xiii

XIV

GHQ ICA ICBM IDNIJI IHK IJT IMF INC IOR&L lSI lSI ISNA IVP 11 JKLF JUI KASS KKH KSG LAC LOC MCS ML MP MRD MQM NAFTA NAM NAP NBC NGOs NPT NWFP OIC PACC PEP PIF PPE PPI ppp PRC

List of Abbreviations

General Headquarters International Communication Agency Inter-Continental Ballistic Missile Islamic Democratic Alliance Indian-held Kashmir Islami Jamiat-i Tulaba International Monetary Fund Indian National Congress India Office Records and Library International School of Islamabad Inter-Services Intelligence Islamic Society of North America International Visitor Program Jama'at-i-Islami Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front 1 amiat-i-Ulama-i-lslam Karachi American Society School Karakoram Highway Kashmir Study Group Lahore American School Line of Control Murree Christian School Muslim League Member of Parliament Movement for Restoration of Democracy Muhajir/Muttahida Qaumi Movement North American Free Trade Area Non-Aligned Movement National Awami Party National Broadcasting Corporation Non-Governmental Organizations Non-Proliferation Treaty North-West Frontier Province Organization of Islamic Conference Pakistan-American Cultural Centre Professional Exchange Program Pakistan Islamic Front Politics, Philosophy and Economics Punjabi-Pakhtun Ittehad Pakistan People's Party People's Republic of China

PRO PSI RCD RFE/RL RSSS SAARC SEATO SNA TNFJ TOEFL UGC UK UN UP US/USA USAID USEF USIA USIS VHP VOA WSTV

List of Abbreviations

Public Record Office Policy Studies Institute Regional Cooperation for Development Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Rashtriya Sevak Swayam Sangh South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation South East Asian Treaty Organization Sindh National Alliance Tehreek-i Nafaz-i Fiqah-i Ja'afria Test of English as a Foreign Language University Grants Commission United Kingdom United Nations United Provinces/Uttar Pradesh United States/United States of America

XV

United States Agency for International Development United States Educational Foundation United States Information Agency United States Information Service Vishwa Hindu Parishad Voice of America World Service Television

Preface

Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union and Eastern bloc, the ideological and geopolitical significance of Islam as a religion and a political vehicle- sometimes defined as Islamic fundamentalism- has attained new regional and global dimensions. By reverting to a tunnel-view of history in an aura of exaggeration, the age-old reli­gious tensions between Christianity and Islam are frequently cited to substantiate alarmist hypotheses of a so-called 'clash of civilizations'. Many Muslims, especially from among the diasporic communities in the West, strongly feel that a media-led campaign of demonization of their religion and its cultural achievements is being carried out to portray them as the 'new' enemy. Such a multidimensional affront against Muslims by imagining Islam as the bogeyman has been quite apparent in such diverse cases as Bosnia, Oklahoma and the Lebanon. According to a pervasive Muslim view, the stigmatization of the entire Muslim world persists, with a parallel image of Islam as a repressive, barbarian, anti-women and anti-civil-society ideology which is at the end of its tether. Thus, both conservative and liberal opinion groups in the West - especially since the Rushdie affair -converge in imagining Islam as a 'given' enemy.

Since most of the Muslim communities form a significant portion of the erstwhile Third World (a discredited concept, at least in its geo­political sense), the issues of identity in the context of predominant Western liberal and financial institutions have attained greater inten­sity. While to some the Third World is ideological baggage from the Cold War and is redundant and marginalized, to others it may yet be a major factor in resolving the multiple conflicts in these regions through a market-centred fundamentalism and political sameness. However, Muslim insistence on the cultural specificities of individual societies, either as an introversion or simply a defensive dismissal by highlighting the moral dilemmas of Western societies, only adds to ambiguities about Islam. While the Muslim world continues to suffer from economic backwardness, political repression, feudalism, monopolistic elitism and interstate and interethnic conflicts, the rejection of the Westernized elites is only symptomatic of the politics of extremism. The ruling groups and dynasts, despite their apparent ideological openness and nationalist sentiment, are, in most cases,

XVI

Preface XVll

quite autocratic, while the masses remain absolutely disempowered. The Islamists perceive them as clientist, sectional and opportunist regimes merely engaged in self-preservation or serving alien interests.

The totalitarian regimes, legitimated through Islam, socialism or militant nationalism, have failed to resolve the basic issues of poverty, corruption, social stratification and economic unevenness. Similarly, a few quasi-democratic regimes suffer from drift, polarization and monopolist elitism, leaving civic forces in the doldrums. Such regimes, despite their liberal postulations, are weak and evade accountability. Like their totalitarian and dictatorial counterparts, they are equally apprehensive of an open society and critical self­appraisal. All over the Muslim world, the political hierarchies and clerical elites are disdainful of an open debate on modernity. Despite their immersion in modernization they simplistically view it as a substitute for Westernization and decry it as a materialistic venture inherently inimical to their own spiritual values. However, the tran­scendent forces of modernity, like industrialization, urbanization, nationalism, globalization and inter-gender egalitarianism, have been radically transforming Muslim societies with a sustained educational, cultural and scientific input. In an awareness of such major and equally traumatic processes at work, visible recourse to an undefined Islamic activism has been taking place.

Such introspection could be a positive development if accompanied by multiple debate and acceptance of pluralism, which is not the case in the Muslim world itself, largely because of official denial and soci­etal dissuasion. A few dissenting voices are quickly silenced, whereas the diasporic Muslim communities have begun to operate as vanguard groups by negotiating between two powerful traditions. The uneven relationship between the West and the world of Islam, especially in recent years, has to be seen in reference to colonialism, Orientalism and continued Western politico-economic domination, as witnessed successively in cases like Palestine, the Gulf, Kashmir, Afghanistan, Lebanon, Somalia, Chechenya, Abkhazia, Kurdistan and Bosnia, where Muslim incapability to reach the fellow-faithful became painfully apparent. The anguish over continued underdevelopment, ideological waywardness, political suffocation and outbursts by 'insid­ers' like Salman Rushdie are feeding into Muslim militancy, which is galvanized through the usage of Islamic symbols. Political Islam is both a historical and a contemporary phenomenon which grows out of polit­ical suffocation, economic marginalization and a growing sense of hurt among the vast numbers of a community which has continuously found

XVlll Preface

pride in its historical traditions. It devotes an enormous amount of time, energy and resources to practising a religion - taken as Din -yet the massive predicament remains. At such a juncture, it is all the more important to investigate powerful forces of ideology, authority and society in their interface with the forces of modernity. Appropriation and negation appear to be the two major Muslim responses, whereas some intellectuals are endeavouring to construct a mediatory dis­course within a human context. While the Cold War was in fact a hot war for the Muslim world in cases such as the Middle East, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Central Asia or Indonesia, their abandonment by their erstwhile allies (patrons) has only exacerbated their agonies. However, the dependency syndrome continues with yet more reliance on loans from the Western governments and multinational institutions like the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, while the issues of pervasive poverty, illiteracy, malnutrition and disempowerment of vast sections of the population, including women, remain unaddressed. In the aftermath of socialism and transnational nationalisms such as Arab nationalism, Islam - that too in its most extreme incarnation - has been emerging as the sole instrument for political change, whereas the moderate groups are constantly being marginalized both by modernists and traditionalists. Despite a growing disenchantment with the Iranian model, the accent on Islam-centred reformism remains the focus of activism in several Muslim countries. Their half-hearted ideological experiences with liberal democracy or dilly-dallying with pseudo-Islamic or socialist systems have not ameliorated their underdevelopment and related malaise. Accent on militant ethnicity as in Kashmir, Kurdistan, Karachi and Chechenya, or terrorist violence against official buildings, as in Egypt, Algeria, Afghanistan, Bahrain and Turkey, exhibit ideological confusion, reac­tion against political suffocation and a revulsion against economic marginalization. Political Islam cannot be dismissed as a mere emotional outburst or a temporary aberration since it is deeply embed­ded in a massive quest for identity. But, as seen in Egypt, Algeria, Afghanistan or Somalia, it is not yet a consensual force and societal fragmentation and violence keep vetoing the forces of accommodation and reform. Violence against fellow-Muslims is being perpetrated in the name of Islam and Jihad, not always by Islamists but at times by several 'freak' contestants both from official and religious circles.

The South Asian subcontinent pioneered a crucial debate on Muslim identity especially after its encounter with the Raj and various responses began to emerge upholding different ideological

Preface XIX

stances. Pakistan was one of those several solutions put forth by the Muslim modernists, and in a sense, was to operate as a utopian model for many other post-colonial Muslim societies. Pakistan was equally opposed by the lslamists who, despite being deeply politicized, saw it as hijacking Muslim majority regions by the modernists, whose credentials as Muslims were not acceptable to Islamists. In addition to this ideological bipolarity, Pakistan, itself a territory-based Muslim nationalism, had to contend with regional and ethnic pluralism. These tensions add to its problems of governance. Fifty years on, Pakistan is a useful case-study in which to see such diverse forces at work in a predominantly Muslim society. Pakistan's dilemma in establishing a consensus-based political system and egalitarian society, and its location as a bridge between volatile regions (Southern, Western and Central Asia) has all the hallmarks and pangs of the challenges faced by so many contemporary Muslim soci­eties. Pakistan's relations with Britain, India and the USA, otherwise carried on adroitly over half a century, still amplify and illustrate some of these unresolved tensions in nation-building and an ongoing tussle between diverse traditions.

The first two chapters in this volume question the misimages of Muslims at large, and without externalizing the malaise investigate the contemporary state of affairs. Chapter 3 reviews recent researches in South Asian Muslim historiography- an extremely significant and exciting discipline in academic inquiry. Chapter 4 analyses the rela­tions between Pakistan and Britain in both a historical and a contemporary context, since colonial Britain unleashed the forces of modernity in the subcontinent. The contemporary cultural agents, operating between the two societies, have also been examined in this chapter. Chapter 5 concentrates on the imbalances within Pakistan's nation-building project due to an inconclusive debate on the status of Islam and nationalism within the polity. Chapter 6 attempts to define civil society within a Muslim experience and locates the divergences between the statist and societal prerogatives in Pakistan. Chapter 7 takes the discussion to regional issues with focus on Pakistan's rela­tions with India, as India remains the most crucial factor in understanding the state and society in Pakistan. Chapter 8 is a rather specialized study of the Kashmir dispute, the major regional flash­point which has kept South Asia volatile and the largest Muslim community divided due to the separate national identities involved. The dispute has a close interface with the nuclearization programmes being earnestly pursued by both the regional contenders.

XX Preface

Chapter 9 surveys Pakistan's relations with the other Muslim coun­tries and her limitations in not being able to build up a more communitarian platform. The Islamic brotherhood guaranteed cohe­sive moral support but the diverse national and ethnic loyalties do present curious scenarios and challenges to pursuing an enduring relationship. Pakistan, the self-avowed Muslim society, has a curious relationship with a superpower, the United States, which remains a crucial and equally controversial actor in the Muslim world. The cultural and intellectual impact transmitted through well-orches­trated American public diplomacy intensifies the ideological polarization within Muslim societies such as Pakistan and, on the whole, reaffirms the triumphant march of modernity. The Epilogue is not merely a conclusion; it is a reassessment of varying Muslim responses to the complex and ongoing relationship between Islam and the West. Globalization is turning out to be a new form of Western domination, adding to existing imbalances, and despite a greater mobility and awareness amongst Muslims, a cohesive, harmo­nious, ameliorative and consensual response is yet to come. The present study, however, does not see Islam and the West as two opposing forces mutually apart, but rather finds them intertwined. This mutuality, at collectivist levels, is still ambiguous, underlining the urgency of obtaining a fresher and interdependent convergence.