Transcript for:
Overview of Pakistan Studies Ideology

dear students my name is Dr Hassan asari and I'm your instructor for the course Pakistan studies which we are starting today Pakistan studies is a fascinating course because it covers Pakistan's history politics and Society in other words this course is about you about me about all of us and the country and the environment we are living in in this course we will will be covering important developments that have some relationship with Pakistan some of the events and Concepts that we are going to discuss may be familiar to you because Pakistan studies is part of the course of studies at the lower level here in this course we will make a very comprehensive detailed and indepth study of the Pakistan movement that is the movement for establishment of Pakistan Pakistan's political history since Independence and some basic facts about Pakistan in other words you will have a better understanding and you will be better equipped with the information about Pakistan and about all of us now let's go to the first topic of the course the first topic of the course is ideology of Pakistan and in this connection we will will be dealing with four issues number one what is ideology what are the meanings of ideology second what is two Nation the and ideology of Pakistan or na Pakistan three what were the factors that led the Muslims of British India to demand a separate state for Pakistan four what are the implications of the two Nation Theory and ideology of Pakistan for Pakistan's political process institutions and processes now first let us take the first issue that is what is ideology and what are its meanings at the simplest level ideology is a political statement however every political statement cannot be described as an ideology now this is very important and I will repeat that at the simplest level ideology is a political statement but every political statement is not an ideology if you pick up newspaper you will find statements by political leaders statements by by political parties statement by senior government officials president of Pakistan Prime Ministers cabinet members they make statements on social political economic issues and all these are political statements however none of these can be described as ideology then what is ideology ideology is a set of beliefs values and ideals a group or a nation subscribes to this set of principles or ideals has to be engrained over a period of time in the social consciousness of the society therefore this becomes a part of the psyche and part of the social Heritage of a group and also of a nation in other words ideology is a set of principles it is a framework of action and a guidance system that gives order and meaning to life and Human Action it endows a nation or a group with a sense of purpose a sense of commitment a sense of identity a desire to work for achievement of certain goals and objectives therefore ideology plays a very Dynamic role in the lives of Nations as well as groups because it shows them the path it shows them the destination which they want to achieve in other words we can say that ideology emphasizes certain things one ideology is a set of principles ideals and blueprint for the future that's one important characteristic second it offers a review of the existing social political and economic Arrangements it is in fact a critique of the existing social political and economic order third it has to create a thinking and Consciousness based on the principles and ideals of the IDE ideology four ideology plays the role of legitimization and delegitimization that is both roles are played by the ideology by legitimization means that the ideological principles and values are used to justify certain actions and to justify certain developments similarly ideology is also used to delegitimize to criticize and to condemn certain developments that do not fall within the framework of ideology then number five we have to talk about the role of the leadership and the state there has to be a leadership that mobilizes people on the basis of that ideology similarly a state can play such a role State can be instrumental to implementing the ideology so both leadership and state are needed when we are disc discussing ideology or its principles basically we are discussing things at the level of abstraction at theoretical level we are basically talking of certain theoretical abstract principles which emphasize certain things for example somebody would say we should speak the truth we should be honest now these are principles in the case of ideology these principles have to be shifted from level of abstraction to level of reality you have to create institutions and societal processes that reflect ideological principles once you do that such institutions and processes will reinforce your ideology this creates an interesting and challenging situation that your institutions must reflect the ideology and if they do they in turn strengthen the ideology and this circle goes on ideology gives you world view gives you certain set of principles it is your responsibility to implement it an ideology must address the societal problems if it doesn't then in the long run ideology suffers we have talked about the concept of ideology its meaning now let's see what is ideology of Pakistan in the light of our discussion when we talk of ideology of Pakistan first we have to talk about two Nation Theory which was the basis for the establishment of the state of Pakistan two Nation Theory means that there were two major nations in British India the Muslims and the others the argument is that Muslims are not a community but a nation a nation with distinctive identity distinctive culture civilization and outlook on life and Outlook of life therefore Muslims are a nation now this concept the concept of Muslims of South Asia or Muslim of British India Muslims of subcontinent as a nation developed long before the establishment of Pakistan in fact the concept of Muslim as a nation led to the establishment of Pakistan Pakistan itself did not create nationhood nationhood came into existence before and then on the basis of that concept of nation the new state of Pakistan came into existence the underlying idea was that the Muslims of this subcontinent wanted to preserve and protect their distinctive identity and Advance their interests they also wanted to order their lives in accordance with the ideals and the philosophy of life without being overwhelmed by an unsympathetic majority initially the Muslims demanded certain safeguards certain constitutional Securities they also demanded a federal system of government for India where provinces enjoy autonomy it was at a later stage that the Muslims demanded a separate State the reason being that neither the British nor the Congress was willing to accommodate these demands of the Muslims as a nation and they thought that constitutional safeguards and provincial autonomy will ensure them a safe future now the basic question is what is the basis of this distinct and exclusive Muslim Identity or Muslim nationhood in this region nation is a dynamic concept it is a desire to live together under mutually agreed institutions and political arrangements for the objective of achieving certain shared goals and and objectives this kind of sentiment amongst the Muslims developed with reference to Islam it was the Islamic identity that LED them to this Consciousness that they are a separate identity with separate interests which they must protect and promote if you look at the whole history we can talk about other factors we can talk about role of uh history we can talk about uh the economy but it was Islam which was Central to the development of national Consciousness amongst the Muslims of South Asia Islam entered this subcontinent first through the traders that came to the western parts of India then Muslim conquerors came into to India from Northwestern regions that is from Central Asia they got settled here they became part of this Society they were influenced by some of the local customs and the geographic conditions the environmental conditions also influenced their living Style their habits their attitude however Islam continued to be the core of their identity and Muslims jealously guarded this distinctive character which was Islamic four factors have influence the development of Muslim Consciousness and identity in this region first Islam could not be absorbed into other religious and cultural systems that existed in India at that time different systems interacted with each other but Islam maintained its cultural identity there were efforts to create some kind of mixing of the local culture of Hinduism of Islam but these efforts did not succeed and there were movements in uh in Islam in India that fought against that kind of struggle for example the role played by Sheikh Ahmed s Hindi is very important to maintain the distinct and separate identity of the Muslims of this region and then the second factor that shaped the consciousness of the Muslims of this region was conversions of non-muslims to Islam Islam upheld the doctrine of social justice and equality as against the cast system that was prevalent in India therefore a large number of non-muslims got converted to Islam because Islam ensured them equality and also social justice and this contributed to enlarging the Muslim Community in this region the Third thir factor that is important is the impact of Muslim rule Muslims ruled over India for several hundred years and this rule created self- pride and attachment with the religio political identity the Muslims became conscious of the fact that they are important and they could not be steamrolled by the majority Community or by the British who had come into India the fourth factor that shaped their disposition and Consciousness was the challenge of western expansion ISM in India especially the Advent of the British the impact of British rule was not equal for both communities that is the Muslims and non-muslims especially the Hindus the Muslim who were rulers before the British came into India felt the brunt of the rise of the British more than any other community the British established thems in India and they created new governmental system and governmental recruitment to Services two of the policies that the British adopted made relevant whether a person was Muslim or not first the recruitment to Services through open and competitive exams second the gradual introduction of the elective principle in India that is a gradual introduction of the principle of electing representatives that principle and also the pattern of competitive exam created a competition between the two communities and issue like who is who became very important the major Muslim concern during that uh time uh were how to protect and promote their identity against the pressure that were being generated because of British rule and also the attitude of the majority Community coming to the attitude of the majority Community I can mention two major developments that will elaborate what I'm saying here one in 1867 the Hindu leadership in city of Banaras started a movement for replacing Udu with Hindi written in D nagar script what is often described as uddu Hindi controversy that began in 1867 and this was basically designed to push back the Muslims who were still some of whom were still important in the administrative system and it was also meant to push back Muslim culture which was obviously very WID spread at that time the second development that affected the Muslims at that time and made them more conscious of they being distinct they being separate having their own interest was a series of revivalist movements that developed in India towards the end of the 19th century a series of revivalist movements Hindu revivalist movements developed although they were targeting the British but in reality the target shifted from the British to the Muslims and in the last decade of the 19th century you see lot of anti-muslim Rights and lot of anti-muslim propaganda which created a sense of insecurity amongst the Muslims who felt that a partnership a Cooperative interaction an environment of working together would not be created therefore by the beginning of the 20th century the issue for the Muslims of this subcontinent was one how could they protect their identity and it in what Manner they should present their demands it is because of these reasons that in the last quarter of the 19th century and more so in the beginning of the 20th century you have certain Muslim organizations coming up that were demanding that Muslims rights should be protected and how should the Muslims deal with the other community in the beginning of the 20th century there are one or two significant development which help us to understand how the separate identity began to crystallize in the political domain how on the basis of their separate identity they were making political demands the first example is that of the Shimla deputation of 1906 the Muslim Elite the Muslim leaders got together and met the vice in 190 six demanding that Muslims should elect their own representatives to the elective bodies the British was creating to the legislative assembly and to other bodies this is what is called the principle of separate electorate that Muslims elect their own represent resentatives others elect their own Representatives separately and exclusively this principle was incorporated into the government of India act 1909 that is from that time onwards Muslims were electing their own Representatives because they were convinced because of the political experience that their interests could not be protected by others and they should have their own Representatives the other important development during that period was the establishment of the Muslim League the political organization that ultimately led the movement for establishment of Pakistan this was set up in December 1906 in Daka by the Muslim Elite in order to provide a political platform to the Muslims of South Asia so that they can review their situation and formulate their political demands and also present those demands to the British government keeping in view what they defined as their interest if you look at the subsequent development you will find that the same theme runs through you take other important development where this very notion that Muslims are a separate nation with their own distinctive cultural heritage their religio political identity interests and also certain shared goals for example take lnno PCT an arrangement that was signed between the Muslim League and the congress party this was a kind of a formula for the new constitutional and political arrangements for for India if you read the text you will find that major thrust of the Muslim demand was some kind of constitutional and legal Arrangements which could ensure safeguards and guarantees for their rights and interests similarly if you look at the KA aam's 14 points this statement described as the 14 points of the K aam is in a way a comprehensive statement about Muslim interests about Muslim perspective about Muslim demands on the political situation and constitutional development in India the basic difference between the approaches of the congress party and the Muslim League was very clear and diametrically opposed the congress party did not attach much importance to the identity derived from Islam their argument was that the religious differences are skin deep if you scratch your screen as this skin below that you have indianness below that we are all Indians irrespective of the fact whether you follow this religion or that religion and Congress was arguing that they should all get together and struggle against the British for the freedom of India that was the Congress uh point of view the Muslim League was in favor of fighting against the British for Independence however the Muslim League was emphasizing that first the question of Hindu Muslim relationship or what was at that time being described as the Hindu Muslim question should be settled they should know what would be their position in the new constitutional Arrangement and unless there is a political Arrangement unless there is an agreement unless there is an understanding on these issues the Muslim League could not leave all these issues to the Goodwill of the majority or could not leave these issues to be settled after Independence because their fear was that after Independence the majority which was unsympathetic would steamroll their demands and ignore them the attitude of the Congress reflected a lack of appreciation and understanding of the role Islam had played and continues to play in shaping the psyche and world view of the Muslims of the subcontinent Islam is integral to Pakistani identity and this is because of the political experience of the Muslim Community ideology here you could say ideology of Pakistan ideology can be derived from a speci ual framework it can also be derived from worldly intellectual exercise when we say ideology can be derived from spiritual system we can give the example of Islamic ideology based on the Islamic principles and the other ideologies we can give the example of mar ISM which is worldly intellectual exercise however an ideology to become a political ideology an ideology to become a basis of political action must be relevant to the conditions of a society that is at the operational level in the word of reality the ordinary people must see that this ideology is relevant is valued by them and politically they have come to the conclusion that without that they will be in trouble so the Muslims of South Asia initially started with demands like safeguards like constitutional Securities and as I said earlier a federal model however by 1940 they learned from political experience especially the experience to live under Congress Ministries at the provincial level during 1937 and 39 in 1937 elections were held in India at the provincial level and the Congress formed Ministries in most of the Indian provinces the Muslim experience under these Congress Ministries was very bitter they for the first time realized what will be their fate if the congress party rules all over India and this experience played an important role in converting their demand for safeguards to a separate State Pakistan and that is why in 1940 the resolution was passed by the Muslim League in its annual session at laor which called for the establishment of a separate State for the Muslims of uh South Asia therefore it was the political experience it was what they had learned over time that they realized that they have to have a separate State wherein they could implement the principles the ideals which are dear to them and which they emphasize to Define their identity and these were the principles which they had acquired from Islam the principles of Islam for human beings for Muslims therefore Islam has been and continues to be integral to Pakistani identity after the establishment of Pakistan two Nation Theory which emphasized that Muslims and others are two different nations transformed itself into p Pakistan ideology Islam is Central to the lives and world view of the Muslims of Pakistan now the important issue is what it stands for when we say that Islam is integral to Pakistani identity or Pakistan ideology is derived from Islam or Islam serves as the ethical Foundation of Pakistan what does all this mean in Practical terms this means that Islam plays an important role in the establishment of political institutions and political processes and these institutions will emphasize rule of law socioeconomic Justice Equity fair play equality of opportunity to all citizens irrespective of cast Creed religion respect for human dignity and human rights religious and cultural tolerance protection of the rights of the religious minorities their religious freedom in other words these are the principles the foundation of the political system of Pakistan and it is we who have to create the institutions on the basis of these principles dear students today in this first lecture we discussed the concept of ideology two Nation Theory ideology of Pakistan and its relevance to Pakistan this is the first lecture in this course and we will have 29 more lectures that will cover the course of Pakistan studiesa until we meet again game