Much has been made of Pakistan’s apparent inscrutability in the post 9/11 years. Born as a democracy six decades ago, it has spent much of its young life under military rule. Founded by an avowedly secular man it has doggedly pursued the mirage of an ‘Islamic’ state, often at disastrous costs to its populace. Vulnerable to Islamist encroachment and increasing levels of terrorist violence, it has nonetheless nurtured a tenacious civil society that refuses to be cowed and an astonishingly vibrant media unafraid to criticize. Hostile and hospitable, welcoming and violent, Pakistan continues to astound.
But the story is not this simple, for amid all the chaos and contradiction, Pakistan now finds itself on the frontline in the global struggle against Islamist extremism – a struggle many believe will be won or lost within its borders. However, even as the eyes of the world remain focused on this young country, the international community seems no closer to understanding its deep complexity. Too often a reductionist approach has been adopted towards Pakistan, viewing it simply through its connection with terrorism. But no credible solution to Pakistan’s current predicament can afford to ignore the country’s complex socio-political, economic and developmental landscape. I was deeply aware of this whilst co-authoring a recent report entitled Pakistan: Identity, Ideology and Beyond. Based on Quilliam’s in-depth knowledge of Islamist ideologies, extensive on-the-ground work in Pakistan and the feedback received from students, activists and opinion-makers within the country, the report advocates a paradigm-shift towards understanding Pakistan.
First off, to win the ‘battle of ideas’ it is necessary to recast Islamism as an ideological rather than a religious threat. By making a clear distinction between the faith of Islam and the political ideology of Islamism – which manipulates Islamic injunctions to justify its ends but is nevertheless an ideology that uses modern political concepts in its efforts to propagate a particular political system – it is made clear that a rejection of the Islamist agenda does not equate to a rejection of Islam. Such a shift in perspective would be particularly significant in Pakistan today, where in recent years a dangerous rift has emerged between those belonging to the left – who have increasingly come to be seen as averse to religion – and the large numbers within Pakistani society who follow a conservative version of Islam, but reject Islamist ideology nonetheless. Uniting people with such differing religious preferences on the basis of their common opposition to Islamism therefore necessitates that Islamism be challenged on an ideological rather than a religious front.
Such a shift is supported by new research that challenges the long-standing claim of madrasahs being the main breeding ground of Jihadism. Although it is true that some militants hail from the madrasah system, it is becoming increasingly apparent that the ideological drivers of Islamist and Jihadist movements are educated in schools and universities, often to a very high degree. A recent study of Jihadist profiles revealed that 87% of the sample studied had not been to madrasahs. In fact, a whopping 62% had actually attended university. This again has serious policy implications in Pakistan, where more attention needs to be focused on schools and university campuses in order to equip young educated Pakistanis with the necessary ideological tools to confidently rebut the Islamist threat.
Notwithstanding, no lasting defeat can be inflicted on Islamism unless Pakistan addresses the question of its troubled identity, an issue which affects the nation as a whole. Having failed to unite its ethnically, culturally and religiously diverse populace under the elusive banner of an ‘Islamic’ state, successive governments have allowed provincial hostilities and Islamist ideologies to flourish. It is about time that the citizens of Pakistan, many of whom are thirsty for change, take a decisive step towards forging new ways of thinking about their identity – one that is rooted in its secular founding principles and that can celebrate the rich diversity of Pakistan.