The formative phase of Pakistan from 1857-1948 saw religious issues play a prominent role in politics. There were differences between political and religious elites over the philosophy of the new state, with religious elites wanting to strictly follow Islamic principles. After partition, Pakistan faced challenges of nation-building, security threats from India and Afghanistan, and internal disparities between East and West Pakistan in culture, language and economics. Religious organizations pushed for greater Islamization of Pakistan's laws and constitution in this early period.
Original Description:
It’s about what happened in the formative phase of Pakistan
Original Title
Islam and Politics in the Formative Phase of Pakistan
The formative phase of Pakistan from 1857-1948 saw religious issues play a prominent role in politics. There were differences between political and religious elites over the philosophy of the new state, with religious elites wanting to strictly follow Islamic principles. After partition, Pakistan faced challenges of nation-building, security threats from India and Afghanistan, and internal disparities between East and West Pakistan in culture, language and economics. Religious organizations pushed for greater Islamization of Pakistan's laws and constitution in this early period.
The formative phase of Pakistan from 1857-1948 saw religious issues play a prominent role in politics. There were differences between political and religious elites over the philosophy of the new state, with religious elites wanting to strictly follow Islamic principles. After partition, Pakistan faced challenges of nation-building, security threats from India and Afghanistan, and internal disparities between East and West Pakistan in culture, language and economics. Religious organizations pushed for greater Islamization of Pakistan's laws and constitution in this early period.
Pakistan The formative phase of Pakistan was from 1857-1948. The formative phase concludes the strengths and weaknesses the Muslims had to face during the separation. Religion is dealt with literature also, its role in politics and resultant extremism can mainly be classified into different categories. Some people believes that religion is always violent, some says that only Islam and not other religion holds that they are necessarily violent and it offers better explanation concerning the link of religion to radicalism and politics. Nonetheless, Islam, which is in the focal point of the western condemnation for being the religion of the radical or fundamentalists also faced with a more formidable challenge of the difference between the Islamic thought of traditionalism and modernism.
The war occurred between two completely different major
communities; Hindus and Muslims who fought two different wars of freedom and salvation both had different views in their minds. There were myriad problems for example; separation between religion and politics, accurate interpretation of Quran, human rights, women rights and the rights of the minorities. The two-nation theory started becoming the crucial point between these nations. And they both wanted the right of self- determination. In 1940, Lahore Resolution occurred in which Muslims decided to get a separate country from Hindus because of different point of views. From 1940-1947, the real struggle for independence begun, from Lahore Resolution to the disclosure of Pakistan. The meaning of Pakistan is explained in the spirit of the Quranic principles. Also Muslim would be given an opportunity to shape themselves according to the Quranic principles that are laid down in the Sharia. The Islamic traditional ideology would be translated into fundamental structure of a modern state. There are two types of elites in the Pakistan movement; political and the other one is religious. Both have different point of views for the philosophy of the new state. The creation of Pakistan would be completely different experimentation in Islamism due to the religious elites after Islamic modernists did not find any difference between Islam and democracy. Islamic society had the perfect role model, the Holy Prophet and the Caliphs. The people of Pakistan should follow the teachings of Islam and needs to be molded into the perfect pattern. Religious leaders used to think that after getting a separate homeland there will be freedom to preach Islam and the value system will be changed according to the Quranic principles after insisting. The differences of two powerful elites were submerged to fight the forces of the British colonialism and Hindu nationalism. The partition of Pakistan was done, the least developed areas became the part of Pakistan. The Pakistan movement was successful in this manner. The policy making was made due to the cultural and linguistic disparities among the inhabitants.
After the partition, people who were living in the West
Pakistan migrated to India and people who were living in Pakistan were poor people they were not that rich. Because of this reason there was a serious blow to the economic growth of the new state. There were numerous problems after the partition, a chronic source of stress in the body politics. Nation building, security of Pakistan and Islamization were the critical problems of the internal politics of Pakistan. The national security was the main problem because the existence of the state was depended on it.
In October 1947, the very first serious attack occurred on the
Pakistan’s territorial integrity. After accepting the Instrument of Accession by India from Kashmir’s Maharaja, who decided to join the Indian Union. Because of the bad relations between two nations there was always a military threat from India in the mind of those who made the Pakistan’s foreign policy. Because of some other reasons Afghanistan also refused to help Pakistan in any situation. Afghanistan was the only one who casted a negative vote to Pakistan in 1947 when Pakistan’s application came. While the friendship between Russia and India started to grow so because of this the US started to grow interest in Pakistan’s defence. Special military treaty was also entered by these two countries. Threat of a foreign attack started to reduce after this treaty.
Nation Building was also a critical problem. Pakistan was
emerged in the name of Islam but there were other problems that were raised after the separation of Pakistan. For example the disparity in customs, cultures, language and ethics. Only on the base of as being different from others we demanded a separate nation because of our disparities.
“We should begin to work in that spirit and in course of
time all these angularities of the majority and minority communities will vanish.” (Quaid-e-Azam)
Between East and West Pakistan the chronic political and
economic hurdles were highlighted in the politics of the first three decades of Pakistan’s existence. The differences due to culture, language and economical views were exaggerated because of the geographical difference between them. West Pakistan was underdeveloped in the aspect of East Pakistan. The literacy rate was also higher in the East. The relations between these two were always under continuous stress due to the geographical discrepancies. Pakistan had been created in the name of Islam according to the Islamic principles the constitution has been made. In 1948, September, when the state came into existence the inspiring leadership of Quaid-e-Azam was deprived. But after him Pakistan became politically weak and it awakened the religious of the country into realization that if they don’t follow the Islamic principles there would be no meaning to demand a separate nation from Hindus. Quaid-e-Azam did not live that much after we got a separate nation from Hindus to precisely indicate the Islamic contents of the Pakistan’s constitution. Muslim League after his death became more vulnerable to the attacks from the religious organizations.
A resolution was passed for demanding that the government
should create an office for a leading religious scholar of Shaikh al-Islam on January 13, 1948. Another resolution also asked to create the Ministry of Religious Affairs.
In the Islamization of Pakistan there were some difficulties and
one of them was that the religious leaders of the state were never a part of the leadership in the Muslim League. Jamaat-e- Islami became the most outspoken supporter of Islamic state after the creation of Pakistan, they initially opposed the idea for the Muslims of South Asia as a separate nation.