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ABSTRACT
Modern societies are confronted with a plethora of issues that have far-reaching socio-political ramifications. The negative effects of diversity are primarily the result of state policies. Where societies were not homogenous, attempts were made to bring desperate populations together to advance official nationalist projects. Pakistan, being dominantly a Muslim state, has religio-cultural and ethnic diversity where minority groups have raised their voices against the unjust state’s policies. This study examines how these issues evolved over the course of Pakistan’s history. The paper attempts to answer the question ‘why has Pakistan’s plurality become unmanageable?’ The results demonstrate that a high degree of centralization of authority, the adoption of Urdu as a national language, a sense of domination of the central institutions by the Punjabis, underrepresentation of ethnic minorities in state institutions, and controlled society has aggravated the position of diverse groups in Pakistan, with colossal consequences to national economy and social harmony.
Acknowledgments
The authors are highly indebted to the honourable reviewers for their valuable suggestions and comments on the earlier draft of this paper.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Notes
1. Jafri, “High Profits Encourage Textile Industry to Shift to Bangladesh.”
2. Tanwir, “Gender Neutrality and the Pakistani Bureaucracy.”
3. Choudhury, Constitutional Development in Pakistan.
4. Adeney, Federalism and Ethnic Conflict Regulation in India and Pakistan.
5. Kapur, Pakistan in Crisis.
6. Cohen, The Idea of Pakistan.
7. Jalal, Democracy and Authoritarianism in South Asia.
8. Embree, “Pakistan: the Burden of Islam.”
9. Ahmed, F. Ethnicity and politics in Pakistan: Oxford University Press, USA, 1998.
10. Talbot, Pakistan: A Modern History.
11. Callard, Pakistan: A Political Study.
12. Ali, “Political Forces in Sind.”
13. Ganguly, “Pakistan: Neither State Nor Nation.”
14. Mumtaz, “Nationalism, Ethnicity and the Mohajirs Political Movement in Sindh.”
15. Siddiqi, The Politics of Ethnicity in Pakistan.
16. Jaffrelot, “Nationalism Without a Nation.”
17. Samad, “In and Out of Power.”
18. Malik, The History of Pakistan.
19. Rahman, Language and Politics in Pakistan.
20. Zaidi, “Sindhi vs. Muhajir.”
21. Ayres, Speaking Like a State.
22. Siddiqa-Agha, Military Inc.
23. Amin, Ethno-national Movements of Pakistan.
24. Kukreja, Contemporary Pakistan.
25. Sayeed, Pakistan: the Formative Phase.
26. Ahmed, “Centralization, Authoritarianism, and the Mismanagement of Ethnic Relations in Pakistan,” 107–9.
27. Niaz, The Culture of Power and Governance of Pakistan 1947–2000.
28. Kardar, “Polarization in the Regions and Prospects for Integration.”
29. Gellner, “Metamorphosis.”
30. Jinnah, Speeches as Governor-General of Pakistan.
31. Chowdhury, Pakistan, Its Politics and Bureaucracy.
32. Waseem, “Politics and the State in Pakistan.”
33. Keane, Democracy and Civil Society.
34. Shafqat, Civil-Military Relations in Pakistan.
35. Shah, “Civil Society in the Service of an Authoritarian State,” 357.
36. Kamran, Democracy and Governance in Pakistan.
37. Newberg, Judging the State.
38. Malik, State and Civil Society in Pakistan.
39. Ibid.
40. See note 5 above.
41. See note 6 above.
42. See note 9 above.
43. See note 41 above.
44. See note 10 above.
45. See note 7 above.
46. See note 23 above.
47. Ibid.
48. See note 19 above.
49. See note 46 above.
50. See note 16 above.
51. See note 44 above.
52. See note 21 above.
53. Ibid.
54. See note 44 above.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Jamal Shah
Jamal Shah is an Associate Professor at Government Post Graduate College Mardan, Pakistan. He obtained his PhD in Political Science in Turkey. In his research, Professor Shah specializes in multiculturalism, identity politics, toleration and classical liberalism.
Bakhtiar Khan
Bakhtiar Khan is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Political Science, University of Buner, Pakistan. He has secured National Research Program for Universities (NRPU), a prestigious Research Project in 2021 funded by the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan. In his research, Professor Khan focuses on governance, electoral politics, political parties and democracy in Pakistan and governance in erstwhile FATA.