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Abstract
This paper examines ethnicity, race and religion, as represented by the popular print media in Pakistan, with an aim to understand the development of attitudes towards diversity and to outline the prospects for multicultural policies in Pakistan. The paper examines how different ideologies are operative in the media texts and provides examples of perspectives regarding cultural diversity. Newspaper columns related to ethnicity, race and religion, published in two leading Urdu-language newspapers between February and July 2006 were located and analysed. The data reveals that the issues related to sub-cultures in Pakistani society remain generally ignored or downplayed. There is overwhelming emphasis on Pakistan's Islamic identity, which serves as an overall melting pot within which other forms of identity such as race, ethnicity and religious denomination remain invisible. Consequently, there is a significant discrepancy in the concept of Pakistani identity and how it fits the realities of a multicultural society.
Notes
1 M. Daley, ‘The Representation of “Race” in Mass Media’ (1997) [www.mikedaley.net/essay3.htm, accessed 15 February 2006].
2 S. Hall, ‘The Whites of Their Eyes—Racist Ideologies and the Media’, in G. Dines and J. Humez (eds), Gender, Race and Class in Media (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 1995), pp.19–20.
3 G.B. Rodman, Elvis After Elvis: The Posthumous Career of A Living Legend (New York: Routledge, 1996), pp.30–1.
4 H. Zaheer, The Separation of East Pakistan: The Rise and Realization of Bengali Muslim Nationalism (Karachi: Oxford University Press, 1994).
5 I.A. Rehman, ‘Minorities in South Asia’ (Commission on Human Rights, Working Group on Minorities, Paper No. E/CN.4/Sub.2/AC.5/2003/WP.13, Ninth Session, 12–16 May 2003) [www.unhchr.ch/Huridocda/Huridoca.nsf/0/4cb872911bbc8b8ac1256d27002e0311/$FILE/G0314163.doc].
6 See for example Jinnah's presidential address to Pakistan's first Constituent Assembly on 11 August 1948, in S.M. Burke (ed.), Jinnah: Speeches and Statements: 1947–1948 (Karachi: Oxford University Press, 2000); also see J. Syed, ‘Pakistani Model of Diversity Management: Rediscovering Jinnah's Vision’, in International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, Vol.28, nos.3 & 4 (2008), pp.100–13.
7 The orthodox Muslims were generally represented by the ulema such as those belonging to the Deoband School and Jamaat-e-Islami who opposed the creation of Pakistan for various ideological reasons. In contrast, the liberal group was represented by leaders such as Muhammad Ali Jinnah and Muhammad Iqbal who supported the idea of a separate homeland for Muslims in the sub-continent to develop a state based on Islamic egalitarian and democratic principles.
8 For a discussion of the liberal and orthodox perspectives of diversity and equal opportunity in Islam, see J. Syed, ‘A Context-Specific Perspective of Equal Employment Opportunity in Islamic Societies’, in Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Vol.25, no.1 (2008), pp.135–51.
9 C. Renfrew, Archaeology and Language: The Puzzle of Indo-European Origins (London: Jonathan Cape, 1987).
10 Government of Pakistan, ‘Population Statistics’ (Islamabad: Federal Bureau of Statistics, 2006).
11 Rehman, ‘Minorities in South Asia’.
12 S.S. Ali and J. Rehman, Indigenous Peoples and Ethnic Minorities of Pakistan: Constitutional and Legal Perspectives (Richmond: NIAS/Curzon Press, 2002), p.3.
13 C. Jaffrelot, A History of Pakistan and Its Origins (London: Anthem Press, 2002).
14 Rehman, ‘Minorities in South Asia’.
15 Ibid., pp.11–12.
16 CIA World Factbook—Pakistan (Washington: CIA, 2005) [www.cia.gov, accessed 27 January 2006].
17 Ibid.
18 Syed, ‘Pakistani Model of Diversity Management’.
19 Rehman, ‘Minorities in South Asia’.
20 UNDP, United Nations Human Development Report—Cultural Liberty in Today's Diverse World (New York: UNDP Press, 2004); also see H. Haqqani, ‘“Weeding out the Heretics”: Sectarianism in Pakistan’, in Current Trends in Islamist Ideology, Vol.4 (2006), pp.73–88.
21 ‘About the Division’, Ministry of Minorities, Government of Pakistan [www.pakistan.gov.pk, accessed 11 June 2006].
22 Rehman, ‘Minorities in South Asia’, pp.15–16.
23 See for example Women Living under Muslim Laws (WLUML), ‘Pakistan: Forced Conversion of Hindu Women in Karachi’ (20 Dec. 2005) [http://www.wluml.org/english/newsfulltxt.shtml?cmd%5B157%5D=x-157-496353, accessed 17 April 2008].
24 J. Naqvi, ‘Equal Employment Practices: HR in Pakistan’, HR Post (2003) [www.hrpost.com/naqvi01.html, accessed 18 June 2004].
25 J. Naqvi, ‘Towards Equal Employment Opportunities’, The Nation (Lahore, 28 July 2004), Business Page.
26 T. Allen and J. Seaton, The Media of Conflict (London: Zed Books, 1999).
27 J. Curran and M. Gurevitch, Mass Media and Society (London: Arnold, 1996).
28 D. Kellner, ‘Cultural Studies, Multiculturalism and Media Culture’, in G. Dines and J. Hume (eds), Gender, Race and Class in Media (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 1995), pp.5–17.
29 Y. Jiwani, ‘The Media, “Race” and Multiculturalism. A Presentation to the BC Advisory Council on Multiculturalism’ (The FREDA Centre for Research on Violence against Women and Children, 17 March 1995), [http://www.vancouver.sfu.ca/freda/articles/media.htm, accessed 16 April 2008].
30 A. Fleras and J. Kunz, Media and Minorities: Representing Diversity in a Multicultural Canada (Toronto: Thompson, 2001).
31 Kellner, ‘Cultural Studies, Multiculturalism and Media Culture’.
32 P. Essed, Understanding Everyday Racism: An Interdisciplinary Theory (Newbury Park: Sage, 1991), p.10.
33 K. Dunn and M. Mahtani, ‘Media Representation of Ethnic Minorities’, in Progress and Planning, Vol.55, no.3 (2001), pp.163–71.
34 J. Thompson, Ideology and Modern Culture (Cambridge: Polity Press, 1990).
35 I. Hodder, ‘The Interpretation of Documents and Material Culture’, in D. Weinberg (ed.), Qualitative Research Methods (Oxford: Blackwell, 2002), pp.266–80.
36 Based on this author's correspondence with a journalist based in Lahore.
37 Extremists operating under orders from Zarqawi bombed Shi'a mosques and killed hundreds of Shi'as in attacks on civilian targets. See Haqqani, ‘“Weeding Out the Heretics”: Sectarianism in Pakistan’, pp.73–88; and N. Kazimi, ‘Zarqawi's Anti-Shia Legacy: Original or Borrowed?’, in Current Trends in Islamist Ideology, Vol.4 (2006), pp.53–72.
38 Mutiur-Rehman is considered a hero in Bangladesh and a traitor in Pakistan.
39 The River Indus, and a proposal for the construction of the Kala Bagh Dam, is one of the key inter-provincial disputes in Pakistan. The River Indus is also an issue of contention among the people of Sindh, Punjab and the NWFP.