MUSLIM ZION
Pakistan as a Political Idea
Faisal Devji
Harvard University Press;
278 pages; Rs 895
More recently, Pakistan has also been viewed as a British attempt to set up a client state that would provide the Western alliance with a near-permanent Muslim ally in South, West and Central Asia. It is only this long-term strategic advantage for Western interests that can explain Britain's support for the birth of this historical and geopolitical curiosity, and the continued Western accommodation with regard to Pakistan's excesses - nuclear proliferation, patronage of jihad, and the country's sponsorship of cross-border terrorism.
Now, distinguished Oxford scholar Faisal Devji provides a unique insight into the underpinnings of the idea of Pakistan. Mr Devji sees a parallel between the Zionist movement for Israel and the Muslim nationalist movement for Pakistan, which together dominated South Asian and West Asian politics in the first part of the last century. Both movements sought to mobilise widely dispersed "minority" communities against perceived persecution from the majority, and placed before this "religious nationality" the vision of a homeland in an "alien geography, without a necessary reference to shared blood and a rootedness in the soil" - which had till then constituted the basis of nationalism in Europe.
Religious identity was to be at the core of this enterprise. At its inception, however, the vision was international and de-territorialised. As a scholar quoted by Mr Devji says, "Out of nothing - the Zionist enterprise would create a unity, a language, a homeland where there was none before - it knows itself as a child of the psyche, a dream, a figment of the brain." Similarly, the votaries of Pakistan were called upon to repudiate their Indian past, their colonial experience and their regional identities. The Zionists and the Muslim nationalists were motivated by "the fantasy of creating a state by purely rational means, one that was founded upon its idea alone".
Their early proponents did not see their state as a religious entity. Mr Devji points out that for Jinnah and many of his associates in the Muslim League, "religion was an abstract and even empty idea because they had no intention of defining Islamic practice for Pakistani citizens". Similarly, early Zionist leaders were more influenced by ideas and ideologies in Central and Eastern Europe in the early 20th century, and were often leftist - occasionally even fascist - in orientation.
Mr Devji provides an excellent narrative of the course of Muslim politics, its interactions with other Indian movements, and the commitment to a separate political entity - Pakistan. This is familiar territory, but it is presented with an entirely new perspective - the author refers to contemporary literature, poetry, and political speeches and writings.
By the 1940s, the gap between Muslim separatism and the nationalist mainstream had become so deep that while the Congress saw freedom as "historical recovery", for Jinnah it was an "unprecedented cyclonic revolution". But ambiguities remained: Jinnah saw Muslims who remained in India as a "sub-national" minority, but spoke of Muslims, Hindus and others in his country as being part of a single nation. In fact, in an apparent slip, he even referred to the 400 million people of the subcontinent as a single nation.
Originating in the same idea, Israel and Pakistan share many attributes. Both subordinate the idea of territory to religious identity. However, Israel has come to attach a messianic value to its "sacred" land (whose boundaries remain undefined), while Pakistan remains convinced that its nationhood would not be complete without the acquisition of Kashmir (vaguely referring to the Valley). Both promote national consolidation based on the fear of eradication by hostile neighbours and larger global conspiracies. In both countries, though religion constitutes the identity of the state, neither of them is strictly theocratic. In other words, they pay lip service to divine law; their day-to-day affairs are conducted on the basis of man-made legislation.
Moreover, neither in Pakistan nor in Israel did the Zionist idea provide any space for pluralism. Thus, in neither country has the founding idea of its nationhood met with much success. In regard to Pakistan, Mr Devji bemoans the "recurring account" of polls and military rule and "repetitive themes" of demonic Indian intentions and American conspiracies. The idea of Pakistan is mired in "Islamic" politics that is intolerant, providing no evidence of the vision that its leader, Liaquat Ali Khan, set out in 1945, when he said, "We have to show by precept and example that the future of humanity lies in the teachings of Islam."
Mr Devji does not discuss it, but the situation in Israel is not much better. The non-accommodative and aggressive policies of its successive leaders, the messianic zeal and propensity for violence of its settler community, and the central role played by the radically inspired security forces - these are the hallmarks of a nation that has a 2,000-year history of discrimination in Christian Europe, which culminated in the Holocaust.
Mr Devji believes that Pakistan's malaise lies in the fact that religion has overwhelmed citizenship, making the nation narrow and prone to messianic intolerance and violence against the "other". In both countries, there is only an obsession with external observances; the spiritual dimensions of inner life, which lie at the core of their shared Semitic traditions, are ignored or rejected.
Mr Devji's erudite, balanced and lucid work, embellished with pithy insights and interesting sources, is a stern warning about the hazards of basing nationhood on religious identity, which should have a strong resonance nearer home as well.
Pakistan as a Political Idea
Faisal Devji
Harvard University Press;
278 pages; Rs 895
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Sixty-six years after it came into being, the idea of Pakistan remains a fascinating subject for historians, political scientists and students of religion. Some have seen in its realisation the triumph of malevolent imperialist conspiracies of divide and rule. Others view it as the result of the interplay between India's two principal religious communities, with the Muslim leadership being particularly intransigent and amenable to British blandishments. Still others have attempted to place "Pakistan" in the broader context of the then global resurgence of Islam, a pan-Islamic vision revolting against defeat and occupation.
More recently, Pakistan has also been viewed as a British attempt to set up a client state that would provide the Western alliance with a near-permanent Muslim ally in South, West and Central Asia. It is only this long-term strategic advantage for Western interests that can explain Britain's support for the birth of this historical and geopolitical curiosity, and the continued Western accommodation with regard to Pakistan's excesses - nuclear proliferation, patronage of jihad, and the country's sponsorship of cross-border terrorism.
Now, distinguished Oxford scholar Faisal Devji provides a unique insight into the underpinnings of the idea of Pakistan. Mr Devji sees a parallel between the Zionist movement for Israel and the Muslim nationalist movement for Pakistan, which together dominated South Asian and West Asian politics in the first part of the last century. Both movements sought to mobilise widely dispersed "minority" communities against perceived persecution from the majority, and placed before this "religious nationality" the vision of a homeland in an "alien geography, without a necessary reference to shared blood and a rootedness in the soil" - which had till then constituted the basis of nationalism in Europe.
Religious identity was to be at the core of this enterprise. At its inception, however, the vision was international and de-territorialised. As a scholar quoted by Mr Devji says, "Out of nothing - the Zionist enterprise would create a unity, a language, a homeland where there was none before - it knows itself as a child of the psyche, a dream, a figment of the brain." Similarly, the votaries of Pakistan were called upon to repudiate their Indian past, their colonial experience and their regional identities. The Zionists and the Muslim nationalists were motivated by "the fantasy of creating a state by purely rational means, one that was founded upon its idea alone".
Their early proponents did not see their state as a religious entity. Mr Devji points out that for Jinnah and many of his associates in the Muslim League, "religion was an abstract and even empty idea because they had no intention of defining Islamic practice for Pakistani citizens". Similarly, early Zionist leaders were more influenced by ideas and ideologies in Central and Eastern Europe in the early 20th century, and were often leftist - occasionally even fascist - in orientation.
Mr Devji provides an excellent narrative of the course of Muslim politics, its interactions with other Indian movements, and the commitment to a separate political entity - Pakistan. This is familiar territory, but it is presented with an entirely new perspective - the author refers to contemporary literature, poetry, and political speeches and writings.
By the 1940s, the gap between Muslim separatism and the nationalist mainstream had become so deep that while the Congress saw freedom as "historical recovery", for Jinnah it was an "unprecedented cyclonic revolution". But ambiguities remained: Jinnah saw Muslims who remained in India as a "sub-national" minority, but spoke of Muslims, Hindus and others in his country as being part of a single nation. In fact, in an apparent slip, he even referred to the 400 million people of the subcontinent as a single nation.
Originating in the same idea, Israel and Pakistan share many attributes. Both subordinate the idea of territory to religious identity. However, Israel has come to attach a messianic value to its "sacred" land (whose boundaries remain undefined), while Pakistan remains convinced that its nationhood would not be complete without the acquisition of Kashmir (vaguely referring to the Valley). Both promote national consolidation based on the fear of eradication by hostile neighbours and larger global conspiracies. In both countries, though religion constitutes the identity of the state, neither of them is strictly theocratic. In other words, they pay lip service to divine law; their day-to-day affairs are conducted on the basis of man-made legislation.
Moreover, neither in Pakistan nor in Israel did the Zionist idea provide any space for pluralism. Thus, in neither country has the founding idea of its nationhood met with much success. In regard to Pakistan, Mr Devji bemoans the "recurring account" of polls and military rule and "repetitive themes" of demonic Indian intentions and American conspiracies. The idea of Pakistan is mired in "Islamic" politics that is intolerant, providing no evidence of the vision that its leader, Liaquat Ali Khan, set out in 1945, when he said, "We have to show by precept and example that the future of humanity lies in the teachings of Islam."
Mr Devji does not discuss it, but the situation in Israel is not much better. The non-accommodative and aggressive policies of its successive leaders, the messianic zeal and propensity for violence of its settler community, and the central role played by the radically inspired security forces - these are the hallmarks of a nation that has a 2,000-year history of discrimination in Christian Europe, which culminated in the Holocaust.
Mr Devji believes that Pakistan's malaise lies in the fact that religion has overwhelmed citizenship, making the nation narrow and prone to messianic intolerance and violence against the "other". In both countries, there is only an obsession with external observances; the spiritual dimensions of inner life, which lie at the core of their shared Semitic traditions, are ignored or rejected.
Mr Devji's erudite, balanced and lucid work, embellished with pithy insights and interesting sources, is a stern warning about the hazards of basing nationhood on religious identity, which should have a strong resonance nearer home as well.