Should religious political parties really have such huge presence in parliament?

[Sher Khan]

It boggles my mind to see religious political parties like for example the JUI-F, Jamaat-E-Islami etc. Have such a big presence in parliament and in Pakistani politics.

It's great that the majority of Pakistani people are Muslims. But religious conservative politics is the last thing our country needs.

Their is a need for forward thinking, liberal politics in Pakistan. What kind of issues will these religious political parties even solve in Pakistan?

Religion is already being forced down heavily upon people in Pakistan.

 

[boomboomcheema]

Pakistan is already a Muslim Majority country, Islam is the most safest and secure in Pakistan of all countries.

These religious parties in Pakistan should not exist, what purpose do they serve ? Islam doesn't need them for any advocation or defending in a predominantly Muslim country. Through their influence, they are actually keeping the country more backward and always enrolled in Religious issues so the country can't look beyond them.

Too much religion in the state and it's affairs has lead to spread of more extremist and intolerant mindset among the masses.

 

[Sher Khan]

Needs to be a ban on such political parties in my opinion.

 

[Bewal Express]

In a democracy you have all colours. If you can parties led by fugitives, if you can parties created by Generals, if you can parties that kill journalists and threaten and jail the opposition for being the opposition then I am sure religious party have a role.

 

[ElRaja]

It's great that the majority of Pakistani people are Muslims. But religious conservative politics is the last thing our country needs.

Their is a need for forward thinking, liberal politics in Pakistan. What kind of issues will these religious political parties even solve in Pakistan?

Religion is already being forced down heavily upon people in Pakistan.

talk to any politically religious person and they will tell you that the problem with Pakistan is too much liberalism and westernisation and not enough religion.

there is no way around it, religious politics is utopian politics, and its been around in some form forever. its job isnt to solve problems, but to pseudo explain why everything is wrong.

ive actually heard some religious political people say that pakistan's current economic problems are divine punishment for being too liberal, when you have that kind of thought process there is not real argument left.

but to play devils advocate, the non-religious parties in Pakistan are totally rubbish, so its hardly like anyone has been provided with a valid alternative.

 

[KB]

There is a tension between on one hand advocating the advancement of “liberal politics” while at the same time endorsing the decidedly illiberal position of a “ban on such [religious] political parties.”

But leaving this aside, arguably the point is missed by focusing on the parliamentary presence of the religious parties. In the 2018 elections, the alliance for the religious parties - Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal - only won 12 of the 272 general seats in the National Assembly, for example.

What matters more, I think, is their ‘extra-parliamentary’ influence, reflected in their ‘street power’ and ability to shape and set limits on public debates that impinge on what they consider their ‘religious turf’. This authority and leverage exists independent of their parliamentary presence.

And one of the reasons they can exercise such sway is the intellectual impoverishment of the modernists when it comes to religious arguments. Because contemporary modernists are so poorly grounded in Islamic tradition, there is a lack of credibility over their religious pronouncements. The influence of the religious parties cannot simply be ignored, crushed or wished away. They need to be dealt with by way of putting forth moral arguments that have an aura of authenticity.

 

[SalimBhai]

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It’s a democracy. Any party can exist . However the religious parties never win much vote. There real power lies in street power and how many people they can gather in the streets. Having said that whenever there are religious parties involved in politics it’s not a good outcome. You can see that in India , you can see that in Israel and even back home in USA. But it’s a democracy. So you can’t stop them

 

[Sher Khan]

Problem is their are many different schools of thought these days, which is why we see so many of these religious political parties.