For me, Pakistan is a unique country, sort of an artificial country where elite people let go of their mother tongue Punjabi to sound more sophisticated by using Urdu.
I find this an interesting point here, though it needs some qualification. All nation-states are ‘artificial' in the sense that they are products of the modern era and that there is nothing natural or pre-ordained about
any nation. But what does make Pakistan different to many nations is that its ideologues were more self-conscious about its artificiality and novelty. Even the name, Pakistan, was of recent origin.
In Jamal Elias’s striking words: “In its own history books and its own rhetoric, Pakistan is not a land but an idea.” As has been argued most clearly by Faisal Devi (
Muslim Zion) Pakistan belonged not to a romantic form of nationalism which based a vision of unity on history and geography, blood and soil. Rather it belonged to an enlightenment form of nationalism, where unity ultimately rested on belief and volition.
It is its very novelty as an idea that is both its strength and weakness. On the one side its form as a political idea provided a certain dynamism, being future-oriented and therefore open to experimentation. On the other hand as an idea it has been much contested and fought over. As the former Civil Servant and now academic, Akbar Ahmed, put it: “the idea of Pakistan is greater than the reality of the country.”
Wilfred Cantwell Smith, a very great scholar of religion, in a sensitive piece of writing, captured the sense of wonder that many Pakistanis felt at the creation of the country. In his
Islam in Modern History, published in 1957, he wrote about the sense that Pakistanis had of being part of something that was ground-breaking. “Pakistanis themselves strongly felt their nation to be an Islamic state in a fashion unique in the modern world.” He noted that “their claim was not based on what their nation had accomplished; rather, on the spirit that it embodied.” ( Wilfred Canwell Smith’s short book,
Pakistan as an Islamic State,published in 1951 is well worth reading:
https://franpritchett.com/00islamlinks/txt_smith_pakistan_1951.pdf)
Naveeda Khan in her book,
Muslim Becoming, has built on this view to demonstrate the ways in which the Pakistan idea was aspirational and open-ended and not so much directed at a specific endpoint but envisioned as a place of continuous striving.
This certainly comes through strongly in Iqbal’s writings. For Iqbal it is in the act of striving towards a goal, rather than the achievement of a goal, that one becomes truly alive.
There are different ways such striving manifests itself in contemporary Pakistan. Mashal Saif in her book,
The Ulama in Contemporary Pakistan, showed how many ulama say that Pakistan, though deficient in its actions, can still be considered an Islamic country/state, but comparing it to a flawed individual Muslim. Mufti Muhammad Zahid, a Deobandi scholar, for example said that:
“Religious scholars know that for a person to be Muslim, all that is required is that he considers it necessary to follow God and His Prophet. Even if his actions do not reflect this, he is still considered a Muslim. Thus the Pakistani state is akin to a Muslim, who in his actions is deficient and flawed, but who believes in God and His Prophet and holds the opinion that, in principle, it is necessary to follow them.”
What is implied here is that flawed though it is, Pakistan still holds the captivating promise for potential improvement and is therefore is a nation worthy of commitment.
The highly idealised nature of Pakistan, also explains some of the restlessness in society and fierceness with which debates take place in Pakistan. Muhammad Iqbal words in 1934 seem to unintentionally presage some of this:
“Islam repudiates the race idea altogether and founds itself on the religious idea alone. Since Islam bases itself on the religious idea alone, a basis which is wholly spiritual and consequently far more ethereal than blood relationships, Muslim society is naturally much more sensitive to forces which it considers harmful to its integrity.”
High idealism can lead to dissatisfaction with the present, cynicism, a fear of ossification and drive some violent and utopian dreams.
We therefore might compare the Pakistan idea to a double helix, with two strands that wind around each other. One strand is the ground for striving and hope for a better future, which creates a persisting commitment to an idea of Pakistan. The other strand is a sense of continuing disappointment and disenchantment with the actual existing reality, which can push forward some violent intentions.
- Most Indian Muslim's loves Pakistan more than India. So whenever I interact with any Indian Muslim , especially from North India, I get reminded of Pakistan. So much love for PCT during world cup in Hyderabad....wow 
, fast bowlers in Pakistan have always fascinated me.
