Pakistan Independence Day: Can Religion Be A Basis Of Nationhood?

It is quite fashionable among liberal Indian and Pakistani elite to question religion as a basis of nationhood. Pakistani intellectual Javed Jabbar responded to some of these "liberal" critics at a conference in New Delhi, India. He said as follows: "India was a region, not a country until 1947....Pakistan was NOT carved out of India.... Both India and Pakistan became independent countries in 1947.. Religion can be a basis for nationhood".

Happy Independence Day Pakistan

In his detailed remarks, Jabbar made a reference to British political scientist Hugh Seton-Watson who said there is no scientific definition of nationhood. 

Jabbar also talked about "Imagined Communities" by Professor Benedict Anderson who taught political science at Cornell University in New York. Anderson explored how these "imagined communities" are created by the territorialization of religious faiths and the decline of antique kingship

Talking about pluralism, Jabbar said Pakistan is a diverse pluralistic country with multiple regions, languages, religions, etc. Jabbar added that the creation of Bangladesh reinforced the Two Nation Theory. How? Bangladesh chose to remain independent rather than merge with India. 

A recent Pew survey has revealed that two-thirds of Hindus in India believe only Hindus are truly Indian. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu Nationalist BJP party's appeal is the greatest among Hindus who closely associate their religious identity and the Hindi language with being “truly Indian.” The Pew survey found that less than half of Indians (46%) favored democracy as best suited to solve the country’s problems. Two percent more (48%) preferred a strong leader. 

Most Hindus Link Hindu Religion and Hindi Language With Indian National Identity. Source: Pew

The majority of Hindus see themselves as very different from Muslims (66%), and most Muslims return the sentiment, saying they are very different from Hindus (64%). Most Muslims across the country (65%), along with an identical share of Hindus (65%), see communal violence in India as a very big national problem. Like Hindus, Muslims prefer to live religiously segregated lives – not just when it comes to marriage and friendships, but also in some elements of public life. In particular, three-quarters of Muslims in India (74%) support having access to the existing system of Islamic courts, which handle family disputes (such as inheritance or divorce cases), in addition to the secular court system.     

Most Hindus (59%) also link Indian identity with being able to speak Hindi – one of dozens of languages that are widely spoken in India. And these two dimensions of national identity – being able to speak Hindi and being a Hindu – are closely connected. Among Hindus who say it is very important to be Hindu to be truly Indian, fully 80% also say it is very important to speak Hindi to be truly Indian.    

Here's a video clip of Javed Jabbar's remarks:

https://youtu.be/0VF_07yT580



Comments

Riaz Haq said…
#Pakistan national anthem translated from Farsi to Urdu. #IndependenceDay

https://twitter.com/haqsmusings/status/1427079755736645635?s=20

The only purely Urdu word in #Pakistan national anthem is “ka” as in “Pak sar zameen ka nizam”.
Riaz Haq said…
#Bangladesh Minister Thanks #India For 1971. "Without her (Indira Gandhi) help, without her government's help, without the help of the people of India, it would never have been possible for us to liberate our country in 9 months' time" #Pakistan https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/bangladesh-minister-hails-indias-support-in-1971-liberation-war-2533312

Without the help of Indira Gandhi, her government and the support of the people of India, Bangladesh would not have attained its independence in nine months in 1971, Bangladesh minister Hasan Mahmud said today, asserting that his country would remain forever grateful for India's support in its Liberation War.
The Information and Broadcasting minister of Bangladesh also hit out at Pakistani sceptics who in 1971 had scoffed at Bangladesh's freedom, predicting a bleak future for the nation, and pointed out that his country was well ahead of Pakistan on all counts of development.

He made the remarks at the launch of the book ''A Bangladesh War Commentary - 1971 Radio Dispatches'' by the late U L Baruah, the then director of external services, All India Radio, and later DG of AIR.

Hailing India's role in his country's independence, Mr Mahmud said it would never have been possible "for us to liberate our country in nine months' time without the help of India".

"So, I want to register at ICWA (Indian Council of World Affairs), my gratitude to the people who fought for Bangladesh, for its liberation," he said.

The people of India gave refuge to 10 million people from Bangladesh, not just in neighbouring states but in other states also, Mr Mahmud said.

Bangladesh would forever remain grateful to the people of India and the then government of India, he asserted.

"Indira Gandhi went from one part to another part of the world to build an opinion in favour of our freedom fight, our independence war and also to liberate Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman from the custody of Pakistan," Mr Mahmud said.

"Without her (Indira Gandhi) help, without her government's help, without the help of the people of India, it would never have been possible for us to liberate our country in nine months' time. It would never have been possible to free Sheikh Mujibur Rehman," the minister reiterated.

Slamming Pakistani sceptics of Bangladesh's future, Mr Mahmud said under the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, his country was well ahead of Pakistan on all indices -- social, economic and human.

"Our per capita income is 2,227, while that of Pakistan is over 1,500. Our foreign currency reserves are more than two times that of Pakistan, our poverty rate is well below Pakistan's and our life expectancy is 73 years," he pointed out.

"When Imran Khan formed the government, he said he would transform Pakistan into Sweden and then there was a debate in the Pakistani media, saying don't give us false dreams, try to make Pakistan like Bangladesh in 10 years," he said, underlining the rapid strides of development Bangladesh had made after its independence.

Amit Baruah, senior journalist and son of U L Baruah, introduced his father's book that has been published by ICWA and Macmillan Education from an original manuscript of his father's commentaries of the tumultuous times in 1971-72.

"My father wrote these commentaries in his capacity as the Director External Services, All India Radio, in 1971-72. These were translated from English and aired on Urdu, Pashto, Sindhi, Punjabi, Bengali and West Asian language services of the All India Radio," he said.

"All the original titles of the commentaries have been retained. They provide rich context for the events of the 1971 war and the liberation of Bangladesh," Mr Baruah said.
Riaz Haq said…
US holds title for world's most powerful military, Pakistan ranks 7th, Where does India stand?

https://www.livemint.com/news/world/us-holds-title-for-worlds-most-powerful-military-pakistan-ranks-7th-where-does-india-stand-11689136456322.html

Pakistan has entered the top 10 of the most powerful militaries in the world, securing the seventh spot. Japan and France have dropped to eighth and ninth respectively. The United States, Russia, and China remain the top three.

According to Global Firepower, a prominent data website specializing in defence-related information, the United States possesses the most powerful military force worldwide.

Russia and China follow closely in second and third place, respectively, while India secures the fourth position. The recently released 2023 Military Strength list, which evaluates over 60 factors, also highlights nations with comparatively weaker military forces such as Bhutan and Iceland.

The assessment by Global Firepower takes into account various criteria, including the number of military units, financial resources, logistical capabilities, and geographical considerations, to determine each nation's overall score.

"Our unique, in-house formula allows for smaller (and) more technologically-advanced nations to compete with larger (and) lesser-developed powers… special modifiers, in the form of bonuses and penalties, are applied to further refine the list which is compiled annually. Trends do not necessarily indicate a declining power as changes to the GFP formula can also account for this."

The report lists 145 countries and also compares each nation's year-on-year ranking changes.

Here are the 10 nations with the most powerful militaries in the world:

United States

Russia

China

India

United Kingdom

South Korea

Pakistan

Japan

France

Italy

Here are the 10 nations with the least powerful militaries in the world:

Bhutan

Benin

Moldova

Somalia

Liberia

Suriname

Belize

Central African Republic

Iceland

Sierra Leone

The top four nations remain as they were in the 2022 Global Firepower list.

In a shift from the previous year's rankings, the United Kingdom has advanced from eighth to fifth place in terms of military strength. South Korea retains its sixth position from last year.

https://twitter.com/spectatorindex/status/1678023296833720322?s=20

Notably, Pakistan has entered the top 10, securing the seventh spot. Conversely, Japan and France, which held the fifth and seventh positions respectively last year, have dropped to eighth and ninth this year.

Despite ongoing conflicts and Russia's "special operation" invasion of Ukraine in February of the previous year, Russia maintains its second position. The rankings reflect the evolving dynamics and complexities of global military capabilities and highlight the continuous assessment of various factors influencing military strength.

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