Islam, the State and Society

The role of Islam (as defined by vested political interests) is examined from the early days of Muhammad Ali Jinnah and the Pakistan Movement, through the fifty years of the country's turbulent existence. Thanks to the concessions made by successive governments and Zia's deliberate promotion of their agenda, the orthodox religious groups, which have never enjoyed popular support in Pakistan, have been propelled into positions of high judicial and political influence. This has resulted in an unprecedented increase in sectarian violence and, through its sophisticated subversion of the religious sentiments of many Pakistanis, reinforce the State's rigid and dogmatic version of Islam as representative of the country's ideology.