Political Science Essay: The State and Religion in Pakistan

This political science essay examines the complex and often contentious relationship between the state and religion in Pakistan. It begins by outlining the dominance of Islam and its influence on the country's legal, social, and political systems, highlighting the privileges afforded to the religious majority. The essay then explores the points of tension, including Pakistan's historical involvement with Islamist militants, the rise of religious extremism, and the role of religious institutions. A significant portion of the essay focuses on the treatment of religious minorities, including the impact of blasphemy laws, social prejudice, and violence. The essay references various academic sources to support its claims, offering a comprehensive analysis of the challenges and implications of the state-religion dynamic in Pakistan.

Running head: POLITICAL SCIENCE
Political Science
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1POLITICAL SCIENCE
A) The religion between the state and religion has been quite a matter of debate in Pakistan over
the last few decades. In Pakistan, the dominant religion is Islam. The Constitution of Pakistan
has regulated the relationship between the state and the people of the country. In many countries,
including Pakistan, the Islamic people have always got the advantage in the legal, social and
political system of the country (Zaidi, 2016). The current Prime Minister of the country is Imran
Khan. The religious identity has become a very crucial part of the national identity of Pakistan.
The government of Pakistan is very deeply connected with that of their religious identity. It has
also left a deep impact on the lifestyles of the people of the country. The freedom of expression
through media has face a screeching halt in the current times despite they have a vibrant media
sector. “…but state agencies and the military seek to control media activity through legal and
extralegal means” (Freedomhouse.org, 2019).
The minority of people have been affected by this very much as well. There have been
some serious privileges given to the common people or the religious majority of people because
they belong to the Islamic community (Coid et al., 2016). The religious minorities have felt the
deep impact of these policies. The problem of the relationship between the state and religion has
been acknowledged by most countries regarding that of Pakistan. It has also been declared that
the lives of religious minorities are in danger. Some claims have been raised regarding this
malpractice in Pakistan that it has given rise to things like bigotry, religious persecution and
intolerance (Freedomhouse.org, 2019). There have been many instances where the people of
religious minority have been killed because of the religious intolerance that exists in Pakistan.
B) The points of tension that can be brought about the relationship between the religion and state
are:

2POLITICAL SCIENCE
 Pakistan has been involved in funding the Mujahideen in their quest to fight against the
Soviets. They have also been engaged in giving support the Islamist militants throughout
the years. This is why it has created a lot of problems for the peace loving countries and
its deteriorating foreign relations with India (Abbas, 2014).
 Due to the stance of the constitution of the country as declared by Mohd Ali Jinna, the
country also faces some threats internally from the militants. Thus the Islam has taken a
huge turn regarding the relationship between state and religion (Freedomhouse.org,
2019).
 Pakistan has recently been noticed by different countries as the central point to support
the global jihad (Coid et al., 2016). The Taliban tigers considered Pakistan as its main
shelter. Thus, Pakistan has been pointed out as the central point for Islamic terrorism.
 Religious extremism has always been a problem in Pakistan. The killing of the governor
of Punjab province in 2011 heightened this in a large manner. Global terrorists like
Osama bin Laden, Hafeez Saeed and Dawood Ibrahim have taken the safe shelter at
Pakistan during different times (Abbas, 2014).
The points of institution regarding Pakistan are:
 The madaris (religious educational institutions) have been known for their support to
terrorism and as a breeding terrorism for terrorism. They are accused of spreading the
hatred in the minds of young children and spread terrorism all over (Abbas, 2014).
 In these institutions, the Holy Quran is mainly taught but the peaceful messages of the
Quran are distorted to plant the poison of terrorism in the students (Razi, 2014).

3POLITICAL SCIENCE
C) The treatment of the religious minorities has always been a huge matter in Pakistan.
Primarily, Pakistan had been created as the home country for the Muslim people in the South
East Asia (Abbas, 2014). The blasphemy law has been created to harass and make tortures on the
religious minorities in the country. This tool has been sanctioned by the state of Pakistan itself.
Religious oppression has been done on the minority groups in Pakistan through this blasphemy
law.
The discriminatory regulations have often existed in Pakistan. The various social
prejudice and violence incurred at the secretarial positions have affected the well being of the
people belonging to the religious minorities (Kfir, 2014). The Hindus are the primary religious
minorities in Pakistan. They do not have any kind of freedom of expressing their views. They
have often been kidnapped because they tried to express their views. Even the Christians in
Pakistan are always in fear of getting accusations of blasphemy from the minor disputes within
the country. This is why the religious minorities in Pakistan are always at risk and the
Government has failed to do enough to protect them.

4POLITICAL SCIENCE
Reference List
Abbas, H. (2014). The Taliban revival: violence and extremism on the Pakistan-Afghanistan
frontier. Yale University Press.
Coid, J. W., Bhui, K., MacManus, D., Kallis, C., Bebbington, P., & Ullrich, S. (2016).
Extremism, religion and psychiatric morbidity in a population-based sample of young
men. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 209(6), 491-497.
Freedomhouse.org. (2019). Pakistan. Retrieved 29 July 2019, from
https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/2019/pakistan
Kfir, I. (2014). Sectarian violence and social group identity in Pakistan. Studies in Conflict &
Terrorism, 37(6), 457-472.
Razi, N. (2014). Theological Extremism and its Effects. Pakistan Perspective. Journal of Social
Science for Policy Implications, 2(4), 59-72.
Zaidi, A. (2016). Covering Faith-Based Violence: Structure and Semantics of News Reporting in
Pakistan. In Faith-Based Violence and Deobandi Militancy in Pakistan (pp. 93-132).
Palgrave Macmillan, London.