Ideology of Pakistan and Nation-State System
This article seeks to explain the ideology of Pakistan by linking it with nation-state system.
Ideology of Pakistan and the Nation-State System
By: Shah Muhammad, Ghotki
In order to understand the ideology of Pakistan, also referred to as, the Two-Nation Theory, we need to understand the nation-state system. After Westphalian peace treaty of 1648 (which brought an end to 30 years of religious wars in Europe), it became a universally acknowledged principle that a nation sharing common bonds of language, culture and located in a particular geography is entitled to form a sovereign state, hence making it a nation state. England and France emerged as the first major nation states after pulling out of the church-led system.
This concept gave birth to the modern version of the ideology of nationalism which signified a pursuit for an independent nation state. In 19th century, Italy and Germany were unified as independent states as Italians and Germans had all the above-mentioned characters of a nation. In the East, Turkey probably became the first nation state under Mustafa Kemal Ataturk's anti-colonial resistance movement. Needless to say, Turkish language, Turkish culture and the Turkish geographical location gave merit to Turkish nationalism that brought about modern Turkey.
During these times, people of the subcontinent were also struggling for independence and hence were on their path to carve a new nation state. However, there was a problem faced by the elements who wished to create a new nation state out of the Indian subcontinent. Multiplicity of languages and cultures in the subcontinent made it impossible for the Muslim League, for example, to fulfill the three characteristics of a nation and, subsequently, to come up with a justifiable and universally legitimate demand for a separate nation state.
In these circumstances, Muslim league introduced its own definition of a nation that had not been presented by any nationalist movement before. They asserted that religion should be considered as the basis of a nation. Here, Two-Nation theory was introduced which stated that Muslims derive their culture purely from Islam, hence they are a separate nation from Hindus.
The league attempted to fulfill the geography criteria by stating that northwestern region of subcontinent has majority Muslim population. But what about the third characteristic of nation, i.e. language? Subsequently, they presented Urdu language to justify their demand for Pakistan. It is well-known that Urdu was not a common language of northwestern region but the League presented it as a shared language of Muslims. This is how Muslim nationalism, led by the Muslim League, presented a new 'ideological' argument and managed to acquire and later inherit the new nation state of Pakistan.