CHALLENGES AND POLICY OPTIONS TO NATIONAL INTEGRATION IN PAKISTAN A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS

• Published in: Journal of law and society (Peshawar) Vol. 44; no. 64
• Main Authors: Jehanzeb, Perveen, Saima, Fayaz Ur Rehman
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English; Urdu
• Published: Peshawar Law College 01.07.2013
• Subjects: Pakistan
• ISSN: 1027-4618

This paper highlights myriad obstacles hampering the process of national integration in Pakistan. National integration signifies national consciousness, a common national consensus and common national identity, where regional sub-cultures get intermingled into a national political system. This social, political, cultural, religious and economic milieu is a prerequisite to foster national integration. In Pakistan various factors like political and ethnic polarization, tussle amongst constitutional bodies especially civil-military and of late judicial confrontations, economic disparities and religious extremism are horrible challenges to be endured. Heterogeneous elements within national politics have promoted separatism tendencies mainly due to horizontal and vertical divisions. Furthermore, common citizenry feel alienated from political parlance leading to a nightmarish identity crisis striking at the very soul of Pakistan ideology. Henceforth, the ideological question has been in limbo. To cap it all, the Islamic ideological discourse has been exploited by both Islamists and Secular political bodies for their own vested interests. Sectarianism under the garb of ‘Sufism’ and ‘Deobandi’ sects gained strength to enormous proportions especially under the realm of military dictators who exploited them to attain legitimacy to their unconstitutional regimes. Such an undue patronage to Islamist parties provided them a golden opportunity to forge together t