Superficial religiosity under the shadow of ideology

On 17 August 1947, after just three days of independence in Pakistan, Muhammad Abdullah Quereshi, a politician, published an article in an Urdu newspaper titled "A Need to Change and Amend the History Curriculum". In it, Quereshi suggested that, during the colonial period, the history of Muslims in Southasia had been distorted by both the British and the Hindus of India, with the motive of diminishing their achievements. Therefore, Quereshi argued, the current context offered an opportunity to correct historical facts, and to rewrite the past in a way that highlighted the contributions that had been made by Muslims to the world. He also expressed his satisfaction that the government of Punjab province had already set up a committee to design history courses. Thus, from the very beginning of the country's creation, history has been used as a tool to formulate and propagate the ideology of Pakistan – a process that was, of course, in the interests of the country's ruling classes.

At its birth, Pakistan, with an emerging society, inherited three elements as part of the Indian Muslim ideological legacy. Foremost amongst these was the poetry of Altaf Hussain Hali and Muhammad Iqbal, structured around an illusion of a supposedly glorious past; this enthralled readers, and gave birth to revivalist movements of all hues. Second, having developed something of an inferiority complex and a sense of insecurity, Muslims of the Subcontinent adopted an anti-Hindu attitude – one that was, by default, also anti-democratic. Third, the leadership in Pakistan quickly turned to dealing with all political issues in a sentimental rather than rational manner.