Originally posted by Abdul Alim

Huff Post: Pakistan displays strange contrasting patterns with respect to religion’s influence. Apparently, Pakistan looks to be a relatively moderate country, particularly when compared to the likes of Iran, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, etc.

Here the hardliners have never been voted in power through the ballot box. It has an independent media and relatively loose censorship standards. Radical Islam as a mode of life is still largely absent from the overall lifestyle of the Pakistanis as the country by no stretch of imagination is following the trajectory of Iran. It does not have the charismatic cultish religious leader like Khomeini and the public mood despite being conservative is hardly appreciative of hard line version of Islam when it comes to ballot box.

Anyone coming from abroad for the first time is generally bewildered at the contrast between what he actually sees and the ultra conservative picture often portrayed in the western media. At the same time, it is a country which is witnessing almost daily religiously inspired acts of extremism. Hardly a week passes without some major incidence. In pockets there are visible signs of social dominance of hard line Islam also. Moreover the controversial Islamic laws remain firmly entrenched in the legal framework and no party can dare to touch them no matter how popular it is.

It is a strange country which despite having violent version of radical Islam as the top most problem still does not have thoroughly radicalized population. This apparent contradiction, in my opinion owes to the way religion has been promoted by the state. The purpose was to not to radicalize the entire population but to somehow or the other propel religious identity into a dominant identity by relegating the ethnic identities.

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