“If identity did not exist, it would be necessary to invent it,” that’s what TTP asserted. Their identity perception is motivated by religious ideologies and political interests against the state of Pakistan. Perceptions are human-made realities, as it has been said, ‘we are, not what we are, but what we make of ourselves’. What others perceived is very much related to our insecurities, whereas what others perceive is more about their fears and concerns, that is how the identity of ‘extremism’ is formed. Perception is always built-in contrast to ‘others’ or cultivated under the threat from others, as a perceived challenge to their identity. Though, Identity is not a fixed or natural condition of having something and being someone, but a continuous ‘process of becoming’ in which boundaries and inequalities are made or destroyed.
In international politics, identities enable predictability and order instead of chaos and uncertainty, but in Pakistan, the perception of identity is more assertive and revolutionary. A national identity is likely to be reconstructed and experienced in relation to a new international or national crisis, that’s how the state of political uncertainty contributed to the deformation of Pakistan’s identity. The Indian predatory designs, Afghanistan’s instability and continuous threat, internal ethnopolitical unrest and institutional clash of interests have altogether affected the perception of common identity in Pakistan.
The religious extremist identity is not native to Pakistan’s narrative. It has been seeded and reaffirmed by the state’s policy failures.
Consequently, in Pakistan, religion set the final frame of reference in most diverse aspects of life due to its interpreting reality as wholeness; so far religion has been the dominating element that mounted all perceived forms of identity. The second important aspect that contributed to Pakistan’s identity perception is derived from the structural religious norms and values, shaped by fear of annihilation, and strengthened by fundamental grounded religious links. In consequence, the perceived identity of religious extremism is an outcome, combined with internal and external regulatory factors, affecting its level of intensity. It may reflex various other waves as religious intolerance, social-religious rigidity, violence and terrorism, affecting the society and its environs.
Aggression and violence are often used to reaffirm identity trends and its boundary in times of perceived threat, it also may provide space for the state, non-state and external actors to intercede with their extra-motivated interests. However, Pakistan is under a continuous spell of religious extremism and terrorism. Considering the fact that terrorism is not an indigenized trait of the South Asian region, it’s more about how it has been perceived by the world. The religious extremism wave has been transmitted to the South Asia region in the backdrop of the Iranian Islamic revolution and the Soviet-Afghan war in 1979, which later, transmitted its impact on the region. The global concept of religious extremism was recycled as a state-supported policy without considering its unintended consequences. The situation was further aggravated by the incident of 9/11 and Pakistan’s role as a non-NATO ally. Though, it was never Pakistan’s war but terrorism has been associated with Pakistan’s image. Since 1992 India is trying to declare Pakistan a terrorist state and has conditioned the Kashmir dialogue with terrorism. Ignoring the fact that religious extremism and terrorism are not indigenous to this land’s identity, it’s the result of foreign intervention and state policy failure. Unfortunately, today more than ever, internal and international politics has to organize modes of behaviour and perceived identity to balance the competition and cooperation of diverse actors on every scale.
At present, both India and Pakistan are facing religious extremism, which is caustic for their internal system. Rise of India’s Hindutva movement is posing a serious challenge to the world’s largest democracy. It’s challenging for all the non-Hindu minorities and reshaping the Indian secular federative model. In recent years, reports produced by foreign governments and non-governmental organizations have alleged that many types of human rights abuse have taken place in India, including extrajudicial killings or arbitrary arrests and detention by the government or its agents, as well as other forms of alleged abuse. Transforming the Indian secular identity perception to a Hindu aggressive nationalistic movement.
Whereas in Pakistan, the wave of religious identity strengthened by miscalculated policies, many state-supported religious groups reverted against the state. The menace of terrorism and religious extremism founded the bases of TTP, the by-product group of al-Qaeda jihadi politics in Afghanistan and Pakistan after 9/11. However, TTP reflects two main base agendas: first, the anti-state jihadi war front against the Pakistani state, and second, the imposition of sharia law in Pakistan. The rise and resurgence of TTP in post-US withdrawal from Afghanistan are posing a serious security concern on the western borders of Pakistan. The Af-Pak region is again under the pressure of rising militancy and religious extremism under the newly formed ‘Taliban 0.2′ government in Afghanistan. Besides the mounting political and economic instability, Pakistan is under extreme threat of TTP resurgence in the northwest of Pakistan. TTP’s rise is supported by the Afghan Taliban, internal fundamentalists, states’ policy failure, external regional actors and anti-Pakistani state elements. The continued stress and militancy on the eastern and western borders of Pakistan are what India aspired by ‘strategic encirclement of Pakistan’, but the risk is not external only, it has severe internal consequences.
The religious extremist identity is not native to Pakistan’s indigenous narrative. It has been seeded and reaffirmed by the state’s policy failures. The perception of religious extremism has been strengthened against our unremitting social, political and economic (in)securities. It’s high time of uncertainty where we need to link our national objectives with our identity goals and bring clarity as a nation, standing with collective identity against all the mounting odds, and fighting against the remerging violent militancy. Pakistan has experienced multiple security operations against TTP and negotiated on numerous fronts to curtail terrorism, but it’s the right time to understand the severity of the matter and root out the actual cause behind the terror. TTP’s identity is nothing more than what they have perceived out of their fear and insecurities, addressing their concerns is the first step towards negotiations.
The writer is an Assistant Professor at the Centre for South Asian Studies, University of Punjab.