The Jamat ud Dawa (JuD), despite the controversies that surround it, is brimming with activity. In the past few months, the Islamist organisation has been quite active in anti-US protests as well as anti-India rallies and, quite interestingly, has been able to develop a noteworthy presence on social media like Twitter and Facebook too. It is such activity, on the ground and in cyber space, which makes the organisation an interesting object of analysis in the sociology of religion, keeping in view the ideological, hermeneutical and practical aspects of the movement, clearly showing how various strands of religion, politics and the economy all combine into a larger socio-religious narrative. This article seeks to explore academically some aspects of the JuD discourse about the contemporary Pakistan-India peace process.
While the government is busy strengthening bilateral ties with its next-door neighbour as a part of the peace process, the Defence of Pakistan Council (DPC), including primarily the JuD under the leadership of Hafiz Saeed, held an aggressive ‘Defence of Pakistan Caravan’ march from Mall Road Lahore to the Wagah border on December 16, 2012. It was to protest against these developments. The selection of the date for the protest was quite symbolic since it marked the 41st anniversary of the fall of Dhaka. ‘No trade before justice’ was a slogan that, in many ways, defined the mood of the protest, highlighting the present stance of the JuD vis-à-vis India.
Along with other issues like atrocities on Muslims in various parts of India and in Kashmir, the current discourse has a strong anti-India sentiment in terms of themes related to the economy. Terms like ‘economic suicide’ have been used to deter Pakistanis from engaging in business ties with the strong eastern neighbor whose aggressive economic strategy has been defined as “economic terrorism”. ‘After having been disappointed in her plans to subdue Pakistan militarily, India wants to handicap Pakistan through economic hegemony’ was the message from the central JuD leadership.
In a recent statement, the Defence of Pakistan Council (DPC), of which the JuD is an integral member, has stated that the “MFN [status for India] at this point is lethal”. While the India Expo took place in Karachi in December, highlighting the current economic policy of the government, the JuD called for bringing Sarabjeet Singh, the Indian national and alleged perpetrator of the serial bombings in Lahore and Faisalabad that killed 14 people in 1990, to justice. It also asked for resolution of the Kashmir dispute, Siachen and Sir Creek issues before any steps are taken for Pak-India economic activity. Protests also included the issue of “illegal Indian dams blocking Pakistani water”. In an anti-India rally in Hyderabad, the organisation referred to Pak-India trade pacts as “a conspiracy to allow India to gain hegemony over Pakistan like the East India Company [in the past]”, further stating, “those who love India should leave for India.” “How can India, which is intervening in our country, be our most favoured nation”, was a question aggressively raised by the outfit. The message from the central leadership of the JuD was clear: revenge, not trade.
A deeply resonant theme in the JuD discourse is “ideological and cultural warfare by India”, which reveals aspects of existential anxiety. Similarly, the theme of ‘Indian interventions’ in the territory of Pakistan, especially Balochistan, is quite recurrent herein; it is interesting to see how religious themes converge with geo-politics. The JuD enjoys an uneasy relationship with Hinduism, having called India “the most unclean nation in the world” since her religion, i.e. Hinduism, is based on ascribing partners with God, therefore arguing why Pakistan needs to establish ties with such ‘heathen’ people. A mouthpiece publication of the organisation refers to the separation of Balochistan from Pakistan, and its integration with India, as an important aspect of Hindu doctrine. It states that the temple of Hinglaj Mata located in Lasbela, Balochistan, is a central part of the Hindu worldview since the head of Sati, whose body was cut into 52 pieces according to Hindu legend, fell at Hinglaj following an episode of events in ancient Hindu history. As per the article, extremist Hindus want all areas in the subcontinent, where the pieces of Sati’s body fell, to be united into an ‘Akhand Bharat’, literally undivided India, and this is one, ideological reason, out of a host of other reasons, why the Indians are pushing for relaxed border restrictions between India and Pakistan. The write-up also refers to the visit of former Indian foreign minister Jaswant Singh to the Hinglaj temple in 2008 with his 86-member delegation as a part of the preparations for the unification project of Balochistan with India. Interestingly, the DPC also revealed on December 16 a new map of an anticipated ‘Islamic South Asia’, which shows along with Pakistan an India divided into the new territories of ‘Islamic Bengal’, ‘Islamic Northern Hind’, ‘Islamic Hyderabad’, ‘Islamic Kerala, ‘Khalistan’, ‘Tamil Republic’ and ‘Hindu India’ among other smaller territories. Saeed warned in his speech at Wagah that if India does not stop calling Kashmir its integral part (‘atoot ang’), then each part (‘ang ang’) of her will be broken.
We live in a world of complexity and turbulence. While contemporary civilisation seeks to search for the meanings of oft repeated terms like ‘peace’ and ‘justice’, which are increasingly elusive, the government and Islamist outfits like the JuD engage in a dialectic of arguments that reflects contemporary Pakistan in many ways: a country divided between narratives. For the JuD, India is the ‘eternal enemy’. A symbolic image on the current JuD campaign material shows Kashmir, the economy and ideology of Pakistan being exchanged with trade items from India. The Wagah march featured fiery slogans like “Our path, al-jihad” and “War will continue till the destruction of India.” “We want to tell India, if few people consider you friend in [our] government — whole Pakistan knows you are an enemy”, says Saeed. While many of us reserve the right to differ with the JuD in various ways, we cannot ignore the fact that its activity is gathering momentum; it seems like the discourse of defiance is here to stay.
The writer teaches sociology at the University College Lahore (UCL). He can be reached at [email protected]