SECULAR examples

A secular Pakistan? Or an Islamic Pakistan? Before this past Monday, I wasn’t aware that these two types of Pakistan were mutually exclusive. But according to Javed Jabbar’s recent lecture on civilian and military life within Pakistan at the United States Institute of Peace (USIP), secularism and Islam define each other in their contrasts. In response to a question about the role of religion in Pakistan, Jabbar emphasized that Pakistan is very secular. From General Ayub Khan, who was extremely “non-religious”, to General Yahya Khan, who “had no religious doctrine”, to the more recent General Pervez Musharraf, Jabbar used the lack of a religious compass and the abundance of a penchant towards drinking within these generals as living proof that Pakistan had, and continues to have, a secular attitude. Thankfully, Jabbar also managed to highlight other things such as the fact that Pakistan gives two votes to non-Muslims as a means of promoting secularity.


But secularity, as I have known it, promotes an exclusion of religious considerations from civil and public affairs. Examples of drinking, while they might promote the exclusion of religious consideration from civil and public affairs, do little to show me that overall the country of Pakistan has invested in secular reforms. This anecdotal defense of Pakistan’s secularity might be amusing in the moment, but ultimately I would prefer more examples of Pakistan’s leaders striving for their country rather than for their drinking glasses to have more secular views.


The issue of drinking is not the problem; the fact that it was used as a defense of Pakistan’s secularity, however, is. To be short, upholding secular ideals is not and should not be proven by the amount of liquor one can uphold. Instead, give me examples of a working democracy and of working religious differences as proof that Pakistan is becoming increasingly secular. These are the examples, in my opinion, that are truly universal and secular.