1. There is nothing wrong with practical secularism. An example is the Mughal rule in India. They were not interested in converting Hindus to Islam. They just wanted to govern and expand their empire. Their civil service and army was multi-ethnic, multi-cultural, multi-religious, and bureaucrats were often posted away from their provinces of origin. Muslims and Islam had a pre-eminent status, but rights of others were protected.
Sikhs were an exception, since they were essentially viewed as anti-establishment, anti-imperialists, etc...
In any case, I am talking about imperial policy. This policy was known to the local and low-level functionaries and they made reference to it in their decision making. I am not saying that the decision making was always consistent, but that the state policy ensured that there was no social / religious disturbance.
The cause of Islam was taken up not by Mullahs, but Sufis. The vast majority of conversions took place because of their influence and practice that was humanist in accordance with Islamic and Prophetic principles.
2. @
qamar1990, if you read Urdu well enough (I assume you do), try to read Ata-Ul-Haq Qasmi. He has not penned anything particularly cerebral / intellectual - even though he is a genius. But he often makes references to practical secularism as a way forward. This makes sense in abundance.
3. We can not declare Pakistan as a secular state. That would dent Pakistani identity to the extent that there would be no reason to continue as a nation. We already have no particular geographical feature to separate us on geographical basis. Just look at Western and Eastern borders. We are slowly evolving a Pakistani identity, but though it matters much, it does not yet matter enough to sustain itself on its own.
4. Politics of religious parties is just plain dumb. They have very little traction and are so fragmented that nobody much cares for them apart from those who happen to directly benefit from them. The only two parties of note are JI, and JUI-F.
JI works as the party of rightist fringe / extreme. This position would always be taken up by someone and I see value in them being there because they take away space from extreme nationalists, who would be clueless.
JUI-F is more pragmatic, being a reflection of Maulana Fazlur-Rehman's personality. I would not comment on this party apart from noting that they are foremost banner-carriers of Deobandi school.
In my view, at an appropriate time, religion-based parties should be scaled back by banning sectarian parties, allowing JI to be left. They can be forced to reform by throttling Jamiat (their Student chapter). An escape / pressure-release system ought to be in place so that Islamists do not actually turn outright militants for lack of political space.
5. The government ought to be more forceful in dealing with sectarian-cum-religious inspired violence. For that to be effective, we need to finish off role of security apparatus in politics. This point alone could generate a book by itself. Allow me to say that
this is the focal point of instability in Pakistan. I could write more but that would generate too much debate.
6. It takes courage, and though I do not agree with you I would nonetheless congratulate you on your intellectual journey. I have an inkling that over time and with more study you would have a much more refined outlook than most on this forum.
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Zarvan , careful brother, you are too quick to judge. These times and this age do not permit hasty judgements. This is not how you take forward the cause of Islam. This is how you scare people away from Islam. Do think how many people were ever brought to Islam by Mullahs? Now do think how many people converted by Sufi influence?
Zarvan, my young friend, allow me to related a true story. Perhaps two decades ago, I happened to watch an interview of Mir Hamza Khan Shinwari, the celebrated Pushto poet on PTV. He said that in his youth he had turned atheist, but he had some respect for a Sufi teacher. Over some years, he was convinced and brought back to Islam. He was perhaps still a free-thinker, but he died a Muslim and thus was saved.
I would like to think that I perhaps had a similar influence over a close friend who had turned agnostic, but slowly came back.
I would like to end with a quote from that incomparable writer, Ibn-e-Insha who wrote in his iconic book - Urdu ki Akhri Kitab - in lesson of geometry that: "There is a type of circle, called circle of Islam. It used to be that people were brought in it, now people are pushed out of it"
not really us!
