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IT has been 79 years since Pakistan was brought into being. Much water has passed under the proverbial bridge, but basic contradictions around national identity, resources and representation, and relations with neighbouring countries are as acute as they were in 1947. At the heart of it is the ahistorical notion that the subcontinent’s Muslims are a timeless nation with social mores and interests distinct from Hindus. East Pakistan’s secession in 1971 could have spurred a fundamental reformulation, but the state chose to reinforce this narrative.
The rise of Hindutva in recent years, and the events of May 2025 in particular, have given state ideologues a new lease on life. Yet the treatment of Pakistan’s peripheries continues to provide fuel for competing national claims amongst politicised youth across numerous geographies. These voices remain at best unheard and at worst suppressed. And so, Pakistan remains beset by a fundamental paradox — a state that insists on projecting itself as a Muslim power at home and abroad even as a significant cross-section of ethnic-linguistic groups and non-Muslims assert entirely different ideological claims.
