Military Authoritarianism and Islamic Political Parties in Pakistan: A State of Social Imbrication

• In Event: 261 - Section on Political Sociology Refereed Roundtable Session and Business Meeting
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: Table 03. Parties, Movements, Regimes

Abstract

The military regime of General Zia-ul-Haq in Pakistan lasted from 1977-1988, and is remembered as a watershed moment that set the state of Pakistan on the path of ‘Islamization’. General Zia is oft remembered as a sovereign dictator, successfully manipulating different parts of civil and political society to his advantage. In this paper, I critique the notion that the Zia-ul-Haq regime simply ‘used’ or manipulated Islamic political parties like the Jamaat-e-Islami to acquire legitimacy. Using a Gramscian theoretical framework, I argue that the relationship between the military and Islamic political parties is dialectical. The Jamaat-e-Islami made the particular religious character of the Zia-ul-Haq regime possible, which gives the lie to the idea that the military regime simply made use of them. At the same time, the formation of an alliance with the authoritarian Islamist regime posed an existential crisis for the Jamaat-e-Islami, which is a democratic political party. The resolution of this contradiction and eventual severing of ties from the Zia regime profoundly shaped the Jamaat for decades to come.

Author

• Ghazah Abbasi, UMass Amherst