Challenges of Diversity and Democratic Opportunities for Pakistani Federalism

Authors

  • Sharif al Mujahid

Abstract

First a word of acknowledgement. I am most grateful to Mr. Zafarullah Khan, Executive Director, Centre for Civic Education Pakistan, Islamabad, and Dr. Syed Jaffar Ahmed, the coordinator of the present workshop, for having asked me to present the key note address at this august gathering. As a Pakistani, I found the topic extremely interesting and challenging. Especially because Pakistan it self is organically linked to the end-result of the phenomenon of deep diversity, not only when it was born in 1947 but also when it was dismembered in 1971. Yet, inextricably though, Pakistan does not figure in the list of participants on the ‘Diversity and Unity in Federal Countries’ theme at the international level.1 In tandem only three or four Muslims figure in the list although this problem plagues not marginally, but substantially most of the OIC Muslim countries (e.g., Indonesia, Malaysia, Iraq, Turkey, Egypt, Sudan, Somalia, Nigeria, and many others), besides Pakistan. And that indicates our dismal measure of interest and concern with problems that have a significant bearing on the politics, administration and overall development of a large segment of the Muslim states including Pakistan.

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Published

2020-02-18