Notes Towards an ‘Almani (secular) Pakistani State: Some Reflections

Abstract

the wake of the recent killings of Ahmadis in Lahore some writers have hinted at the desirability of a secular Pakistani state. Sometimes the idea is mooted without using the word secular; proposing that ‘the state must not legislate in matters of faith’ or that religious parties should have ‘no business to be in politics’. Ahmadis are perhaps the biggest victims of sectarianism in Pakistan though they are not the only one. In recent years people of different interpretations of Islam as well as non-Muslims have increasingly suffered violence, large or small. It