State Identity – Brown Pundits

I would like Pakistan to be a secular democracy and give up its ambitions on Kashmir. Badshah

Badshah Sahib’s argument is novel: Pakistan should become a secular democracy and give up its claims to Kashmir. The implication is that this is the only path to normalcy.

Not a Carbon Copy

Pakistan was not founded as a copy of India with a different flag. It was conceived as a Muslim-majority polity with constitutional distinctiveness. Whether that distinctiveness should mean theocracy, secularism, or something hybrid is a political question for Pakistanis.

Similarly the core Hindu-Dharmic civilizational nature of India, that is Bharat, is for Indians to decide. Outsiders demanding secularism often mistake their own preferences for universal law.

The Iranian Example

Continue reading Pakistan Does Not Need to Imitate India to Be Stable