From the beginning in 1947, Pakistan has endured major problems and issues with its sense of political and social identity combined with security. In essence the military sees any form of democratic politics as anathema. It is the military that views itself as the pre-eminent guarantee not just of external security but also of the nation-state and Pakistan’s identity, and that identity it sees as Islamic. The military acts as defacto guardian of that identity.here. Where civil society shows up most strongly is one where secularism has no foothold. And that’s religion. This paper seeks to analyse three things. 1) Pakistan''s dysfunctional relationship with religion and identity. 2) The relationship in Pakistan between security and identity in the post 9/11 period 3) And based on these the relationship of Pakistan to its external environment. Why is religion such a powerful ideology and the state weak in this part of South Asia? There are three themes throughout the paper. The first is that this interplay of religion and politics is not new (as some argue); rather it has fairly strong historical antecedents. Secondly, states have become delegitimized because of their failure to deliver the promised goods and services in development terms. Religion has made inroads in this scenario. Lastly, the emergence of religious identity is a result of the insecurity and uncertainty that individuals face in response to globalization and the lack of an identity that the latter offers.
