Pivoting Geography for Constructing Pakistan’s Identity and National Narrative

Why It Matters

The persistent instrumentalization of religion by South Asian states has produced paradoxical and often conflictual social forces. On one level, religious minorities (Ahmadis, Hindus, Christians in Pakistan; Muslims in India; Tamils in Sri Lanka) and ethnic communities (notably the Baloch in Pakistan) increasingly feel excluded, marginalized, or securitized. On another level, these same groups compete for citizenship rights and access to state resources, producing discordant visions of the role of religion in politics and society.

Across the region, the trend is not toward accommodation or power-sharing but toward enforcing exclusivist, ideological populism. This raises a critical question: How and why do South Asian states instrumentalize religion to promote nationalism?

Pakistan’s experience is instructive. Since 1947, the state and religious actors—sometimes independently, sometimes in partnership—have invoked Islam to legitimize policies, patronize select groups, and construct narratives of national integration. During Pakistan’s formative years (1947–54), the state actively sponsored scholarship to create a religiously anchored national identity. The All-Pakistan History Conference and a small circle of “eminent historians” helped institutionalize an Islamic ideological orientation in the national narrative, a project carried forward until 1971 (Ali Usman Qasmi, 2018).

Between 1967 and 1971, an intense debate emerged around the degree and nature of Islamization—Islam Pasand (Islamists) vs. Taraqi Pasand (Liberals). After 1971, the state leaned more heavily toward Islam as the primary identity marker. Periodic episodes of state-led Islamization—1949, 1979, 1988, 2002, and now 2025—reflect a recurring pattern: religion is mobilized to serve what the state perceives as the “national interest.” These cycles have produced competing visions of “who is a Pakistani,” contributing to the nebulousness of Pakistani national identity (Farzana Shaikh, 2009).

Implications: Constructing a Multi-Ethnic, Multi-Lingual, Multi-Cultural and Pluralist National Narrative

Drawing inspiration from Faiz Ahmad Faiz’s reflections on identity (Sheema Majeed, Interviews with Faiz, 1988), Pakistani national identity can be conceptualized as a series of concentric circles—each distinct yet interdependent.

1. The Innermost Circle: Islamic Ethical Values

Islam remains a moral and cultural nucleus, espousing values such as integrity, social justice, equity, tolerance, respect for women, protection of minorities, and the right to dissent. These universal principles can serve as bridges rather than boundaries—if framed inclusively rather than ideologically.

2. The Middle Circle: Linguistic, Ethnic, and Cultural Heritage

Pakistan’s regional languages, ethnic identities, folk traditions, and cultural practices are vital components of identity formation. Rather than undermining national cohesion, these identities enrich it. Punjabi, Sindhi, Pashtun, Baloch, Saraiki, Kashmiri, and Gilgit-Baltistani identities represent evolving, legitimate claims to rights, representation, and a fair share of resources (Paul Titus, 1996; M. Mushtaq, 2009).

3. The Outermost Circle: Pakistani Geography and Territoriality

Post-1971 Pakistan is a distinct geopolitical, economic, and civilizational entity. Its geography—compact, contiguous, and strategically located—provides the widest canvas for national identity. Shared historical experiences, civilizational sites (Gandhara, Harappa, Mohenjo-Daro), and territorial consciousness create a framework for collective belonging that is not merely reactive or anti-Indian, but rooted in Pakistan’s own historical and spatial reality.

Pivoting Geography, Cultural Heritage, and Religion

At this critical juncture, Pakistan must foreground geography and domestic culture as key sources of national cohesion. The more Pakistanis understand their territoriality, the clearer and more integrated their national identity becomes. Pakistan’s geography positions it as a civilizational bridge—connecting South Asia, Central Asia, and the Middle East.

The Karakoram Highway gave us both the national connectivity and opened a path to Central Asia; the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and the China–Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) have demonstrated how geography can be transformed into economic, educational, cultural and cellular/digital connectivity. The unfolding of BRI challenges classical geopolitical theories—from Mackinder’s Heartland to Mahan’s Sea Power and Spykman’s Rimland—by privileging connectivity over control. Pakistan’s under-leveraged geopolitical location can become a strategic asset for narrative-building.

Concluding Thought and the Way Forward

Understanding Pakistani identity requires recognizing the complex interplay among ethnicity, Islam, and territoriality. These forces simultaneously generate contestation and cohesion. Pakistan’s identity is increasingly multilayered, multilingual, and multicultural. It is shaped primarily by domestic dynamics, though external pressures periodically reignite nationalist zealotry.

Ethnic contestation and assimilation are ongoing processes, reflecting the dynamism of Pakistan’s nation-building experience. Indeed, it is both remarkable and reassuring that internal and external forces coexist and compete in shaping national identity. A Pakistani today is simultaneously territorial, Muslim, and ethnically/culturally pluralist. This deserves recognition and celebration.

The geography of Pakistani nationhood is distinct. Though the rupture of 1971 shattered foundational vision, the subsequent decades have witnessed a painful yet resilient reconstruction of identity. What is needed now is an inclusive national narrative that:

• recognizes Pakistan’s geographic and civilizational uniqueness,
• celebrates and harmonizes linguistic and cultural diversity,
• draws on Islamic ethical values rather than ideological dogma, and
• integrates Pakistan’s regional connectivity into a forward-looking national vision.

Such a narrative can help Pakistan transcend binaries, diminish exclusion, and articulate a confident, pluralist, and geopolitically rooted national identity.