Political Conflict in Pakistan

A deeply considered reappraisal of Pakistani politics as a permanent state of struggle and contention between actors, mindsets and interests.

''[A]n excellent volume on Pakistan''s crisis from a sociological perspective.''

''This book will be a highly valuable source for people interested in the politics of Pakistan and in the potential of political conflict as a truly transformative variable.''

''Waseem''s pathbreaking book successfully exposes the historical fault-lines that continually generate political tremors in Pakistan. Breathtaking in its scope and synthesis, it is essential reading for comprehending the colonial legacy in South Asia. An extraordinary achievement.'' ''Mohammad Waseem is among the most insightful analysts of Pakistan politics. His book is outstanding, and the range of knowledge and sources is absolutely of the highest order. Essential reading.'' ''A panoramic and deeply researched account of the roots of political conflict in Pakistan. In this clear-eyed and scrupulously honest discussion, Waseem unpacks Pakistan''s contested historical inheritance and its fractured cultural landscape to show how conflict has shaped and reshaped this troubled country. A unique achievement.''

''Waseem, an astute analyst of Pakistan''s history and politics, focuses on the conflict between the middle class and the "political class" to identify the sources of power in Pakistan, and the challenges in a polity that has effectively excluded much of its population since independence.''

This book is a major reinterpretation of Pakistani politics. Its focus is conflict among groups, communities, classes, ideologies and institutions, which has shaped the country''s political dynamics. Mohammad Waseem analyses the millennium-long conflict between Hindus and Muslims as separate nations but intermingled faiths, and the Hindu, Muslim and Sikh renaissances that created a twentieth-century clash of communities and led to partition.

Political Conflict in Pakistan addresses multiple clashes: between the high culture as a mission to transform society, and the low culture of the land and the people; between those committed to the establishment''s institutional constitutional framework and those seeking to dismantle the ''colonial'' state; between the corrupt and those seeking to hold them to account; between the political class and the middle class; and between civil and military power. Waseem exposes how the ruling elite centralised power through the militarisation and judicialisation of politics, rendering the federalist arrangement an empty shell and grossly alienating the provinces. He sets all this within the contexts of education and media as breeders of conflict, the difficulties of establishing an anti-terrorist regime, and the state''s pragmatic attempts at conflict resolution, under pressure from minorities. This is a wide-ranging account of a country of contestations.

• | Author: Mohammad Waseem
• | Publisher: C Hurst & Co Publishers Ltd
• | Publication Date: Sep 18, 2025
• | Number of Pages:
• | Language:
• | Binding: Paperback / softback
• | ISBN-13: 9781805264446
• | ISBN-10: 1805264443