RELIGION, REGIONALISM, AND NATION STATE: A STUDY OF THE DISENFRANCHISEMENT OF THE BENGALI-PAKISTANI POPULATION

Abstract

This thesis contributes to the study of the politics of national identity in Pakistan and the ethnic boundaries of citizenship. Taking the case of the Bengali Pakistani population, whose number is estimated around three million, it pursues two aims. It seeks to identify the factors which have led – since 2000 – to their loss of Pakistani citizenship, in clear violation of the Citizenship law. Second, it examines how the process of turning citizens into aliens is debated, justified and contested in the public sphere. To put it differently, it seeks to identify the conditions of belonging beyond Muslimness. The thesis analyzes the historical structures of regionalism and provincialism preceding the creation of Pakistan, and its role in the post-partition parliamentary politics and the regional conflicts leading to the separation of East Pakistan (Bangladesh) in 1971. Finally, the thesis traces the changing rights of the Bengali population after 1971, identifies some reasons for this development, and concludes with an analysis of the current public debate.

Date of Award	2025
Original language	American English
Awarding Institution	HBKU College of Islamic Studies