The two-nation theory is used as a form of social control by Pakistan's elite.
The single most important event in Pakistani his tory is the secession of the eastern wing and the formation of Bangladesh in 1971. Yet, the imperative sentiment behind Pakistani nationhood remains the two-nation theory. The interest groups that comprise the Pakistani state are entirely reliant on this theory to justify the security paradigm that underlies decision-making, and allocation of resources. And yet, the single most important event in Pakistani history remains strangely peripheral and misunderstood, misrepresented as it is by the elite. To understand the concept of Pakistanhood that has been propagated over our 55-year history is to understand the political economy of this country.
All state structures that are fundamentally undemocratic rely on means of social control, whether they are coercive or subtle. This social control is usually founded on a basic idea, on a singular ideology that permeates all aspects of life. In Pakistan's case, this ideology in its essence asserts that Muslims are unable to co-exist with Hindus. Created as a home for the Muslims of the Subcontinent, Pakistan today teeters on the brink of political bankruptcy. It is described by a ravaged economy, all-consuming societal ills, and a political culture that resembles a modern-day monarchy.
The assumption that Muslims were inherently a single nation separate from the nation of Hindus, India, was proven false by the events of 1971, when it became apparent that the Bengali identity was dearer to those who lived in East Pakistan than the Muslim identity. Today, there still are more Muslims in India than in Pakistan. And, have we forgotten that there are still over a hundred thousand Biharis in refugee camps in Bangladesh that the Pakistani state refuses to accept? Still, the two-nation theory continues to inform Pakistan's polity in a profound way, by providing the energy for its Kashmir preoccupation: Kashmir continues to irk because it is symbolises a failure to fulfil the two-nation dream. The fallacy of the two-nation theory has been proven time and again, its contradictions undermining its credibility, but the tragedy for Pakistan is that the theory continues to be employed by the elite to perpetuate a system that has clearly failed to cater to even the basic needs of its citizens. The fact that the majority of Pakistanis still subscribe to this theory underlines how powerful a means of social control it is.