Author: Shahzad F. Malik

A long the major highways across the country, madressahs, mosques and other big and small structures of various religious denominations are a common sight. From Karachi to Torkham, Islamabad to Gilgit and Peshawar to Kotri, the spread of religious institutions is a visible indication of the religious ethos in the country. But the architectural symmetry of madressahs, mosques and religious centres? also points to the presence of religious forces that are at work to create a kind of national cohesion.

The main beneficiary of religious institutionalisation is a major segment of the lower income groups. In Punjab, this phenomenon has already significantly transformed social structures, and a similar transformation is also underway in Sindh. Now, not unlike the rest of the country, such structures are increasingly sprouting up along the major highways and inter-district roads in Balochistan. But, the case of Balochistan is a more complex one in many respects.

Rapid urbanisation in parts of Balochistan and a growing middle class can be counted as primary factors behind growing religiosity in the province. The Baloch overseas workers in Middle Eastern countries, as well as Omani and Iranian influences in the coastal and bordering regions, have also factored in to change the socio-economic fabric of the area. Encompassing all this is the state’s larger religion-oriented national cohesion project, which defines Pakistan’s ideological foundation in religious terms and places religious identity above all other identities including ethnic. The historical processes of Islamicisation of the state and society palpably indicate that.