Pakistan’s Ethnic Parties’ Religious Narratives and Practices

Abstract

Based on the secondary sources, this paper examines the link between ethnic political parties and religion in Pakistan, focusing on case studies of BNP-M in Balochistan, ANP in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), and QAT in Sindh provinces. ANP aimed for freedom from Punjabi political dominance without challenging religious sentiments. However, they faced opposition from Pashtun Taliban, perceiving ANP as a threat to religious narratives. ANP's liberal stance was seen as a threat to religious practices and contributed to their loss in the 2018 general elections. BNP-M has appeared neutral on the state's religious narrative and seeking inspiration from leftist transnational political parties in neighboring countries. BNP-M avoided affecting religious sentiments and focused on common social, political, economic, and human rights issues related to the local people. QAT openly adopted a liberal and leftist ideology, taunting religious groups, which negatively impacted local sentiments and hindered their popularity.