ARTICLE

SECTARIANISM AND ITS IMPACTS ON SOCIAL TOLERANCE A CASE STUDY OF UNIVERSITY STUDENTS OF SOUTH PUNJAB

07 Pages : 63-71

http://dx.doi.org/10.31703/gsr.2022(VII-I).07      10.31703/gsr.2022(VII-I).07      Published : Mar 2022

Sectarianism and Its Impacts on Social Tolerance: A Case Study of University Students of South Punjab

    1979 unveiled political events of the Iranian Revolution, the siege of Mecca, and the Afghan war that entirely shaped the political dynamics of the Muslim world, including the struggle for regional influence between Saudi Arabia and Iran. Issues like sectarianism, insurgency, humanitarian crisis, violation of women's rights, and uprisings in different parts of the Muslim world ensued. The paper is an attempt to understand the radical legacy of 1979: its impact on social tolerance and the sectarian rift between Shias and Sunnis in Pakistan. The data was collected through questionnaires from the students of public and private sector universities of South Punjab in Pakistan. A quantitative analysis of the data gauged the students' tolerance for the opposite sect and their perception of external influences on the sectarian divide in the country. The study revealed that students in the universities of Southern Punjab are not generally hostile to their out-of-sect social connections. It is recommended that students be made aware of issues like sectarianism in Pakistan and the role of regional politics to prevent them from falling prey to extremism.

    Shia-Sunni Rivalry, Social Tolerance, Muslim World Politics, Regional Politics, Pakistani Youth, Family Ties, Social Connections
    (1) Kamran Fiaz
    PhD Student, Department of Political Science, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan, Punjab, Pakistan.
    (2) Ahsan Riaz
    Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, Islamia University Bahawalpur, Punjab, Pakistan.
    (3) Muqarrab Akbar
    Chairman, Department of Political Science, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan, Punjab, Pakistan.
  • Abbas, H. (2010). Shiism and sectarian conflict in Pakistan: identity politics, Iranian influence, and tit-for-tat violence. Combatting Terrorism Center at West Point
  • Ahmed, K. (2011). Sectarian war: Pakistan's Sunni- Shia Violence and its links to the Middle East. Oxford University Press.
  • Akbar, M. (2021). Countering violent extremism through community resilience in Southern Punjab: A case study of university students and professionals. In M. S. Khilji, S. M. Ahmad, & A. Q. Suleri (Eds.), Policy Perspectives on Countering Violent Extremism in Pakistan 09- 20. Sustainable Development Policy Institute Islamabad.
  • Basit, A. (2013). The Expansion of Sectarian Conflict in Pakistan. Counter Terrorist Trends and Analyses, 5(4), 14-16.
  • Broer, N. A., De Muynck, B., Potgieter, F. J., Wolhuter, C. C., & Van der Walt, J. L. (2014). Measuring religious tolerance among final year education students-the birth of a questionnaire. International Journal for Religious Freedom, 7(1_2), 77-96.
  • Dedalus, S. (2009). The Bitter Harvest Sectarianism in Balochistan. Middle East Report, (251), 42- 47.
  • Ghattas, K. (2020). Black wave: Saudi Arabia, Iran, and the forty-year rivalry that unraveled culture, religion, and collective memory in the Middle East. Henry Holt and Company.
  • Gengler, J. (2016). The political economy of sectarianism in the Gulf (1-30). Washington, DC: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
  • Grare, F. (2007). The evolution of sectarian conflicts in Pakistan and the ever-changing face of Islamic violence. South Asia: Journal of South Asian Studies, 30(1), 127-143.
  • Hashemi, N. (2016). Toward a political theory of sectarianism in the Middle East: The salience of authoritarianism over theology. Journal of Islamic and Muslim Studies, 1(1), 65-76.
  • Hamid, M. (2011). Why Pakistan will survive. In Lodhi, M. (2011) (Ed.), Pakistan: Beyond the Crisis State, 35-43.
  • International Crisis Group. (2016). The Eye of the Storm: Security Dynamics in Southern Punjab. In Pakistan's Jihadist Heartland: Southern Punjab (3-15). International Crisis Group.
  • Karim, M. S., & Riaz, S. (2021). Opinions and Attitudes Towards Extremism A Comparison of Students Enrolled at Public and Private Universities in Karachi. In M. S. Khilji, S. M. Ahmad, & A. Q. Suleri (Eds.), Policy Perspectives on Countering Violent Extremism in Pakistan (pp. 09-20). Sustainable Development Policy Institute Islamabad.
  • Misra, A. (2015). Life in brackets: Minority Christians and hegemonic violence in Pakistan. International journal on minority and group rights, 22(2), 157-181.
  • Nasr, V. R. (2000). International Politics, Domestic Imperatives, and Identity Mobilization: Sectarianism in Pakistan, 1979-1998. Comparative Politics, 171-190.
  • Nasr, V. (2006). When the Shiites rise. Foreign Affairs, 58-74.
  • Nasr, V. (2007). The Shia revival: How conflicts within Islam will shape the future. WW Norton & Company.
  • Nietzsche, F. W. (1911). The dawn of day 9. TN Foulis
  • Potter, L. G. (2015). Sectarianism in the Middle East. Great Decisions, 29-40. http://www.jstor.org/stable/44214791

Cite this article

    APA : Fiaz, K., Riaz, A., & Akbar, M. (2022). Sectarianism and Its Impacts on Social Tolerance: A Case Study of University Students of South Punjab. Global Sociological Review, VII(I), 63-71 . https://doi.org/10.31703/gsr.2022(VII-I).07
    CHICAGO : Fiaz, Kamran, Ahsan Riaz, and Muqarrab Akbar. 2022. "Sectarianism and Its Impacts on Social Tolerance: A Case Study of University Students of South Punjab." Global Sociological Review, VII (I): 63-71 doi: 10.31703/gsr.2022(VII-I).07
    HARVARD : FIAZ, K., RIAZ, A. & AKBAR, M. 2022. Sectarianism and Its Impacts on Social Tolerance: A Case Study of University Students of South Punjab. Global Sociological Review, VII, 63-71 .
    MHRA : Fiaz, Kamran, Ahsan Riaz, and Muqarrab Akbar. 2022. "Sectarianism and Its Impacts on Social Tolerance: A Case Study of University Students of South Punjab." Global Sociological Review, VII: 63-71
    MLA : Fiaz, Kamran, Ahsan Riaz, and Muqarrab Akbar. "Sectarianism and Its Impacts on Social Tolerance: A Case Study of University Students of South Punjab." Global Sociological Review, VII.I (2022): 63-71 Print.
    OXFORD : Fiaz, Kamran, Riaz, Ahsan, and Akbar, Muqarrab (2022), "Sectarianism and Its Impacts on Social Tolerance: A Case Study of University Students of South Punjab", Global Sociological Review, VII (I), 63-71
    TURABIAN : Fiaz, Kamran, Ahsan Riaz, and Muqarrab Akbar. "Sectarianism and Its Impacts on Social Tolerance: A Case Study of University Students of South Punjab." Global Sociological Review VII, no. I (2022): 63-71 . https://doi.org/10.31703/gsr.2022(VII-I).07