ABSTRACT
Pakistan’s entry into the “War on Terror” in 2001 as an ally of the United States, against the Taliban and other Islamic militant groups, marked a drastic policy turnaround for this military-dominated state.2 Then-military leader General Pervez Musharraf’s decision plunged Pakistan into a crisis of national identity that has culminated in a dramatic undermining of fundamental rights, women’s rights, and human rights, in addition to increased militarism, violence, and terrorism. Weakened internally by pressure from terrorist groups, religious extremists, and anti-Western nationalists, and externally by the demands of its counter-terrorism allies, the Pakistani state vacillates between its Islamic identity and transnational commitments. It presents itself as a progressive Muslim nation committed to international human rights protocols, but capitulates to religious extremists in important areas of women’s rights (Haqqani 2005; Human Rights Commission of Pakistan 2009). Over the past decade, a key concern for feminists and human rights groups has been the marked decline in the state’s ability to uphold the rights of women and religious minorities, as well as the increasing power of non-state actors to infl uence decisions concerning these groups (Brohi 2008; Human Rights Commission of Pakistan 2010; Zia 2009).
