ABSTRACT
Since 1960 numerous Pakistani Sufi shrines have been nationalized and thus came under state control. For many of those who since administer these shrines, the topic of this volume, Islam, Sufism and Everyday Politics of Belonging in South Asia, is an everyday encounter in the true sense, a negotiation between the state’s and a political elite’s interests and the interests of those visiting the shrines. What remains interesting is that despite Pakistani Sufi shrines being a well-studied subject, few academics so far have looked at how exactly shrines are administered and managed by the state. Simple questions come to mind: Why are shrines under state control? How far does this control go? Who is ‘the state’ in this case? For what purpose are shrines used by political elites? What do ‘the people’ think about shrines being nationalized? Most importantly, who takes decisions about rituals and practices at the shrines?
