Migrants and Militants: Fun and Urban Violence in PakistanBeing part of a violent community in revolt can be addictive--it can be fun. This book offers a fascinating inside look at present-day political violence in Pakistan through a historical ethnography of the Muhajir Qaumi Movement (MQM), one of the most remarkable and successful religious nationalist movements in postcolonial South Asia. The MQM has mobilized much of the "migrant" (Muhajir) population in Karachi and other urban centers in southern Pakistan and has fomented large-scale ethnic-religious violence. Oskar Verkaaik argues that urban youth see it as an irresistible opportunity for "fun." Drawing on both anthropological fieldwork, including participatory observation among political militants, and historical analyses of state formation, nation-building, and the ethnicization of Islam since 1947, he provides an absorbing and important contribution to theoretical debates about political--religious and nationalist--violence. |
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... Ethnicity - Pakistan . 6. Pakistan - Politics and government . I. Title . II . Series . DS380.M83V47 2004 322.4'2'0882971 - dc21 2003054716 British Library Cataloging - in - Publication Data is available . This book has been composed in ...
... ethnic conflict , even ethnic cleansing , has occurred , he unravels the rationale behind the rise , unexpected success , and decline of the dominant political force , the Muhajir Qaumi Move- ment ( MQM ) . Established in 1984 , it soon ...
... ethnicity . Pious lit- erature may well have reinforced the assumption that " Muslim " as a cate- gory is incompatible with Pakhtun , Berber , Javenese , or indeed Arab . Yet this work points to the ... ethnic groups had x ⚫ Foreword.
... ethnic groups had seemingly cap- tured it . Simply put , their intention was to recreate the idea of Pakistan in ... ethnicity . James Piscatori Dale F. Eickelman Preface This book is the result of my long fascination Foreword • xi.
... ethnic - religious poli- tics in Pakistan and more in particular with a large group of migrants known as Muhajirs who after independence in 1947 left their homes in various regions of India to travel to the new Muslim state of Pakistan ...