Secular stirrings
By M Saeed Khalid

It was a strange coincidence. Just as Islamist scholars from Turkey were claiming at seminars in Pakistan that the militant form of secularism had been done away in their country, the Kemalists began to stir in Istanbul’s most famous square. Two weeks on, and the famed Turkish model as practiced by Erdogan is showing a limp.

The first serious secularist counteroffensive has come in the eleventh year of Erdogan’s premiership, while he is working on a constitutional reform package to bring in a presidential system. Just in time for him to run for president when the incumbent Gul’s term ends in August 2014. Sounding belligerent at the onset of protests in Istanbul, Erdogan has adopted a more conciliatory tone as unrest spread to other cities of Turkey and calls from home and abroad for dialogue gathered pace.

The Turkish model has evoked keen interest or apprehension in the rest of the Muslim world from Morocco to Indonesia, not from 2002 but from 1923 when Ataturk established a secular republic to replace the Ottoman monarchy.

Let us focus for now on our region to assess how the rise and fall of Kemalism has influenced the evolution of political systems in Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan. There is no direct connection between secularist protests in Turkey and the presidential election in Iran, yet the election of the most reform-minded candidate Hassan Rowhani shows that the Iranians desire easing of the rigid theocracy in power since 1979.

Similarly, the events in Turkey or Iran have no clear link with the return of a centre-right party to power in Islamabad in a smooth transfer of power, or the painfully unending transition in Afghanistan in search of a new consensus between Islamic militants and the republican forces. On a closer look, over a period of time, however, you can find important links in the trajectories of these non-Arab Muslim nations.

The four nations share the Islamic faith and have a common cultural heritage. Sometimes, popularly held beliefs may not reflect the ground reality. Take for example the Khilafat Movement led by the Ali brothers to protest the Allied aggression against Turkey, leading to the dismemberment of the Ottoman Empire. This spontaneous expression of solidarity by the Muslims of the Subcontinent for the Turks is now part of folklore.

An important detail of the momentous happenings is not so clearly remembered. After successfully defending the Turkish mainland against invading powers led by Britain and France, the Turkish commander Mustafa Kemal – remembered as Ataturk – proceeded to dismantle the empire as well as the khilafat. The rapidly changing mood in Turkey at the time was not well understood in India. The Indian Muslims were so attached to the notion of a collective khilafat that they worked on persuading Ataturk to drop his idea of abolishing the khilafat. The Aga Khan was given the charge of addressing an appeal to Ataturk to reconsider.

The details of what followed are not well known but the legend goes that on receiving the Aga Khan’s message, Ataturk became more determined to end the sultanate, as well as the khilafat. Ataturk was clear in his mind that a modern Turkish nation could be built only after severing from its imperial, orthodox mode and replacing it with a secular republic without pretensions to lead the global Muslim community. A modern constitution was introduced and Turkish came to be written in the Roman script. Ataturk was in such complete command that on his mere suggestion, off came the veils from the faces of Turkish women.

The Kemalist model became an inspiration for Iran and Afghanistan, both opting for modernisation and westernisation of their traditional Muslim societies. However, neither Iran nor Afghanistan was ready for Kemalist policies, nor did they share borders or common history with Europe.

The Iranian elite embraced a western lifestyle but there was resentment in the masses. In retrospect, a frenetic and often forced pace of westernisation and women’s ‘liberation’ became a sore point in Iran. One of the first steps of the Islamic regime in Iran was to order women to cover themselves when outdoors.

Quaid-e-Azam shared Ataturk’s vision of creating a modern state but his secular outlook had little chance of emulation in a state created in the name of religion. Jinnah’s successors were more religiously inclined and it was a matter of time – certainly by the time of the adoption of the 1956 Constitution – that Pakistan became an Islamic republic.

Z A Bhutto was the next secular-minded leader to come to power through popular vote but he was careful not to wear that label, insisting on the primacy of Islam. When the chips were down, Bhutto had no hesitation in banning alcohol or declaring Ahmadis a minority.

The end of the 1970s was a time of the greatest transformation in the four countries. Turkey, where it had all started, was witnessing rapid emergence of the right, notably the Islamists. The Turkish republic had gradually evolved from a party-state to a multiparty democracy but firmly remained on the secular path, with the armed forces taking upon themselves the responsibility to uphold the secular system.

Iran was in turmoil, with the Islamists posing the biggest challenge to the pro-west monarchy. Afghanistan – going through extreme tension and disorder – suddenly became the latest focus of Moscow. In Pakistan, Bhutto was on death row, but his tormentor Zia was anxiously looking around, particularly at developments in Iran and Afghanistan.

When Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was executed on April 4, 1979 the French daily Le Monde carried an editorial-obituary titled ‘La fin de Kemalism’ (The end of Kemalism). The writer bemoaned that after Amanullah in Afghanistan and Reza Pahlavi in Iran, Bhutto was the last visionary in the region having attempted to modernise traditional Muslim societies.

As Istanbul’s Taksim Square turned into a see-saw between a domineering Islamic regime and its opponents, it emerged that the secular forces are beginning to regroup in Turkey. Bigger battles like the constitutional reform to a presidential system and local elections are on the horizon, followed by presidential polls and the general election.

The struggle to win the hearts and minds is not over in Turkey, or for that matter in countries like Iran and Pakistan, or in the wider Islamic world.

Email: saeed.saeedk@ gmail.com