Conservatism in Pakistan
[1] The conservative philosophy, principles, ideas, and traditions were first adopted by the Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan as part of his internal policies in 1950.
[6] Nonetheless, the conservative vote bank of the country partitioned equally between the PML(N) and the centrist PTI of Imran Khan on the topics mainly concerning the foreign policy, national, and social issues.
In 2018, the conservative votebank eventually switched to PTI when Imran Khan was sworn as Prime Minister who defeated PML's candidate Shahbaz Sharif in the nationwide general elections.
The constitution and principles of the Muslim League were contained in the Green Book, written by conservative thinker and cleric, Maulana Muhammad Ali.
The idea of Conservatism in Pakistan identifies several constants including the "respect for tradition, the rule of law and the Islamic religion."
Proponents of right-wing conservatism and nationalist agenda was supported by Prime Minister Ali Khan as part of his internal policies.
As an aftermath of 1954 general elections, conservatism lost its edge in East-Pakistan when communism deeply asserted itself following the victory of Communist Party.
The Islamic conservative parties successfully pressed PPP's Bhutto to declare Ahmadiyya sect as Non-Muslim domination.
[18] Only Pakistan Muslim League (PML) led by Nurul Amin had gained considerable votes from all over the country; the JeI faced with an embarrassing election result winning only four out of 300 seats.
[18] After a bitter war with India and the loss of East Pakistan, the conservative movements were seen as the last blow to their vision at that time.
In 1973, a violent disturbances instigated by JeI forced the PPP to pass the Second Amendment law to declare Ahmadiyya domination as Non-Muslim.
[20] With the successful coup d'état against the left-wing government of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), the modern conservatism movement took over the control of state's affairs under President Zia-ul-Haq.
[5] The conservative principles dominated Zia's economic and foreign policies, including the interest-free system and strict opposition to Soviet Communism defining his military administration's political philosophy.
[21] President Zia-ul-Haq largely depended on the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) for work and political recommendation for policy guidance issue.
[22] Zia was attacked by left-wing personalities at the time as being a "source of fundamentalism", but conservative historians asserted that he decisively limited Soviet Union to Afghanistan.
[24] In defining the conservatism, President Zia once described to British journalist Ian Stephen that: "The basis of Pakistan was Islam.
"[23] The university curriculum in the country was upgraded by President Zia-ul-Haq, that includes the teaching of Islamic Studies and Arabic languages courses, which were made compulsory for students to get their degrees in arts and social sciences.
"[31] After Zia's death in 1988, the left-oriented Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) came in national power through general elections held in 1988.
[38] The nuclear tests in competition with India was highly popular in the country at that time, the conservative PML(N) government had an uttermost public support over that issue.
Searching for a new political philosophy, President Pervez Musharraf called for a "Third Way" after forming the PML(Q) group, totally hostile towards the Pakistan Muslim League.
[18] In 2002, a massive communist party demonstration against the United States and the fierce joint-opposition of PPP and PMLN had politically weakened the government.
Historians of Pakistan also noted that the fact that the atomic proliferation debriefings had enraged and outraged the leftists and conservatives alike of their national hero, Dr. Qadeer Khan.
[44] Overall, social conservatism and hard leftist ideas grew in an opposition against President Pervez Musharraf, including a far-right insurgency in the country.
