June 07, 2004
 

Singapore's PM Goh Chok Tong talked about the post-Cold war geopolitics at the International Institute for Strategic Studies Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore last week. He makes a shocking allegation against Pakistan when he says "The secular governments of India and Pakistan have been on the frontlines of the struggle against Islamic extremism for many years".

How can a country which officially calls itself the Islamic Republic of Pakistan be termed a secular nation? Clause 2 in the Introductory of the Pakistani Constitution makes it amply clear that Islam is the state religion. My understanding of the word secular is that it refers to not being associated with a specific religion. Somehow, reading that line in the Pakistani constitution doesn't make me feel that Pakistan was meant to be a secular state. I believe the word Mr. Goh was looking for, in Pakistan's context, is theocratic.

Rambled @ 4:21 PM

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