BLASPHEMY, POWER, AND RELIGIOUS INTOLERANCE IN PAKISTAN (2005–2011): A GRAMSCIAN ANALYSIS OF STRUCTURAL VIOLENCE

Abstract

This study investigates the recent surge in religious intolerance in Pakistan, focusing specifically on blasphemy-related violence from 2005 to 2011. Drawing on five in-depth interviews with academics, activists, and civil society experts, it uses thematicanalysis to identify key drivers behind the phenomenon. The findings point to a confluence of factors, includingcolonial-eralegallegacies,socioeconomicinequality, politicisation ofreligion,and thestrategicuseofblasphemylawsbyextremistgroupsandstateactorsalike.Accusationsof blasphemy are often weaponized to settle personal disputes or suppress dissent, and the resulting violence is normalized by media narratives and hegemonic educational discourse.Guided by historical materialism and Gramsci’s theory of cultural hegemony, the study shows how structural conditions (laws, class dynamics, and state policy) have produced a dominant religious ideology that justifies intolerance. Elites manipulate this ideology to maintain control, redirect grievances, and avoid accountability. The research concludes with policy suggestions including legal reform, stronger protection against false accusations, educational curriculum changes, and a political shift away from appeasing extremist actors. Althoughconstrainedbyasmallsamplesizeandthetopic’ssensitivity,thestudycontributes critical insight into the systemic roots of religious violence in Pakistan.