Religious clerics and Islamist political parties play influential roles in Pakistani politics, especially since they were empowered by the military in the 1980s. Many argue that their influence goes back well before, at least to independence in the 1940s. The religious right today exerts significant pressure on the government, and this has considerable relevance during the COVID-19 crisis. 

Many religious leaders acknowledge that religious gatherings can contribute to the spread of the virus, and the majority of Pakistani Muslim leaders are complying with lockdown since it was announced by the president on April 1. However, in the run up to Ramadan, some well-known clerics and leaders of religious political parties signed a letter demanding that the government exclude mosques from the shutdown, to avoid the anger of God against the country’s faithful. On April 18, the government signed an agreement allowing mosques to stay open during Ramadan if they followed a set of 20 guidelines, including ensuring that worshippers stay six feet apart, bring their own prayer mats, and do their ablutions at home. 

Negotiations between the government and influential religious leaders have spilled out onto the streets. Police have faced backlash. In Karachi, worshipers chased police, throwing rocks at them, and many were hospitalized. The police have now said they are no longer willing to put up cordons around mosques to stop religious gatherings. Critics have suggested that these events highlight the limits of the military’s control and the undue influence of the religious right on the government. The question remains whether the government’s lockdown guidelines can in practice be followed, as reports emerge across the country that mosques are violating the rules.

(Based on: April 23, 2020, Wall Street Journal and New York Times articles; and May 4, 2020, Brookings article)