Department of Political Science

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Perspectives on Musharraf’s policy of ‘Enlightened Moderation’ in National & International Print Media (2003-2005)
(University of Management and Technology, 2017) Sara Ahmad
In the wake of 9/11, 2001 religious extremism became a major concern of international security agencies. Pakistan, in particular, became a focus of academic discourse on radical religious extremism and militancy. It was during these times that President of PakistanPervez Musharraf presented the idea of “Enlightened Moderation”. According to him, the Muslims would have to adopt the modern path and the world should promote justice to get rid of extremism. This study examines President Musharraf's policy of “Enlightened Moderation” and its different interpretations by the national and international print media. The study finds that despite President Musharraf's efforts to explain this idea at length, it was interpreted in multiple, often conflicting ways by scholars in the Pakistan, the West and in the Muslim world. Data is included from newspapers articles and semi-structured elite interviews which are selected using quota and purposive sampling. Following the interpretive qualitative research tradition, the study is employed thematic analysis to analyze the data.