Anti-Americanism in Pakistan A look at the causes and different phases

By: Asfand Yar

Anti-American sentiment has been embedded in the minds of Pakistanis largely owing to the wrongdoings they think America has committed with its coercive policies toward Pakistan. The failures and weaknesses of the Pakistani government further deepened this hostility. Since the inception of Pakistan, the relations between both the states have been topsy-turvy; marked with convergence and divergence of interests. The friendship, initially, was based in the principle of helping each other in tough times, but with the passage of time, this fizzled out as is evident from the wars between India and Pakistan in 1965 and 1971. In these two wars, Pakistan was left high and dry by the United States. This abandonment created extreme resentment among the Pakistanis, ergo the rise of anti-Americanism in the society. 

Anti-Americanism in Pakistan has permeated all segments of society. Some people limit it to their private meetings while others exhibit this feeling openly, through protests and attempts to damage American property whenever there is any aggressive act by the US. The history of Pak-US relations is replete with such sporadic episodes.

Different Phases

Anti-Americanism was present, albeit to some extent, in the 1950s and it soared higher in the 1960s as the US did not assist Pakistan in its war against India in 1965. The feeling kept deepening in the 1970s following the ouster of the country’s most revered democratic leader Zulfikar Ali Bhutto as there was a widespread feeling that General Zia-ul-Haq had ousted him on America’s behest. In the 1980s, especially due to the Afghan War, hatred against America declined significantly due to the American support to the Afghan Mujahideen – though the US did so only to defeat and break the Soviet Union. In the 1990s, Pakistan had to face gruelling US sanctions especially when Pakistan conducted nuclear tests in May 1998. This also created a deep-rooted ill will in the Pakistani populace. Then, the post-9/11 era saw new layers of frustrations, complexities, hatred and grievances. Politico-religious parties like Jamaat-e-Islami and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (Fazl-ur-Rehman) not only staged protests against America but also expressed their anger and fury against Pakistan’s decision to be a part of the US-led war against terrorism in Afghanistan.

How the US Treats Pakistan?

The extreme resentment Pakistanis bear against the United States has its roots in the latter’s policies and actions towards the former. America’s meddling into Pakistan’s internal affairs has also fuelled the rise of anti-Americanism in Pakistan. Country’s all friendly overtures towards America failed to serve its interests.

In cooperation with Pakistan, the United States focused mostly on external goals like containing expansion of Communism by arming the Afghan Mujahideen, and establishing relations with China after Pakistan-arranged covert talks. The US leaders considered Pakistan a pawn in the broader geopolitical chess. However, when Pakistan was in dire need of US support e.g. in 1965 and 1971 Indo-Pakistani wars, it turned its back. So, the feeling that the US always treated Pakistan in the light of its own national interests created unabated resentment.

Another root cause is the American support to Pakistan’s all the four military regimes — Ayub Khan, Yahya Khan, Zia-ul-Haq, and Pervez Musharaf. Pakistanis believe that the US played a pivotal role in prolongation of those regimes that took a heavy toll on the country’s democratic credentials.

This US interference in the internal policies as well as affairs of the country effected an intense feeling of resentment and anti-Americanism among the people of Pakistan.

Moreover, Pakistanis are overwhelmingly a religious people. And, a feeling that the US has always inflicted huge damages to the Muslims all around the world through unending wars in different Muslim countries.

The Post-9/11 Era

After the fateful episode of 9/11, the United States invaded Afghanistan in 2001 with an avowed mission to topple the Taliban regime for providing safe havens to Al-Qaeda and its leader Osama bin Laden for their alleged role in this barbaric act. Pakistan was also coerced to become a US ally in its global war on terror. This coercion, and Pakistan’s resultant decision to align with the US, invited the wrath of a number of religious parties and communities that turned against America and the Pakistani ruling elite. The religious parties particularly JI and JUI(F) expressed their extreme anger, hostility, disapproval and resentment against the US, and Pakistani leadership, through huge public demonstrations.

Moreover, the US military actions against Pakistan such as drone attacks, clandestine operation in Abbottabad to kill Osama bin Laden, the Raymond Davis episode and the brutal attack on Salala Check Post not only sabotaged the amiable relations with America, but also invited a serious public backlash and the feeling of anti-Americanism further entrenched into the society. In her article “Drone Strikes and Anti-Americanism in Pakistan,” Madiha Afzal maintains that in 2009, on the one hand, the US assisted Pakistan by giving huge civilian aid on the basis of Kerry-Lugar Bill, while CIA’s director John Brennan launched 242 drone strikes in Pakistan, on the other. His comments that none of the strikes caused any civilian fatality further infuriated the Pakistanis. According to a 2012 survey, 80 percent of Pakistanis hold an unfavourable view of the United States, and 74 percent deemed it an enemy. This shows the extreme level of hatred against America among the Pakistanis due to America’s flawed policies.

Three Strands of Anti-Americanism in Pakistan

Different people and different groups of people have different perspectives and feelings about the US at varied levels of intensification. For instance, the ruling elite’s views are usually complacent, based on their own interests, that is, they turn against US only to draw more attention of its administration and get more aid. The fundamentalists interpret in their own way and consider that the growing ties with America could threaten their beliefs and traditional ways of life. The liberals or leftists base their argument on opposition to the capitalist and imperialist manipulation and exploitation. Three types of Anti-Americanism define Pakistani perspectives today. Professor Muhammad Waseem in “Perceptions about America in Pakistan,” writes:

“One can outline three broad features of Pakistani attitudes toward Washington. One is rooted in the insecurity syndrome, which underscored the foreign policy options of Karachi-Islamabad for decades. It has led to consideration of the US role as a stabilizing factor and, therefore, a positive input in the region. The second approach represents the leftist and generally anti-establishment position as a carry-over from the Cold War period. However, this has grossly declined in recent years in political significance and is now somewhat irrelevant for our purposes. Thirdly, the resurgent Islamic position has moved to the centre stage during the last decade, as far as its potential to influence the political discourse in Pakistan about the United States is concerned.”

Thus we can deduce that there are, primarily, three forms of anti-Americanism in Pakistan:

1. Leftist and Liberal

In “Political Dynamics of Sindh 1947-1977,” Tanvir Ahmed Tahir suggests that post-1971, which was the era of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, anti-Americanism in Pakistan was more an occupation of liberals and leftist groups. This era was replete with protests staged by liberals and leftists against American capitalism and its imperialistic designs against Pakistan. Anti-Americanism was more pervasive among Pakistani leftists than the religious parties. The feeling of anti-Americanism in the leftist groups can be traced back to Badar Hanif’s (a radical member of the left-wing party National Students Federation) statement in the protests against the US-backed military regime in the late 1960s which was like that “We were focused. We not only wanted to topple the US-backed Ayub dictatorship, but the whole capitalist system.”

2. Nationalist

This strand of anti-Americanism entails that the nationalists of the country show extreme resentment over America’s growing involvement in economic and political systems which they perceive as a threat to their sovereignty. These people originally thought that the Pak-US relationship will be based on an environment of friendship i.e. whenever Pakistan needed any assistance, America will be there to lend a cooperative hand to Pakistan. However, that did not happen and the US left Pakistan – many times – in the lurch to face the precarious situation. For instance, when Pakistan-India war broke out in 1965, the US, considering Pakistan an aggressor, felt no need to come to Pakistan’s help. Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, a true nationalist, emerged as a main critic of the American policy and deemed it a betrayal in the long-standing friendship. Same happened in 1971 war that led to the dismemberment of East Pakistan, and again it ignited the hatred against America by Bhutto government. In the wake of India’s aggression and American indifference towards Pakistan, Bhutto decided to acquire nuclear technology with special support from another nationalist Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan. Enduring all pressures from external powers, Bhutto left no stone unturned to make Pakistan a nuclear power and in 1979. Dr A.Q. Khan expressed his extreme hatred towards the US through a letter to the editor of German magazine ‘Der Spiegel’ wherein he wrote:

“I want to question the bloody holier-than-thou attitudes of the Americans and the British. Are these bastards God-appointed guardians of the world to stockpile hundreds of thousands of nuclear warheads and have they God-given authority to carry out explosions every month? If we start a modest program, we are the Satan, the devils”.

3. Religious and Jihadist

After the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979, Pakistan got more important for the United States. In the Afghan jihad against the Soviets, Pakistani fighters participated with a great zeal and the US provided military hardware and dollars to Zia regime. During Zia regime, anti-Americanism became a polarized concept owing to most religious parties and their supporters remained pro-America due to the Zia’s Islamic leanings but in the late 1980s, after the demise of Zia, the US started strangulating Pakistan through various sanctions which made the Pakistanis furious and the intensity of anti-Americanism further augmented.

After the Soviet withdrawal, the US left the region without any pragmatic planning; thus, turning the Afghan war into a bloody civil war. This further invited the wrath of the jihadists and religious groups who started perceiving America as a menace to their Islamic values and culture.

Conclusion

Anti-Americanism is widespread into the conservative as well as liberal minds in Pakistan. Since the 1965 war, the feelings of antagonism against the United States have been pervasive and the outright reason for this hatred has been the undue meddling of America into the internal affairs of Pakistan besides its flawed policies and botched narratives. The people of Pakistan blame America for everything wrong that happens in Pakistan – from terrorist attacks to energy crisis, even to spread of epidemics. The religious segments of the society harbour strong hate for America and the liberals and nationalists too fall into the same category, though intensity of anti-Americanism among them is somewhat lesser than the religious groups. This sort of disdain can be cushioned only if the US changes its foreign policy and actions toward Pakistan.