THE recent suppression of the ultra-radical Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) by state institutions has raised a series of intriguing questions. What compelled the state to act so decisively against a group once seen as its ideological ally? Does this signify a genuine transformation in the state’s approach towards all shades of extremism, or is it merely a tactical response to an immediate challenge and an isolated episode rather than an ideological shift?

Despite the intensity of the state’s current posture, there is little room for optimism about a deeper change of heart within the power institutions. Such a transformation requires not only political will but also credible and appealing alternatives, both ideological and structural. Unfortunately, neither the intelligentsia nor broader society has as yet cultivated a coherent alternative narrative capable of inspiring the state or filling the ideological vacuum left by the retreat of extremism.

Pakistan still lacks a viable model of moderate Islam, whether leaning towards secular modernity or grounded in indigenous reformist thought, that could simultaneously assure national cohesion and align with the interests of the ruling elites. Historically, the state has sought cohesion through religio-national narratives rather than constitutional consensus. The notion of constitutional cohesion, one rooted in equitable resource distribution, sociopolitical empowerment, and the recognition of ethnic, linguistic and cultural pluralism, has never found favour with the country’s power structures.

What, then, is the alternative? The state institutions may attempt to take direct control of the processes of narrative formation, a domain it had long outsourced to the religious........

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