UDTR Global Rights of Nature Radar

Intersubjective Misrecognition and Autonomy of Religious Minorities in Hanif’s Our Lady of Alice Bhatti

Identification

Public canonical key

doi:10.54692/jelle.2025.070422

Authors

Sajjad Mahmood · Shamaila Dodhy

Reported year

2025

Reported language

en

Source type

article

First detected

2026-11-09T19:14:42.783978+00:00

Last metadata observation

2026-11-09T19:14:42.783978+00:00

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Not checked

Institutions reported by the source

University of the Punjab

Documentary abstract — original language

This research investigates existing communalism between Muslims and Christians, and how the divide between these communities makes mutual understanding impossible, as depicted in the novel Our Lady of Alice Bhatti (2012) by Muhammad Hanif. Employing Jurgen Habermas’ ideas of intersubjectivity, recognition, and autonomy, the study seeks to decode the destructive effects of intersubjective misrecognition in the post-secular public domain on the private, public, and political autonomy of the Christian minorities in Pakistan. Utilising textual analysis as a research method, this research asserts that intersubjective misrecognition is mediated through the processes of negative stereotyping, inter-communal conflicts, and internalisation of the clash of civilisations between Arab-Islam and Western Christianity. This study provides a critical lens on contemporary socio-political challenges in Pakistan, underscoring the imperative for civic education that privileges shared national identity over sectarian division and for robust legal-institutional reforms to protect minority rights. The findings contribute to broader discourses on post-secularism, citizenship, and the role of Anglophone literature in interrogating human rights and identity politics in South Asia. Keywords Autonomy, Christians, human rights, intersubjectivity, post-secular, religious minorities References Ahmed, N., Jawaid, A., Javaid, H., Naqvi, S. M., & Sarfraz, S. (2019). Pronunciation challenges faced by undergraduate students of the Middle East. Language in India, 19(2). Beaumont, J., & Eder, K. (2018). Concepts, processes, and antagonisms of postsecularity. In J. Beaumont & C. Hempel (Eds.), The Routledge handbook of postsecularity (pp. 1–18). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315307831-1 Bilal, M. (2022). “Yes, I am Joseph Bhatti Choohra:” Reading Joseph Bhatti as a palimpsest. Angles: New Perspectives on the Anglophone World, 14. https://journals.openedition.org/angles/5259 Chambers, C. (2017). Advocacy without footnotes: Pakistani cultural production and human rights. In Rivers of ink (pp. 141–151). Oxford University Press. Cilano, C. (2019). ‘All these angularities’: Spatialising non-Muslim Pakistani identities. In A. Kanwal & S. Aslam (Eds.), Routledge companion to Pakistani Anglophone writing (pp. 13–21). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315180618-2 Habermas, J. (1979). Communication and the evolution of society (T. McCarthy, Trans.). Beacon Press. Habermas, J. (1984). The theory of communicative action: Volume 1: Reason and the rationalization of society (T. A. McCarthy, Trans.). Beacon Press. Habermas, J. (1987). The theory of communicative action: Volume 2: Lifeworld and system: A critique of functionalist reason (T. A. McCarthy, Trans.). Beacon Press. Habermas, J. (1992). Postmetaphysical thinking: Philosophical essays (W. M. Hohengarten, Trans.). The MIT Press. Habermas, J. (1996). Between facts and norms: Contributions to a discourse theory of law and democracy (W. Rehg, Trans.). The MIT Press. Habermas, J. (2001). Justification and application: Remarks on discourse ethics (C. Cronin, Trans.). The MIT Press. Habermas, J. (2008). Between naturalism and religion: Philosophical essays (C. Cronin, Trans.). Polity Press. Hanif, M. (2012). Our lady of Alice Bhatti. Bond Street Books. Huntington, S. P. (1993). The clash of civilizations? Foreign Affairs, 72(3), 22–49. Iftikhar, M., & Hashmi, S. J. A. (2025). When religious freedom is taken away: The current state of minorities in Pakistan. Mafatih Journal of Islamic Studies (MJIS), 1(1), 1–15. https://journal.stitmuba.ac.id/index.php/mafatih/article/view/53 Intersubjectivity. (2011). In A dictionary of media and communication. Oxford Reference. https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803100008603 Iqbal, U. J., Iqbal, N., & Khalid, K. (2022). Ideological manipulation and exploitation of minorities in Pakistan: An analytical study of Our Lady of Alice Bhatti. Negotiations, 2(2), 53–62. http://journals.mehkaa.com/index.php/negotiations/article/view/58 Islamic Research Institute. (2009). The objectives resolution. Islamic Studies, 48(1), 89–118. Kaur, P., & Jawaid, A. (2019). A case study of sustainable livelihood strategy of women porters at Entikong–Tebedu. Opción: Revista de Ciencias Humanas y Sociales, (21), 1140–1156. Kaur, P., Binti Karim, H. K., Jawaid, A., Sangaran, S., Myint, K. T., Singh, E. R., & Rashid, M. (2022). Stings of pedophilia: Case studies from Malaysia. Webology, 19(2). Kaur, P., Jawaid, A., Saimon, R., Myint, K. T., Singh, E. R., Hassdee, H. B., & Aisyah bt Samsudin, N. N. (2020). Technological evolution of streetwalker in Malaysia. Talent Development & Excellence, 12. Malik, I. H. (2002). Religious minorities in Pakistan. Minority Rights Group International. Misra, A. (2015). Life in brackets: Minority Christians and hegemonic violence in Pakistan. International Journal on Minority and Group Rights, 22(2), 157–181. https://brill.com/view/journals/ijgr/22/2/article-p157_2.xml Mughal, A. J. (1998). A framework for the improvement of TESOL curriculum in Lahore, Pakistan, based upon a comparative analysis of TESOL in Birmingham, UK (Doctoral dissertation, University of Wolverhampton). Nyalau, V. N., Kaur, P., Jawaid, A., Robert, S. M. A., Selutan, S. A., Jenq, T. H., & En, T. P. (2023). The perception of deepfake technology among university students in Malaysia. International Journal of Membrane Science and Technology, 10(2), 1720–1731. Qamar, S., & Shaheen, A. (2023). The complexities of inter-religious courtship and marriage in Hanif's Our Lady of Alice Bhatti. Pakistan Social Sciences Review, 7(3), 682–692. https://www.ojs.pssr.org.pk/journal/article/view/445 Rahman, T. (2012). Pakistan’s policies and practices towards the religious minorities. South Asian History and Culture, 3(2), 302–315. https://doi.org/10.1080/19472498.2012.683686 Salim, A., & Saeed, R. (2021). Autocratization and religious minorities in Pakistan. In S. Widmalm (Ed.), Routledge handbook of autocratization in South Asia (pp. 183–193). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003042211-19 Spaulding, S. (2017). Intersubjectivity. In Routledge encyclopedia of philosophy. Taylor and Francis. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780415249126-W054-1 Wilson, A., Saeed, S., & Rahman, A. U. (2020). Constitutional rights of religious minorities in Pakistan. Global Political Review, 1, 316–325. https://www.humapub.com/admin/alljournals/gpr/papers/1vyGIJmu8m.pdf

Identifiers

OPENALEX

W7129399308

DOI

10.54692/jelle.2025.070422

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article

Jurisdictions studied — explicit sources

PK

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OpenAlex · Record 1 · Record 2

• DOI · https://doi.org/10.54692/jelle.2025.070422
• OpenAlex · https://openalex.org/W7129399308

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• openalex:w2911861367 · CITES
• openalex:w4200406670 · CITES
• openalex:w4251066115 · CITES

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