125Middle East slip into oblivion for another fi fty
years.
None of this can work, however, if there is no de-
mand for secular democracy at the grassroots level.
This is why it is vital that a new social contract is
negotiated by Arabs, for Arabs, on the Arab street.
Here’s where I believe that the Khudi model we
initiated in Pakistan, which I referred to earlier,
becomes relevant. I tried to lay the intellectual
basis for what such an effort could look like in my
TED talk, and only hope that others take up this
cause and make it their own.Harris And how do you see us increasing the demand
for secular democracy at the grassroots level if both
secularism and democracy are so often viewed as
an assault upon religious identity?
Nawaz This is only possi ble with a combination of
cultivating more Muslim reform voices— along
with more liberal, ex- Muslim, and non- Muslim
voices that are willing to speak critically about these
issues. Each of these is sorely lacking, while the far-
right critique is rising. Therefore, the liberal and
“moderate” Muslim concern to “support” Muslims
against extremism, by pandering and equivocating,
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