format_quote Originally Posted by
wilberhum
i find india extremely interesting too, but i am a little more familiar with pakistan. keep in mind that i am far from being an expert on the subject and some of what i say could very well be dead wrong. but here is my take anyway, for whatever it is worth. i'm not going to even go into kashmir and bangladesh.
many of pakistan's problems were caused by its own rulers and some very poor choices. but not all of them. some were inherent. for example, the country had virtually no industry at all. as i mentioned before, they never received their share of the military assets.
i think the brits bear the blame for some of them. everything was done in huge haste. the exact borders were not even announced by the brits
after independence! and there is much evidence that mountbatten favoured the hindus.
another big problem pakistan has had to deal with (and is still dealing with!) is an identity problem. the country was created because muslims did not think that their interests would be protected in india. the pakistan movement was largely a movement of people who did not live in the land that is now pakistan. the official language is a language that was spoken in states which are now in india.
what does it mean to be a state that came in to existence for the well-being of muslims? is it a state where muslims will be treated equally and have complete freedom to practice their religion? is it a country for muslims or an islamic state? this is a constant area of dispute.
it has had a great deal of tension between the central government and the state government, where often the states felt (and still do) that their resources are mainly going to one province (punjab) and they are not getting their just due in return. the one thing that unites the people is islam. so you can see that islam should be emphasized to keep the people together.
to sum up, all that i have learned and am still learning about pakistan has led me to believe that it is not really a wonder that they are in a mess - it is a wonder that they have managed to survive at all and are doing even as well as they are!
again, keep in mind that my knowledge is limited.
i would like to hear from pakistanis and from indians also on this thread, if it can be done without going to war all over again. :D