| Pakistan is the sixth most
populous country in the world and is the second most populous country with a Muslim
majority There is no tax on agriculture in
Pakistan, and farmers have very heavily opposed movements in this direction, leaving the
government with a huge shortfall of potential revenue to improve the country
At times, Pakistan has been considered the "most
allied of allies", quite an accomplishment in the presence of the UK and Israel. Yet,
Pakistan is also the most "sanctioned" of allies.
United
Nations Development Program "60% of Pakistanis are born stunted" in growth, the
height of the average Pakistani is going down! (13:20) |
These regions have a status in
the Pakistani Constitution almost analogous to Indian Reservations in the American
Constitution. They are a separate territory in a sovereign sense. Each tribe is
collectively responsible for maintain the law and order in their given area. The laws and
the political systems that prevail in this part of Pakistan are much different than those
that prevail in other parts of Pakistan. The word
"Pak" in Farsi, means pure, cleansing before entering the mosque
Pakistan allied with US soon after its creation, in
part, to take advantage of US aversion to the Soviet Union
Pakistan developed nuclear weapons, not so much to deter
India from engaging in nuclear war, but to prevent India from launching a conventional war
to reclaim Pakistan into its territory.
Jinnah is widely described as either an atheist, or at
least not a very religious Muslim
"The earliest jihadi manuals were printed
courtesy of the University of Nebraska" in the 1980's, as part of the Cold War i in
Afghanistan (7:25-8:31) |
It is the military which defines the national
interest, reflected in the lack of investment in human capital: education, housing,
literacy, poverty, health care
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The military owns or controls many businesses in
Pakistan, and owns or controls much land as well. All countries have an army, but in
Pakistan the army has the country. (Ahmed Rashid)
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"Double-decker" bus in Pakistan
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| Cities |
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- Karachi (12,461,423)
- Lahore (6,747,238)
- Faisalbad (2,708,944)
- Rawalpindi (1,877,590)
- Multan (1,528,075)
- Gujranwala (1,514,590)
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- Hyberabad (1,496,193)
- Peshawar (1,394,967)
- Quetta (825,889)
- Islamabad (657,788)
- Sargodha (573,541)
- Bahawalpur (516,882)
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| Conflicts |
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- In 1990, the United States cut off all economic and military aid to
Pakistan, because of its failure to open up its nuclear program to international
inspection.
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| Four major ethnic groups Punjabis
(62-63%), Sindhis (25%), Pashtons/Patons (15%), and Baluch (5%). Punjabs dominate
Pakistan, politically, and militarily. They are the source of power in Pakistan. |
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| Demographics |
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- Population: 172,800,048
- Life Expectancy: 64.13 years
- Literacy: 49.9%
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- Median Age: 20.5 years
- Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal; joint electorates and reserved
parliamentary seats for women and non-Muslims
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| Brownouts, or "energy
shedding" is extremely common in Pakistan |
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| The government does a lot of things
"half-way", such as forcing the registration of madrasas, crackdown on
extremists in ISI, getting foreign funds in madrasas. |
Four petals monument
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Hindu Kush mountain range
Pakistan took the defeat of the Soviets in Afghanistan to
mean that investing in the mujahideen was a low-cost, highly effective way to conquer an
enemy. They then looked to the east, with India, and invested in the Islamists for battle
there as well. |
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Bazaar in Peshawar
Pakistan's ISI helped organize the
Sikh rebellion in the 1970s and 1980s, and India helped organize the Balochistan
rebellions in Pakistan. Pakistan's military has a tremendous fear that India could invade
from the east and have the Balochis attack from the west.
After 9/11, the ISI, with Musharaff's explicit approval and
direction, deployed retired ISI staff to work with the Taliban, for 3-4 week deployments,
so as to avoid detection by the United States. This was a "second structure" to
the official ISI, whose non-"Second Structure" members were all known to the
CIA. (29:00-30:00) |
| Government |
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- Pakistan has had four periods of rule by the army, and three periods of
rule by civilians.
- Muslim League of Nawaz Shariff is more right-wing, more conservative and
sympathehic to religious extremeists points of view, though it is not particularly a
religious party. The Pakistan People's Party of Benazir Bhutto is more left wing and
populist. Her father, once executed, became known as a martyr.
- The Pakistani army is very hierarchical, nothing like a Latin American
army. There, a junior level officer could stage a coup, whereas in Pakistan, a junior
officer could never stage a coup. Additionally, it is extremely difficulth to stage a coup
against a military leader. It would be far too difficult, and it is a very large army.
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Benazir Bhutto
General Musharaff has zero credibility in
the country, no one trusts him. Every move he has made is to stay in power, every
compromise he has made is to stay in power, the whole war on terror has been to stay in
power.
There are approximately 400 female
journalists employed in Pakistan, from newspapers, broadcast media, and magazines. They
cover high level stories, and are viewed as credible. In no way are they restricted to
fluffy puff pieces, and their coverage is both trusted and welcomed.
If the US unilaterraly goes into the FATA
region, then the very legitimacy of the Pakistani military is called into question, and
they will resist it
After 9/11, the Pakistani military wanted
to maintain the Taliban as a proxy resistance force |
| History |
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- The Tribal Areas declared part of Pakistan August 15, 1947
- Jinnah, true father of the country, dies of TB (1948)
- Liaquat Ali Khan assassinated, unsolved to this day (Oct 16, 1951)
- Muhammad Ayub Khan military coup (1958)
- Pakishtan's army was built up during the 1960's by the United States, as
a weapon against the Soviets
- US illegally sent aircraft to Pakistan through Iran (1965)
- Indo-Pakistani
War (1971)
- Bhutto starts Pakistan's nuclear program
- ISI becomes more prominent in domestic politics, under Bhuto, in
(mid-1970s)
- Relationship between Pakistan and Iran, under the Shah, was very close
- Shah of Iran overthrown (1979)
- Bhutto executed,
under influence of Kissinger (no one takes to the streets to protest) (11:35) (April 4,
1979)
- Zia Huq was trained at Fort Bragg in counterinsurgency as a yong officer
- Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan (1979)
- Pakistan's relations with Iran deteriorated rapidly with the rise of
Khomeini
- President ul-Haq introduced some Islamist-style laws, such as a woman's
testimony being half of a man's. However, these laws are not particularly enforced, and
this is in part because of active NGO's and newspapers. They are still on the books, in
part out of fear of denigrating the previous administration.
- President Zia-ul-Haq dies in suspicous plane crash (1988)
- Madrasas promoted as school system because public schools were so awful
(approx 1988)
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- Following Afghan war, ISI turns attention to Kashmir, using skills
learned suporting the US counterinsurgency in Afghanistan in 1980s, running an insurgency
against India (circa 1990)
- Head of Pakistani Army, General Bagh (sp?) (a Shia) suggested sharing
nuclear technology with Iran, but Musharaff staunchly refused (1990-1991)
- US places Pakistan under economic sanctions, invoking the Pressler (sp?)
Ammendment, soon after Afghan war against Soviets over, great resentment in Pakistan
(October 1990)
- Taliban Revolution succeeds with Pakistani military support (their
only military victory) (1996)
- Taliban recognized by only three countries: Saudi Arabia, Pakistan
(Bhutto), and United Arab Emirates
- Benazir Bhutto ousted from power (November 1996)
- Tribesmen of the Northern Areas given right to vote in 1997 general
elections
- Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif meets with 18 clerics, vows to crush sectarian
terrorism. (April 2, 1998)
- India has a nuclear test (May 11-13, 1998)
- Pakistan has a nuclear test (May 28-30, 1998)
- Country essentially goes bankrupt (1998)
- Mini-war between India and Pakistan (May-July 1999)
- Musharaff military coup (Oct 12, 1999)
- Musharaff sends 80,000 troops into Tribal Areas, to clean up terrorists,
600-700 troops dead (2001-2002?)
- Return to Parliamentary government (2002)
- Kashmir registering 7.7 richter scale earthquake killed 79,000 October 8,
2005
- Red Mosque
Siege (July 3 - July 11, 2007)
- Massive earthquake hits Quetta, Pakistan (October 29, 2008)
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| Federally
Administered Tribal areas comprise 10,507 sq miles (27,220), an area just smaller than the
state of Massachusetts. 6.5 million people live in the region, whose capital is Peshawar.
THIS IS DIFFERENT THAN THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. The principal languages are Pashto and
Urdu. Female literacy is abou 5%, and few jobs for anyone. The Pashto minority in Pakistan
is the majority in Afghanistan, just over the border, which contributes to the instability
in the Tribal region. The region was fairly secular, until the Afghan war. There is a $4-6
billion drugs business run in the region. Many identify as Pashtuns first, before any
Pakistani identity. Everyone talking about what is going on in the tribal areas does not
understand what they are talking about because they have never been there, plus there is
100% total press censorship (the Army does not allow any journalists to travel into
Wariristan to know what is actually going on). Every man in the region is armed, about a
million armed men. It is 1500 miles along the border with Pakistan and Afghanistan. These
people have never accepted any centralized form of government. They have militarily
defeated every invader since Alexander the Great. These tribes have fought each other most
of the times, but whenever a foreigner comes they unite. Every village has its own
parliament, its own jury system, in a way it is a perfect democracy. The border, which
barely exists, was laid out by the British, and essentially divided the Pashtun people
between two countries. |
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| Languages |
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India has
approximately 36 languages, but if you ask someone "where are you from?" they
always say India, maybe "north" India or "south" India, but India all
the same. This is NOT the case in Pakistan |
- Punjabi 48%
- Sindhi 12%
- Siraiki (a Punjabi variant) 10%
- Pashtu 8%
- Urdu (official) 8%
- Balochi 3%
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- Hindko 2%
- Brahui 1%
- English (official; lingua franca of Pakistani elite and most government
ministries)
- Burushaski
- Other 8%
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| Al Qaeda has tried to assassinate
Musharaff multiple times, so there is no hidden love for Osama bin Laden from Musharaff |
Young Pakistani girl
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| Iran and Saudi Arabia got into, in
effect, a proxy war, with Iranians pumping money to support the Shi'ite groups, and the
Saudis, to support Sunnis. The government does not like this foreign involvement at all,
and it has recently led to sectarian strife. The constitution is not an Islamic document at all, it is
largely based on the British model of government, and is a parliamentary system, which is
a reflection of the original intent of the founders of the country, many of whom were
either atheists or not very religious Muslims |
Baluchistan desert |
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| Kashmir: India controls 141,338 km
(54,571 sq mi) of the disputed territory, Pakistan 85,846 km2 (33,145 sq mi) and China,
the remaining 37,555 km2 (14,500 sq mi). Pakistan
supported Al Qaeda and the Taliban, but it did not really see 9/11 coming. Their primary
motivation was to "use" them to defeat India in irregular warfare, like the
Soviets were defeated, and secure possession of Kashmir. |
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| Religion |
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- Muslim 95% (Sunni 75%, Shi'a 20%)
- other (includes Christian and Hindu) 5%
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| Pakistan, on the one hand, wants to
retain a counterinsurgency capability, by way of supporting anti-Kashmiri terrorists. This
is, in part, to retain this capability, in case the US abandons them (i.e. 1965 and 1990).
On the other hand, some terrorist groups have started to attack the government (Marriott
Hotel attack and Mumbai attacks) |
Rickshaw
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| Treaties |
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- Not a signator to the Nuclear Proliferation Treaty
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The Mohajir Quami Movement
(MQM), the organization of Indian Muslims who moved to Karachi with the British partition
of India in 1947 and who constitute the major business community there...MQM leader Altaf
Hussain, in turn, is headquartered in London. |
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| The tribal
belt became the main supply route for the Mujahideen fighting the Soviets. The tribal
areas provided a base for the Mujahideen, and weapons, supplies, and other war sustenance
efforts were routed from these areas. Large numbers of Afghan refugees arrived in the
FATA, placing pressure on the local resources. In some cases, refugees outnumbered the
local population. The war also brought a culture of guns and drugs. During this period,
the economy of the tribal areas, which was already underdeveloped, suffered enormously. |
When
Musharraf came into government, he decided to try to integrate the Tribal Areas into the
rest of Pakistan. There were plans for elections, and there were some stakeholders who
were hostile to the idea, primarily drug dealers. This was the time just before 9/11.
During and following the bombing in Afghanistan, there were a lot of refugees who came
pouring over the border. Many of them were from the same tribe, and a lot of sympathy came
about because of that, so the Mullahs achieved great status. Consequently, Musharaff
decided to delay the elections, out of concern that the Mullahs would win instead. India
pushed through massive land reforms, to curtail the power and influence of the big
landlords, but Pakistan never did this" (10:01-10:15) - note (this is probably
related to India's closer relations to the USSR and Pakistan's closer relations with the
US) |
