Understanding Pakistan (Cultural Event #3)

For my 3^rd cultural event, I chose to attend the international forum on understanding Pakistan last Tuesday, the 29^th of April. The forum was conducted by Professor Mahan Mirza from the religious studies department here at California State University, Chico. With all the media attention Pakistan has been receiving lately due to its political instability, the forum was intended to take a closer look at it, primarily by looking at its history and contemporary issues. 

“Pakistan, the land of the pure” he started off and asked us, “What is the first thing that comes to your mind when you think about Pakistan”. My answer was going to be the war between Pakistan and India over the disputed land of Kashmir. I guess this was the first thing that came into my mind primarily because of the fact that my mom is an Indian, thus making me half Indian. J He then went on to show the following picture taken from the cover of a Newsweek magazine showing that the most dangerous nation in the world in not Iraq, but Pakistan. This was very surprising to me as I had thought that Pakistan’s problem was just limited to India. However, that was clearly not the situation. Being located on the map in-between India and Afghanistan, Pakistan has a lot more on their hands than they could handle.

Prof. Mirza then went on to give us facts about Pakistan. The Pakistan as we know it today is actually West Pakistan, after the split between East and West Pakistan. Other quick facts about Pakistan include:

·         Population – 170 million (which is about twice the size of California)

·         National Language– Urdu (The official language however is English)

·         Predominant religion – Islam (80% being Sunni)

·         4 major Ethnicities – Punjabis (45%), Sindhis (17%), Pathans (13%) and Baluchis (5%)

·         Capital – Islamabad (however biggest city is Karachi)

·         Seasons – All 4 seasons with monsoon rains from July to August

·         Climate – Northern Mountains, northern plateaus and the Indus plain

After India gained independence from the British, Pakistan was founded in 1947 by Muhammad Ali Jinnah. While Gandhi believed that the Muslims and Hindus could live together as they had for ages, Muhammad Ali Jinnah opposed the idea and said that the Muslims need their own land. The irony of the situation lies in the fact that both held law degrees from England. Thus Pakistan was created and the principles to the first constitution were called the Objectives Resolution. What makes the Pakistani constitution different from that of the US is that the ultimate power rests in the hands of God as opposed to ‘the people’. Pakistan has had 2 other constitutions since.

Another interesting fact that Professor Mirza highlighted was that the largest Muslim population is not found in the Arab region but rather in South Asia. This was another thing that surprised me as anyone would think that the largest block of Muslims would be found in the Middle East and Arab region. Also, more than half of the population of Pakistan accounts for youth under the age of 30 who are ready for change. He also pointed out that they share an anti-American sentiment.

Finally, he ended the forum by showing us pictures of Pakistani women, who are successful in the fields of sports, fashion, military and other careers. He used this to show us that the presence of women’s rights in Pakistan does exist (and is strong) as opposed to what the media might otherwise portray. However, what I thought drove the point home was when he said that according to statistics, 1 in every 3 females in the US is raped, and if an outsider were to use this as a lens to look at the US, what would they think. Thus, one should look at something in all angles and not just blindly be led by the media.