Pakistan, officially called the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a Muslim majority nation located on the crossroads of Western and Eastern Asia. Pakistan is the sixth most populous country in the world with a total population that exceeds 200 million. It is bordered by India, Afghanistan, Iran, and China and possesses 650 miles of coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman. Pakistan is unique in comparison to other Muslim-majority countries as it is the only nation in the world that was created in the name of Islam. Their government and all aspects of daily life are influenced by Islam and the Qur’an. This was a result of a movement led by the Muslim League with President Muhammad Ali Jinnah and fueled by strong Islamic nationalism. …show more content…
India had strong pre-existing divides between the two major religions of the region: Hinduism and Islam. As a result, two separate nationalists movements seeking their own individual independence were being fought against the British in unison. The Muslim League, led by their President Muhammad Ali Jinnah, was aiming to create an Islamic nation state from the removal of Britain in the region (Britannica). The Indian National Congress had the goal of Hindu-Indian independence and was led by President Dadabhai Naoroji (Robinson). Both groups were fighting the British leadership, but for their own goals. When the British gave in to the pressure that the nationalists were putting on them and withdrew from India, the Partition of India created the two independent nations. While both sides were pleased that they finally had their own countries, there were still issues standing in the way. One of the most glaring was the mass immigration of people into their new countries. The Hindus that had been in the area that was now Pakistan had to migrate to India, and the Muslims that had been in India had to migrate to Pakistan. The sudden displacement of nearly 12 million people across newly founded religious lines was a catalyst for conflict. All across the region, multi-religious communities that had co-existed for nearly 1,000 years began to fight in a chaotic outbreak of territorial and religious violence. By the time the mass immigration had come to a close, one to two million people had been killed (Jamal). The violent results of the Partition are one of the the main reasons for the hostility and hatred that exists between India and Pakistan in the present day. It was the unorganized and careless way that the Partition was implemented by the British that allowed all of this to happen. Britain granted the two nations their independence and quickly exited.
British Imperialism in India and China Imperialism is the domination of a weaker country by a stronger country. For instance, Britain dominated India and China in the mid 1880s to the beginning of the 20th century. Imperialism has had both a positive and negative effect on the countries involved. Britain was imperialistic for many reasons, it could dominate because it had the technology and power to do so.
Thousands of years ago, Indian society developed into a complex system based on different classes. This system was known as the Caste System. It separated Indians into different castes based on what class were born into. As thousands of years went by, this system grew larger and became further complex (Wadley 189). This system caused frustration for the Indian citizens because they were receiving inequality. Not only did the inequality and separation of the Indian society frustrate the citizens of India, but the imperialism Britain had upon them as well. In the early 20th century, Indian nationalists wanted to take a stand against the British rule and make India independent. The British created unfair laws that created a nationalist movement
Pakistan is located on the Arabian Sea in South Asia. Malala attended Khushal School for Girls, in which her father, Ziauddin Yousafzai’s, founded. Malala’s father was her greatest inspiration in becoming a Women’s Rights and Children’s Activist in the future. (Malala’s Dream: A Brave Teen From Pakistan…) Swat Valley didn’t always be the way it is now.
There is a point of time in certain a country’s history where they become dominant and more powerful than ever before. During this elongated process a country becomes an empire. The British and the Ottomans were states that succeeded in this process, but becoming an empire such as theirs required vast amounts of political and social maneuvering to expand their boundaries, called imperialism. Imperialism is, “a policy of extending a country's power and influence through diplomacy or military force”. By becoming a modern nation enjoying economic prosperity and political stability, the British and the Ottomans created an imperialistic impact over the globe with distinctive motivations and approaches especially during the transition period of gaining ample amount power and influence globally.
After the British empire separated itself from India, inner-country religious problems began to arise. The Muslims and Hindus of the liberated India released their pent up anger on each other and combusted into civil war right after they won the peaceful war against Great Britain. This war distressed Gandhi, who has insight into the unity of mankind, and encouraged him to go on a hunger strike until the brutality ceased. While on his near-death bed, he is approached by a Hindu who “killed a child” because the Muslims “killed [his] son,” and in response, Gandhi said that the way out of his “Hell is to “Find a [Muslim] child, a child whose mother and father have been killed and raise him as your own,” therefore the man would be able to see the equality in all religions. Throughout his entire life, Gandhi, though a Hindu, never prosecuted anyone for their religion and was able to see through everyone’s eyes as fellow brother’s and sisters, not enemies. This ability to empathize and recognize the general unity of the human population allowed Gandhi insight into the human
As many people know, Imperialism has shaped the culture and customs all over the world. Imperialism is the dominance of one country over another politically, economically or socially. Western culture can be seen in all parts of the world; from Asia to Africa, to the Indies and the Americans. The downside of having the bits of western culture all over the world, is how it got there. Western influence was forced upon places in Asia, specifically India, Indonesia with a hellacious price; lives and poverty.
Imperialism in India British imperialism in India had many positive and negative effects on both the mother country, Britain and the colony, India. Many people would argue which effects were more prominent in these countries, and some would agree that they were equal. But in both cases, there were actually both. In India, the British colonization had more positive effects than negative. For instance, when the British colonized India they built 40,000 miles of railroad and 70,000 miles of paved roadway.
"All the leadership had spent their early years in England. They were influenced by British thought, British ideas, that is why our leaders were always telling the British "How can you do these things? They're against your own basic values.". We had no hatred, in fact it was the other way round - it was their values that made us revolt." -Aruna Asaf Ali, a leader of the Indian National Congress. (Masani, quoted in Wood, 32, 1989)
The Prince of Kashmir chose India but Pakistan invaded the province soon after and have occupied part of Kashmir since then. Controversy still surrounds the province today because naturally, Muslims want to control it. While many Muslims relocated to Pakistan and the Hindus to India, half of the Muslim population was left in India and their relations did not improve after being partially separated.
During the Cold War, many regional conflicts occurred and were noted as the significant battles which later led to decolonization. One of the regional conflicts were India and Pakistan fighting for their independence. In 1947, India was released under Great Britain’s control and gained its independence. However, the country was divided between Muslims and Hindus, which share different religions. Muslims wanted church and state to become unified while Hindus wanted a separation of these two establishments. Since these two ethnic groups disagreed, it was difficult to create a new government. Therefore, India was divided into two nations: India for the Hindus and Pakistan for the Muslims. Hindus and Muslims were racing to the border in order to get to their nation state which led to killing 500,000 people due to rioting. Although, Mohandas Gandhi, an Indian National Congressman, wanted to obtain peace between these two religions. Pakistan refused the H...
Whilst the growth of Indian nationalism put considerable pressure on the Raj, historians offer many interpretations as to the fundamental cause of Independence. Gandhi’s non-cooperation movement and subsequent campaigns meant that nationalism began to appeal to the masses and helped establish a broad based movement for Independence. However, the British were always able to supress the nationalist movements, through reform or by using force, up to the Quit India movement of 1942. British involvement in the Great War and particularly the Second World War placed them in a weaker position economically, whilst the social and political expectations of the Indian people were changing, which strengthened nationalism and discontent.
Before Pakistan seceded from India the Muslim population created the Muslim League of India led by Muhammad Ali Jinnah, it was created because Muslims were concerned with living in a Hindu dominated country after India gained its independence at the end of World War II. Maududi and the JI were the leading voices for Islamic political order in the new Muslim state of Pakistan. However, Jinnah 's objectives for the new Pakistan was for it to be no more than a homeland for Muslims, but Maududi viewed the new Pakistan as an opportunity to build a strict social/political order. Maududi respected Jinnah 's views and ideas for creating the government and building a republic where the constituents played a big part, but Maududi wanted heavier Islamic influence. The first version of the constitution incorporated a lot of Jinnah 's ideas and it provided an outline to the divisions of government, and mentioned Islam but no more than in a symbolic context. The constitution did state that the leader must be a Muslim, and also included a clause that held no law could be enacted if it was in anyway contradictory to Islam. From 1955 to 1977 Islam did not have as strong of an influence in
...tween the Hindus and Muslims, Jinnah felt that Muslims had no future in India (Overfield 216). With the end of British rule in 1947, not only did India gain its independence but also along with it was born an other country, Pakistan where Jinnah served as the first governor (Overfield 216). With the gain of India’s independence, Gandhi was shot the following year in 1948 by a Hindu zealot who resented his commitment to Hindu – Muslim harmony (Overfield 212).
Lawrence Auster wrote an eye-opening blog excerpt titled India and Pakistan: Why the Mass Killing Occurred. The content of this excerpt explore the fundamental issues of identity and religion that led to the violence in 1947. The author makes his point by utilizing current event such as the train massacre in 2002, in which 50 Hindu women and children were burned alive. The blog is for an audience with some prior knowledge on the topic and continues to expand upon that knowledge. The blog is a secondary source because it introduces its own unique ideas regarding the issue and was written after the time of the event. It was very helpful to my research because it simplifies the wordy information often found on scholarly sites and condenses it into something comprehensible and relatable to the reader.
Pakistan is the basis in the international fight against terrorism to this day. Many Pakistani terrorist groups have made many terrorist attacks around the world. Pakistan faced the choice siding with or staying against the United States during the aftermath of 9/11. Violence in Pakistan has increased for many years as terrorist groups have targeted many political leaders, tribal leaders, the military, and also schools. Pakistan is divided into people who see the country as modern and/o...