Understanding Pakistan

On Tuesday night on April 29, 2008 in Chico, CA, Mahan Mirza gave a very spirited talk on the country of Pakistan.  He was a very upbeat speaker from the Department of Religious Studies at Chico State.  His main goal in this talk was to teach people things that they did not know about Pakistan.  Thus, as a part of the International Forum series, he gave a talk entitled “Understanding Pakistan.”

            He began by explaining that Pakistan is actually part of southern Asia and is actually not part of the “middle east.”  The country was formerly part of India and was once divided into East and West Pakistan with the east portion now called Bangladesh and the west portion simply becoming Pakistan.  One point of the background that I found especially interesting is the fact that the country experiences all different types of climate.  I thought it was strictly a desert type area.  While there are deserts in Pakistan, there are also areas that have snow, extreme heat, mountains, and some areas have coastal subtropical climates.  Furthermore, the population in Pakistan is 170 million people.  This is astounding considering Pakistan is twice the size of California and their population is half the entire United States!

            Professor Mirza continued on by explaining that over half of the population is under 30 because many people are having babies.  Moreover, the dominant ethnicity in Pakistan is Punjabis which make up 45%.  The part of the talk that really struck home was the part where Professor Mirza talked about an area called Waziristan, which is an area encompassing both Afghanistan and Pakistan.  This is an area that is a Federally Administered Tribal Area (FATA) where the tribes rule.  He explained that some people think Osama bin Laden is hiding there.  However, he said it is very hard to find out because the area is much like the Arizona and Mexican border.  It is a huge area with many mountains that is extremely hard to police.  He made the point that if the U.S. can’t police our own borders, how can we expect other countries to police theirs?

            Pakistan gained its independence in 1947 from the British.  They currently follow the Third Constitution of 1973 and are referred to as an “Islamic Republic.”  The country also operated under the Objectives Resolution of 1949 that states that sovereignty belongs to God.  This is very different from out country where sovereignty belongs to the people. 

            Pakistan and the areas surrounding the country has been a hot bed for battles and wars in the recent years.  During the 80’s, Afghanistan was involved in a war with the Soviets.  The 90’s saw the rise of the Taliban and Pakistan and India going nuclear.  We all know what happened on September 11^th and now Pakistan is also involved in the War on Terror.  Currently, Pakistan has the 7^th largest army in the world and is regarding as having a strong military.  There is strong Islamic sentiment as well as anti-American sentiment throughout the country.  Pakistan is a very important country which must be handled delicately.

            What I liked most about Professor Mirza’s speech is the pictures he showed of Pakistan and how beautiful the country really is.  It looks like a great place to travel and spend some time.  Moreover, the facts he revealed really opened up my eyes as I realized I did not know that much about Pakistan.  Overall, I learned a lot about the country and it’s importance as a global figure.  I also liked how Professor Mirza ended his speech by saying that the U.S. and Pakistan are not all that different from each other and that we can indeed get along.