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Pakistan - History
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This impressive mosque in Lahore is one of several beautiful
buildings built by the Mughals (Muslim kings) in the sixteenth
century.
Photo: Liz Clayton/Oxfam |
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The territory of present-day Pakistan was invaded through the centuries
by Aryans, Persians, Macedonians, Central Asians, Huns, Turks, Arabs,
and Moghuls. European traders arrived from the fifteenth century
on. By 1858, the British East India Company was in control, and
previously independent states found themselves contained within
British India. In 1906, the Muslim League was formed after breaking
away from the Congress Party. The Muslim League demanded a homeland
for the Muslims separate from predominantly Hindu India. The unrest
between the two main communities escalated into violence, and in
1947 the British pulled out, India was partitioned, and the state
of Pakistan created.
One region, Kashmir, delayed its decision to associate with either
Pakistan or India. Pakistan sent in freedom fighters, and then regular
troops, and the two countries fought an inconclusive war for the
area, ending in 1949, when the UN intervened. Kashmir is still disputed
land today; Indian and Pakistani troops were involved in fighting
there as recently as 2002 and it even looked at one point as if
war would break out. The likelihood of a peaceful settlement looks
as far away as ever.
To date, political stability eludes Pakistan. The army has ruled
for 28 years of Pakistan’s 55-year existence. When Pakistan
was created, it was in two sections, 1,600 kilometres apart, making
it hard for the various regions to feel like part of one country.
In 1971, various cultural, social, and political differences between
East and West Pakistan caused a civil war, ending with East Pakistan
becoming a separate country called Bangladesh. In 1973, Z. A. Bhutto
became the first elected Prime Minister. He was removed in 1977
by the military, and tried and executed in 1979. General Zia was
in power until his death in a plane crash in 1988. Benazir Bhutto,
daughter of the executed Prime Minister, has held office twice since
then. In October 1999 the Prime Minister, Nawaz Sharif, was ousted
by a military coup, led by General Pervez Muharraf, who then set
himself up as Head of State.
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