History of Pakistan in Connection To India

The Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a South Asian Country, neighboring China to its north, India to its east, Afghanistan and Iran to its west, and the Arabian Sea to its South. It appeared on the map in 1947 as an independent state carved out of India.

Culturally, Pakistan is very similar to India. The people of India and Pakistan have remarkably similar physical appearances. They speak and understand each other's nationally spoken languages.

The official language of Pakistan is Urdu. Urdu is spoken like Hindi, the Indian national language, but is written using the Arabic and Persian alphabet. So, one interesting fact about Indian and Pakistani people is that they can speak each other's languages but cannot read or write them the same way.

Indian and Pakistani people tend to share common tastes in music, poetry, movies, and the television shows. They also tend to share interest in the same sports, like cricket and field hockey.

The Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a South Asian Country, neighboring China to its north, India to its east, Afghanistan, and Iran to its west and the Arabian Sea to its South. It appeared on the map in 1947 as an independent state carved out of India.

Culturally, Pakistan is very similar to India. The people of India and Pakistan have remarkably similar physical appearances. They speak and understand each other's nationally spoken languages.

Indian and Pakistani people tend to share common tastes in music, poetry, movies, and television shows. They also tend to share an interest in the same sports, like cricket and field hockey.

Despite a lot of cultural similarities, the main difference between the two countries is the religion.

India is predominantly a Hindu country, and Pakistan is predominantly a Muslim country.

The word "Pak" in the Urdu language (Pakistan's official Language derived from Persian and Arabic)means pure/sacred and the word "istan" means place/land.

The word Pakistan therefore means " Land of the Pure".

The British at this point in the 1930's had ruled India for a better part of two centuries and the political awareness of the people of India was making it very difficult to hold onto power. By the time the 2nd world war ended, the British decided to end their rule of India. The Government of Great Britain had observed clashes among the Hindus and the Muslims, built up over a better part of

the 1920's, 1930's and 1940's and decided to break apart India by population.

So, in 1947, the majority of areas with a Hindu population remained India but the majority areas with a Muslim population became Pakistan. The newly found Pakistan was called the "Land of the Pure" for the Muslims so that the Muslims of the newly formed country could freely practice the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon Him) and the religion that he had introduced to the world called "Islam".

When Pakistan came into existence, about 6% of its population were made up of minority religions, mostly Hindus and Christians. The Christian community in Pakistan over the last seventy years has lived side by side with the ruling Muslims, for the most part, in peace and harmony.

Pakistan's population is approximately 210 million. It is the 6th most populated country in the world. Geographically, Pakistan is roughly twice the size of the state of California. 94%+ of the Pakistani population is Muslim.

Initially, a part of India for thousands of years, Pakistan gained independence from India in 1947 at the end of the British rule. For hundreds of years, the millions of Hindus and the Muslims of India had lived side by side. As years went by, the fundamental difference in their belief systems led to tensions, which elevated to a boiling point during the final years of the British rule. Eventually, leaders like Gandhi (a Hindu) and Muhammed Ali Jinnah (a Muslim), both highly educated, rose through the political ranks and led their communities, ultimately deepening the divide between the two dominant religious communities. (The movie "Gandhi" portrays a very good depiction of these two historical characters).

Strong Christian institutions that missionaries helped establish over the last 200 years in the areas of education and healthcare still serve all population segments alike. Like in Europe and North America, the denominational makeup of the Christian community in Pakistan is roughly half Catholics and half Protestants.