Political map of pakistan is the outcome of its geo strategic location ?

[mussaa]

can somebody explain this line ?

[mhmmdkashif]

Wow, that is a tough one, had to read alot of different conspiracy theories and pro Jinnah pro Gandhi stuff but still no satiable answer came up. I wonder how someone could have jot down arguments about this question in CSS paper. It seems more like Joan of Arc's trial question, when she was "Asked if she knew she was in God's grace?". If she had answered yes, then she would have convicted herself of heresy. If she had answered no, then she would have confessed her own guilt.

But I guess the following poem by W. H. Auden published in 1966 on the subject of partition is the best satiating argument (The person referred to in this poem is Sir Cyril Redcliff)

Unbiased at least he was when he arrived on his mission,
Having never set eyes on the land he was called to partition
Between two peoples fanatically at odds,
With their different diets and incompatible gods.
“Time,” they had briefed him in London, “is short. It’s too late
For mutual reconciliation or rational debate:
The only solution now lies in separation.
The Viceroy thinks, as you will see from his letter,
That the less you are seen in his company the better,
So we’ve arranged to provide you with other accommodation.
We can give you four judges, two Moslem and two Hindu,
To consult with, but the final decision must rest with you.”

Shut up in a lonely mansion, with police night and day
Patrolling the gardens to keep the assassins away,
He got down to work, to the task of settling the fate
Of millions. The maps at his disposal were out of date
And the Census Returns almost certainly incorrect,
But there was no time to check them, no time to inspect
Contested areas. The weather was frightfully hot,
And a bout of dysentery kept him constantly on the trot,
But in seven weeks it was done, the frontiers decided,
A continent for better or worse divided.

The next day he sailed for England, where he could quickly forget
The case, as a good lawyer must. Return he would not,
Afraid, as he told his Club, that he might get shot.

(The poem was cited in an article published in New York Times on 5-5-09 under the title Pakistan's British drawn borders, by Robert Mackey. To read the complete article, visit http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/200...drawn-borders/)

[mhmmdkashif]

Political map of pakistan is the outcome of its geo strategic location ?

From what I understand of this line, it is asking about probability of a possible US exhorting the UK, which was mostly in her debt at the end of WWII in the year 1945, for creating Pakistan. And the reason why I inferred that is, these terms like Geo-Politics, Geo-Strategic etc are usually uttered by the American think tanks

[out of place]

It is not that tought, i guess.

Look,

Some of the most striking features of Pakistan's political map have been outcome of its geo-strategic location.

Our geo-strategic location entails, inter alia;

1) A hostile neighbour in India

2) super power interests in the region---cold war was decisively fought out in afghanistan with a huge spill-over in Pakistan , thanks to ,inter alia, long porous border.

3) More recently,,geographical proximity with emerging economies such as india, china are reasons for our geo-strategic importance

4) Energy corridor - gwadar, central asia pipeline politics etc

These foregoing geo-strategic facts colour our political map in following manner:

1) Shaping our state as a national security state.

2) Huge interference of foreign powers and financial institutions

3) A dependent economy

4) Strong role of military, military dictatorships etc

5) weak political institutions

6) Instability, perpetual chaos and insecurity.

and host of other issues that have for long characterised Pakistan's political landscape...

[mhmmdkashif]

But what do all of these have to do with map of Pakistan??? Here is a definition of political map I found:

A political map is a map that shows lines defining countries, states or territories. It is unlike other maps in that its purpose is to show borders. A political map also makes a deliberate political statement about which areas of the earth belong to a country or state.

All you mentioned took place after the map of Pakistan emerged on global scene and the question is "Political Map is outcome of Geo-Strategic location". The political map came into being for reasons,,, well you should know , I dont want to bother typing all the details rite now. And the word "outcome" means result,, right?

As far as I know, political map of Pakistan is "the outcome of muslims of subcontinent's desire for a seperate homeland" and they were (coincidently) in majority in this "Geo-Strategic" location of the subcontinent then ruled by the British raj which is now known as Pakistan. What does the question under consideration point to is really alien to me... (and I guess to mussaa too ) Thats why it is tough.

[mhmmdkashif]

I wonder why none of the senionrs came forth to point out that this question is infact looking at the panorama of "Indus Valley". The "Geo-Strategic" location of Pakistan was historically the "Geo-Strategic" location of Indus Valley, and the civilization which blossomed here is known as Indus Valley Civilization. This region was never ruled by a central Indian ruler in its 5000 years history until the British, nevertheless there are a few exceptions to this like Mauriads empire etc., but even they didn't completely rule over this region. This region is the conjoint of Central and South Asian regions, and since the emergence and rise of Islam and Muslim empires, this region has served as a passage way of Muslim invaders from Central Asia into South Asia. Besides this, some areas of this region were also in the way of Silk Route trade route, which was the trade path between East Asia and Middle East and beyond, as far as Europe. For those reasons, this region has remained significantly under the influence of Islam during the last over 1000 years of its history, nevertheless it still wasnt a part of an Indian Nation (I mean Asian Indians, not American ). After the rise of Muslim Nationalism in British India, this region was a natural choice as a seperate region for muslims in British India to form their own country, as implied by its history and the forces that have historically influenced this region. Therefore we can say that the political map of Pakistan has also a part to play with its "Geo-Strategic" location .

I guess this is the best argument in favor of this question, for further reading about this, visit http://pakhub.info/.