FRIDAY FEATURE: Pakistan

PLEASE NOTE: Friday Feature will spotlight a different place each week - sometimes a country in the news, sometimes somewhere I'm curious about. By all means, submit requests! I don't purport to be an expert. I'll just try to piece together the information out there in a way that makes sense. Your job will be to edit me and to feed the Friday Feature with firsthand accounts of the place.

Far and Near
Your heart will go on pounding.
My heart will pound
Though, far, far away.
This soil shall see joyous times come and go,
Far, far away.
Stars will go on shimmering,
Also far.
Every object will remain
Far,
But this passion, this desire for you,
This wild song
Will stay inside my heart
Forever
Near.
Translation by M.A.R. Habib from An Anthology of Modern Urdu Poetry

Do those sound like the words that would be spit from the lips of furious faces spewing anti-American vitriol or shouted from the mouths of suited lawyers battling the military in the streets?

Well, they could be. That is a poem in the Urdu style popular in India and Pakistan, a nation embroiled in a seemingly incomprehensible but certainly critical dispute. Several of you have asked me what the heck is going on over there. As best as I can tell, it boils down to this gross generalization: There is a power struggle under way between the military (played by Gen. Pervez Musharaff, who is also the president); the Islamic radicals (played by themselves, as well as the Taliban and al-Qaida); the opposition/secularists (played by the lawyers); and former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto returned from exile (played by herself). The United States also has its hand in the mix, seeking to exploit its ally in the "War on Terror" for all it's worth, regardless of the impact inside Pakistan.

This U.S. involvement has had a destabilizing effect, angering the Islamists, who resent the U.S. influence on Pakistan and, in turn, Musharraf, who has allowed it. In a bid to maintain power, he has delayed elections, which riled the opposition/secularists, who have taken to the streets. The reason you see the lawyers out there protesting is because they believe Musharraf was elected illegally since he is also the head of the military - a duplicity they argue is illegal under the Constitution - and want free elections to be held, like, yesterday. All of this turmoil opened the door for the return of Bhutto, whose reputation has been clouded by allegations of corruption in Pakistan and Europe. She has sided with the opposition and seeks to annul a rule, put in place by Musharraf after her exile, forbidding prime ministers from holding office more than twice. She and Musharraf have worked together in the past and recently held talks about her role in the government.

So there you have it. Pakistan's very future is at stake in this struggle.

But what of Pakistan?

Well, it is a land with an ancient history. According to Lonely Planet, it has been inhabited since the Stone Age and ruled at times by Buddhists, Sikhs and Muslims. It was a crucial part of the Silk Route of trade between China, India and the Roman empire.

Eventually, at the turn of the 20th century, the British stuck their noses where they didn't belong and began colonization in the region. But the Muslims in British India got pissed and pushed for their own state. In the late 1940s, Pakistan, meaning 'Land of the Pure', came into existence. It was originally created in two parts cut in half by the bottom of India: West Pakistan (basically modern-day Pakistan, plus the disputed region of Kashmir) and East Pakistan (the modern-day Bangladesh). The West was predominately Muslim. The East was too, but also had a sizeable Hindu population. In the spasms of violence that led to Pakistan's birth, there were large migrations of people, which left scars of animosity and led to a civil war in which East Pakistan seceeded and became the nation of Bangladesh. It is said that these old rivalries persist in the relationship between Bhutto, a native Pakistani whose father also ruled, and Musharraf, whose roots lie to the East and in India.

Pakistan as we know it is cut in half by the Indus River from the Himalayas to the Arabian Sea. Its climate and topography vary greatly. Geographia.com says, "Pakistan can be divided into three regions: the lowlands along the Indus in the south and east, the arid plateau of Baluchistan in the southwest, and the mountains of the north." Its people have a reputation among travelers (Western and otherwise) of being warm and hospitable. They love cricket and will co-host the 2011 Cricket World Cup. The food is a mixture of Indian and Middle Eastern. Mmmmmm!! Sounds delish!

Interesting tidbits found on Wikipedia:
-- Pakistan has the world's sixth largest population, placing it higher than Russia, and lower than Brazil.
-- Pakistan sent 5,000 troops to the 1991 Gulf War as part of a US led coalition and specifically for the defence of Saudi Arabia.
-- Pakistan has accomplished many engineering feats such as construction of the world's largest earth filled dam Tarbela as well as, with collaboration with China, the world's highest international road: the Karakoram Highway.
-- Pakistani society is largely multilingual and predominantly Muslim, with high regard for traditional family values, although urban families have grown into a nuclear family system.
-- Pakistan is home to several mountain peaks over 7,000 metres (22,970 ft), which attracts adventurers and mountaineers from around the world.

Recommended reading:
-- Thorn Tree Forum: Pakistan
-- Pakistani Bloggers
-- New York Times: Sorting Out Pakistan’s Many Struggles
-- Behind the clichés, a modern Pakistan Letter from a frontline state
-- The US-Pakistan Roller Coaster Relationship
-- Lonely Planet's account of the nation's history