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Both India and Pakistan have quite different ideals than most of the western world. They may seem archaic and oppressive at first, but it is worth noting they do not have as many of the problems that plague the western world. Whether one disagrees with their methods and ways is a personal liberty, but to outright call Indian and Pakistani beliefs outdated or simple would be reductive and frankly a bit racist.

Marriage

The biggest point of confusion between India and the west is their frequency of arranged marriages. An Indian arranged marriage is decided by the elders of the family on the basis of caste, class, education, economic status, and astrology. When a couple is married, the bride almost always moves into the husband’s house. It should be noted that marriage is almost universal in India, divorce is exceedingly rare, and the overwhelming majority of marriages produce children.

Pakistan has an arguably more controversial style of marriage for westerners. The ideal subject of marriage for a young man is his father’s brother’s daughter, or in other words, his first cousin. Endogamy is an important aspect of marriage, as it is meant to strengthen connections of powerful groups with noble ancestors or political power.

Social Heirarchy

On a filial level, the two territories are essentially identical. The eldest male is recognized as the family head, and his wife dictates all tasks presented to the women of the family. In Pakistan, the eldest male is responsible for all decisions, while the women are relegated to housework and their duties as a good housewife. 

The system of hierarchy in India is well known all over the world. The caste system is a set hierarchy where different castes are responsible for different roles.

The Pakistani hierarchy is somewhat vague. Class is determined by what is referred to as “brotherhood,” a very important construct in Pakistani society.

Sports

Sports have existed for thousands of years in India, and historians attribute the creation of chess to ancient india, albeit a very different game at the time. A mix of traditional and modern games exist, such as Kabaddi and Kho-Kho, as well as cricket and soccer, brought over by the british. Many of the sports common today in india are only thought of as english Bourgeois activities, because that is exactly what they are. Those who came from England to stay in india were often quite affluent. One of the sports they brought over, and the most popular one, cricket. Cricket is to India what football is to America, if not bigger. India also plays field hockey, a sport many only associate India with.

Because of their history and proximity, Pakistan shows many overlaps in recreational interest with india. Most of their sporting intrigue comes with their rivalries with india. India vs. Pakistan cricket is commonly one of the world’s most watched sporting events, with the most recent matchup attracting over 170 million live viewers. These matches sometimes take place in Jakarta national stadium, which seats over 82 thousand people.

As with most aspects of the British Raj, their views of the Indian population were just as harsh as their treatment. For the previous two hundred years since 1947, citizens of the indian subcontinent were all treated as simply Indians, that meaning lower than the british. When it came time to grant independence after world war two due to British financial troubles as well as the Brits making India no longer profitable, the same amount of care was taken to divide power as every other major decision regarding Indian governance: absolutely none. 

India is home to perhaps one of the most diverse landscapes in beliefs and cultures, but the two major groups that the British were concerned with were the Hindus and Muslims. The british instituted a system of government where citizens could only vote for representatives of their respective religions, creating divides in communities that had previously coexisted. 

Mahatma Gandhi and his hindu counterpart Jawaharlal Nehru argued a united India could exist, but Muslim leader Muhammad Ali Jinnah believed the cracks from colonialism were far too deep to maintain a peaceful and religiously coexisting India. Jinnah argued for the partition of India, with a muslim region in the northwest called Pakistan, and a region in the northeast called east Pakistan. 

Following riots in 1946 and 1947, the British sped up their retreat from India, and announced they would be dividing India into Muslim Pakistan and Hindu India. The British used incorrect, outdated maps, minimal knowledge of the lands and their traditions, and far from accurate census numbers to draw practically arbitrary lines over a measly period of five weeks. 

People began mass migrations to areas that they believed would be part of the majority. Those whose family’s had resided in villages for hundreds of years were forced to move in order to maintain religious freedom. In the midst of the power vacuum left behind, violent militia groups committed horrific atrocities to immigrants of different religions. Punjab bore the majority of the violence, with countless atrocities committed towards women. In total, around 100,000 women were kidnapped and forced to marry.

In 1971, East pakistan seceded and became known as bangladesh. The area in North Pakistan known as Kashmir decided to secede and join India. A referendum was supposed to be signed, but Pakistan refused. The area is still being fought over to this day. It is debated how many have died in the fight for Kashmir, but the estimate is from 40,000-70,000.

Kashmir is home to the highest rates of sexual violence in the world Violence in Kashmir is mainly coming from various muslim extremist militia groups. Indi and Pakistan are not officially at war, but it does seem like it based on the views of the people. Dozens of Bollywood actors, directors, and producers, have refused to work with Pakistani performers over the last thirty years.

In the year 1700, India’s share in the world economy was at 25 percent. The British occupation and hostaging of the South Asian subcontinent over the following two hundred years would bring India to its knees, and it has yet to fully recover. The British saw India as an endless goldmine, that with proper strategy, could be milked for all of its resources. Unlike other invading warlords, the British sought to stay indefinitely. They knew the demand for quality Indian goods, and they were not going to let it go to waste.

The occupation of India by the British initially started with the aggressive demand for goods as started by the British East India Company. The British East India Company, or EIC, was founded in 1600 and was responsible for the colonization of many profitable places in Southeast Asia such as Hong Kong. India was a major exporter to Britain, with around 15 percent of British imports coming from the region. Although referred to as a company because its main goal was profit, the EIC controlled and operated its own army with forces totalling over 260,000 soldiers at its peak, double the size of the British army back in the west. It should be noted that many of these soldiers were Indians themselves. 

By 1857, with the help of their massive army, the EIC began an invasion of East India, launched at the EIC’s base in Bengal. A rebellion against the EIC put a temporary halt on imperial affairs, which resulted in the deaths of 6,000 Europeans and over 800,000 indians.

In response, the British Parliament passed the “government of India act,” in 1858, essentially ending the EIC and transferring all power to the British government. This period, which lasted until the mid twentieth century, would be known as the British Raj.

The British were horrible to the Indian citizens during this period. The British parliament instituted a law that India could no longer trade with anyone except the British. Severing world trade was a knockout blow for India. Not allowing foreign exchange meant the British parliament had a monopoly over a world economy superpower, essentially allowing them to institute whatever policy made them the most money. One of their first acts was to hike tax rates through the roof. This monetary policy meant that Indians had less money, meaning they could not produce as much. When this was the case, and they obviously could not pay their taxes, the British would seize their property on the grounds of tax evasion. Many who refused to only sell to the British, or decided to under the table, were found out and killed. Skilled craftsmen were tortured and killed when they could not pay the exorbitant tax rates. Only 0.7 percent of the Indian population worked in the industrial field. The mass export of goods, especially food, meant crops were not ending up on Indian’s plates. Horrific famines occurred, which resulted in the estimated deaths of around twenty million people in the two hundred year occupation.

Water Conflicts

Water is a fundamental human need and sought after resource even when considering the abundance of it on the Earth. South Asia has a large river system that flows between Pakistan and India leading to a combined 5,000 miles of Indian Ocean coastline. Although the two nations have gone to war many times, the division of water resources is a shining bright spot in their relationship and is widely known to be one of the longest and most upheld in the world.

It first started with the vast river systems that flow throughout the Pakistan and Indian borders. With more than 4oo rivers in India and 24 rivers in Pakistan where some of the rivers cross borders multiple times, they had a lot to separate. The main agreed upon document was the Indus Water Treaty signed in 1960 which is a ratified version of a previous document. This gave control to the three eastern rivers to India which were the Beas, Ravi, and Sutlej that flowed 41 billion M³ annually. It also gave control of the three western rivers to Pakistan which are the Indus, Chenab, and Jhelum that flowed 99 billion M³ a year. The document further specifies the division of the rivers as many of them cross the border to the other country. It lays down detailed regulations for building over the river, fishing culture, industry, and irrigation. Because India is located upstream a mutual compromise was made in recognition that both countries want to optimally use the river systems for many purposes in the spirit of cooperation. A main purpose is provided clean and efficient energy with the use of dams, which both countries utilize. The rivers, especially the Indus and Ganges, are spiritually sacred to the Hindi religion and therefore are treated as such and it is given more than just pure practical uses. Provisions have been added such as each country is required to notify the other of any building plans and other activities being undertaken. Even though the countries have gone to war, the protection of the rivers has been upheld even during these times. If future conflict arises, India could use the waters to cause mass flooding and damage downstream to Pakistan for a strategical advantage. Overall, they have never had any serious conflicts over the distribution of the sacred resource of water and the current relationship has remained cordial.

Southern Asia River Systems

Due to the longstanding conflict between the two nations, they have both built up their navies significantly in the past two decades. These navies strictly patrol the waters surrounding the coastlines for any violations of the maritime agreement they have in place. Even though the war has mostly been on land, their have been mid size attacks and battles originating from the Indian ocean. The first instance of this was operation Dwarka where the Pakistan Navy attacked the India coastal town of Dwarka. These water battles have historically been few and far between. Each nation relies on maritime activities economically such as fishing with exclusive rights to large areas of the coast line. They both value this so much that their have been many cases of trespassing into one another’s waters and illegally taking fish. This has caused increased military patrols that just continues to add tension. These industries are both important for trade and a food supply for their large populations.

Overall, water is a vital resource to both nations, but has been a bright spot of their relationship with treaties that have been largely upheld. A recent calling has been made to update the treaties to be more climate change oriented to reduce the water consumption that is a leading factor to the reduction in flow to the river. A reduction in use may go a long way in the long term viability of the river that would be nearly impossible to get back once gone.

Sources

https://indiawris.gov.in/wiki/doku.php?id=major_river_system_in_india

https://byjusexamprep.com/upsc-exam/river-system-in-india

https://www.usip.org/publications/2023/02/india-and-pakistan-are-playing-dangerous-game-indus-basin#:~:text=The%20international%20dispute%20over%20Indus,a%20matter%20of%20national%20survival.

https://southasianvoices.org/contested-waters-the-maritime-dimension-of-india-pakistan-relations/

As we discussed in the previous blog post, India and Pakistan had a constant simmering of tensions after the creation of the countries with the British Partition. This included both West and East Pakistan that flanked India on both sides. The reason for this non-contiguous country was that a random British lawyer was commissioned to partition over 2000 miles of land even though he had never stepped foot anywhere near the land while being given only 36 days. They had a short list of similarities where the only item on it was that they were both predominantly Muslims. They varied widely in culture, language, and ethnicity. East Pakistan was felt to be West Pakistan’s little brother in a sense with little power or influence in the direction of the country politically. This disconnection was even more emphasized with the discontiguous nature of the country. This was such a prevalent notion that protests were carried out and a large movement was started to call for a vote for independence for East Pakistan. This movement was blocked by the Pakistani military with many of the leaders being jailed. The third war between Pakistan and India gave East Pakistan a chance at independence.

East Pakistan Becomes Bangladesh

The war was sparked when Pakistan launched operation Chengiz Kahn which was a series of air strikes on Indian air stations. What quickly ensued was a full scale war. Due to Pakistan fighting a war on two fronts, India strategically blocked or destroyed key infrastructure lines and cut off all supply lines for Pakistani soldiers. This included food, weapons, ammunition, and general supplies that quickly stifled the army. Around 3,000 Indian soldiers were killed with little captured compared to 10,000 Pakistani soldiers killed and 90,000 being captured. Those deaths pale in comparisons when considering anywhere from 300,000 to 1,000,000 million civilians were killed in East Pakistan alone which caused mass migration to India and beyond. Those numbers show the lopsided nature of the war as it was over in just 13 days making it one of the shortest wars in history. Although Pakistan initiated the conflict and boiled over the seemingly natural tensions between the two countries, India was fully prepared and harshly responded to the attempted take over.

Pakistan’s General Amir Abdullah Khan Niazi surrenders to the Indian Army

The ramification of the war was the secession of East Pakistan to become the nation of Bangladesh with their independence day being March 26, 1971. Due to the weakened state of the Pakistani army, they were simply spread too thin and damaged to try and resist the independence of the new nation. So, Bangladesh was born to replace East Pakistan. Another aspect of the independence was that India supported the Bangladesh freedom fighters in their cause not just openly verbally, but with supplies and soldiers. This of course added another reason for the countries to dislike one another and ultimately made tensions worse. Additionally, this was a large moral blow and loss of confidence for the Pakistani citizens. They were not expecting to lose a war of that manner, especially in just less than two weeks. With the peace treaty, Pakistan also lost critical military points along the India border that would play a massive role in the outcome of the war in 1999. It was a thorough embarrassment that reflected the fragility of the nation and democracy that they were trying to build.  This marked a turning point in the region as it became clear to the world that India was now definitively the dominant force over Pakistan and in the region in general where the gap would only continue to grow .

Sources

https://history.state.gov/milestones/1969-1976/south-asia#:~:text=East%20Pakistani%20guerilla%20forces%2C%20supported,to%20respond%20to%20the%20crisis.

The Splitting of East-Pakistan from West-Pakistan in 1971: The Role of India

History of Conflict in India and Pakistan

India and Pakistan Historical Context

India and Pakistan are two nations in Southern Asia that border one another with Pakistan to the west and India to the east. They both have coastlines along the Indian ocean with large areas of land that are within their borders. The conflict between these two nations began all the way back in August of 1947 with the British partition of the land into the two nations. This was a formal cede of rule where independence was granted to these two governments forcing millions of people on both sides to migrate borders. An interesting and later crucial facet of these independences was the territory of Kashmir and what was to become of it.

Map of Southern Asia and land additions

Kashmir is a territory bordering the Northern borders of both India and Pakistan and was given the choice by the British to join either the predominantly Muslim Pakistanis or mostly Hindi India. With Kashmir being a majority Muslim state, most of the citizens wanted to join Pakistan. However, Hari Singh was the maharaja or ruling prince and he was Hindi. He therefore wanted Kashmir to remain independent at the least as he would not have been happy joining Pakistan and joining India would start a war. Regardless of this thought process, the Muslim citizens began a revolution with the goal of eventually adding Kashmir to the homeland. This movement eventually recruited armed tribesman of the Northwestern Province where it then turned serious. This caused Hari Singh to request military support from India where in return he would give them the region with a referendum attached to the document that would allow the citizens to vote on the status of the region in the future.

Pakistan did not recognize this document which sparked the first war between the nations that lead to upwards of 30,000 deaths over the span of two years from 1947-1948. The United Nations was eventually able to mediate a peace deal called the Karachi Agreement. Formally known as the Agreement Between Military Representatives of India and Pakistan Regarding the Establishment of a Cease Fire Line, this agreement established the borders between the nations in Kashmir. This mutual agreement did not stop future lad dispute conflicts.

Karachi Agreement Demarcations

The second Indo-Pakistani war broke out in 1965 when a series of small clashes culminated to Pakistani soldiers crossing the Line of Control which lead to war. It was stifled after a year when leaders again got together to sign the treaty once again affirming both commitments to peace with one another.

Their have been many other conflicts between the nations where it seems enough time passes where they forget why they have the peace treaty in the first place. Both countries have acquired nuclear weapons, notable attacks have taken for and against both sides, and the conflict is not only seen in military maneuvers. It can also be found within both cultures socially with a general dismay for one another despite the fact that they are massive trading partners. Overall this region is marked with intermittent violence towards one another with constantly rising and lowering of tensions that neither country will get over while both claiming the region.

Sources

History of Conflict in India and Pakistan

https://www.cfr.org/global-conflict-tracker/conflict/conflict-between-india-and-pakistan#:~:text=The%20conflict%20between%20India%20and,which%20country%20to%20accede%20to.

Ghana has undergone many rounds of colonization. Their record starts with Portugal in the 15th century, then over the next three hundred years it would be colonized by Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Prussia, Germany, and finally was colonized by the British in the late 19th century. It was given the name “Gold Coast” due to its high gold reserves. Ghana also had large reserves of other valuable resources, such as ivory. The consolidation of so many valuable natural resources meant European countries often fought over control of the Gold Coast.

Due to hundreds of years of christian colonization, it is no surprise that over 70% of Ghana’s population is christian. Listed on their official website are holidays like Good Friday, Easter Monday, Christmas, and the British tradition of boxing day. 

Ghanaian independence day, March 6th, celebrates freedom from the United Kingdom gained in 1957. After World War II, the United Kingdom had significantly less funds to be able to govern foreign areas. This problem was coincidentally at the same time many Ghanaian citizens were calling for independence. In 1952, former Gold Coast Council member Osagyefo Kwame Nkrumah won the majority vote in the legislative election. Five years later, in 1957, Ghana declared independence from the United Kingdom. The name “Ghana” means “strong warrior” or “chief” and was given to many great leaders in surrounding countries. Ghana was given this name after declaring independence in 1957.

In 1960, Ghana switched from a parliamentary system to a presidential republic in an effort to get away from British influence, enacted in their 1960 constitution.

Religion has played and continues to play a crucial role in the making of the modern state of Nigeria. Based on a 2017 census from Afrobarometer, they found that 56% of inhabitants identified as Christian and 42% identified as Muslim with less than 5% identifying with other religions or none. This can even be seen in the breakdown of the geography of Nigeria. Although their are members of both religions spread out throughout the land, most Muslims live in the northern parts and most Christians can be found in the southern parts of the nation. This has been such a strong theme throughout the history that leaders have come to recognize the different identities of the citizens and planned policies and political campaigns around it. For example, the capital of Abuja was intentionally placed near the exact center of the nation even though that part of the nation is the least inhabitable being only dry desert. This not only symbolically shares the governmental powers between the two religions, but also gives easier access to every citizen and political leaders.

The use of religion also fills important gaps that the federal and local government does not have the resources for. These are usually general provisional benefits exclusive to the religious members. They each also provide to the benefit of the community through works of service or charity work. This can uphold a fragile social system and lack of resources such as food, water, electricity, construction, and other necessary actions to make society run smoothly. Also each of these religions emphasizes frugality and Muslims have the rule of zakat that requires them to give a certain portion of their income back to the community that they earned it from. These beliefs held and most importantly actions executed give Nigerian communities a leg up where the government falls short and is important to the running of society.

Religion in politics has also been present throughout the history and current political standing of the nation. A unique aspect of the Nigerian political aspect is that people tend to align with political leaders that share similar demographics to them rather than most other nations where people align with beliefs. This has caused many prominent parties to be followed and supported by one type of religion. This came to be a well understood fact to the point that the Nigerian constitution specifies that a president and vice president must be from opposing regions and subsequently different religions in order to be eligible to run and win an election. This just shows how ingrained in society the role of religion in and how even the constitution of the nation forces the coexistence of two religions in the same governing political party.

Overall, religion is synonymous with the culture and everyday life of Nigerians to the point of being completely intertwined with the government and running of the nation. Although it has been the root divide for many past and even less current problems, the population has put that difference aside through a couple decades of deliberation. Nigeria is superbly unique in this facet as almost no other nation has as big a population that is evenly split down the middle on religion that can make it work moderately well.

Sources:

https://www.chathamhouse.org/2021/03/collective-action-corruption-nigeria/context-religion-nigeria

https://news.gallup.com/poll/246689/nigerians-deeply-divided-religion-key-issues.aspx

https://www.scielo.org.za/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1017-04992016000100003

Due to the mass European colonization of Africa, genocides were quite common, either by the colonists directly or the race dynamics they created post-departure. In the case of Namibia, the Germans were directly responsible for the mass murder of thousands of Herero men, women, and children.

In the early winter of 1904, the Herero population attacked a German settlement in retaliation for the oppressive policies the Germans had implemented. Around 123 settlers were killed in the attack. This attack, although successful, would prove deadly for the Herero over the next few years.

The Germans slowly overtook the Herero with their superior technology, denying negotiations for surrender in search of retribution. In the battle of Waterberg, between 3,000-5,000 Herero soldiers were killed. However, most Hereros were able to escape to the nearby Omaheke desert.

As thousands of Herero soldiers along with women and children crossed the desert, the German Schutztruppe relentlessly pursued, taking pot shots and poisoning wells along the way. In October 1904, German Commander Lothar von Trotha ordered the murder of every male Herero within German borders.

By the next month, the German government had gotten word of Trotha’s inhumane policy, instead ordering the incarceration of Hereros in internment camps. However, by this point, thousands of Herero had already been slaughtered.

In these incarceration camps, such as shark island, the mortality rate was somewhere between 47-74%. Prisoners were subjected to horrendous hygienic conditions and brutal medical experiments. 

In 1905, the Nama organized an uprising against the Germans that also saw them executed or incarcerated over the next two years. In total, around 65,000 Herero and 10,000 Nama were killed by the Germans in Namibia.

The Germans kept the Herero Nama genocide under wraps for years until the British government posted their findings of the account in 1918. Recently the German government has moved to make reparations and deliver a formal apology to the descendants of the victims and possible monetary compensation for the region.

Humanitarian Law is defined as laws concerned with or seeking to promote human welfare. These are laws that want to protect and improve the lives and safety of citizens within societies where these laws are codified. The thing about humanitarian laws is that they can be extremely hard to get specific, and therefore can be hard to enforce as seen in the United States. For example, it is easy to put into law that the government will protect the safety of its citizens, but exactly how can be up to interpretation.

Nigerian coat of arms (notice banner)

Nigeria in particular has a constitution dating back to 1999 with the creation of the Fourth Republic that is still ongoing today. The constitution has its humanitarian laws laid out in chapter four. This chapter has 14 sections each dedicated to the description of the general title of each section. They are as follows:

1. Right to life
2. Right to dignity of human persons
3. Right to personal liberty
4. Right to fair hearing
5. Right to private and family life
6. Right to freedom of thought, conscience of religion
7. Right to freedom of expressions and the press
8. Right to peaceful assembly and association
9. Right to freedom of movement
10. Right to freedom from discrimination
11. Right to acquire and own immovable property
12. Compulsory acquisition of property
13. Restriction on and derogation from fundamental human rights
14. Special jurisdiction and High Court and Legal Aid

As you can see, The Nigerian constitution is an in depth take on human rights that leaves less of an interpretation in practical use and more of an upholding standard for the Nigerian courts.

While battling for independence from the United Kingdoms longtime colonial rule, military conflicts killed many on both sides, but was especially felt for the Nigerian populations. This was a brutal and tragic conflict that ended up resulting in Nigerian independence in 1960, but at a heavy cost.

A more modern example within Nigeria would be the the group of Boko Haram as named by western civilizations, but known to locals and members of the organization as “Jama’atu Ahl as-Sunnah li-Da’awati wal-Jihad” (JASDJ). This is a group of Sunni people calling for a Jihad, or holy war. This would entail replacing the mixed religion government (by constitution a president and vice president must be mixed religion, usually Christian and Muslim as the overwhelming majority of the population falls into those two categories) with just a Muslim government and the eradication of any westerners in the land and western ideologies. This is not just a protest group with powerful words, but an armed and an organized group that has carried out many attacks and atrocities towards civilians over decades. The group has existed in many forms varying in power since 1990. It faced large losses in 2009 when the government went after hundreds of their members and even killed the leader. The second in command Abubakar Shekau took control and sought to rebuild the strength of the organization. Since then, over 35,000 people (with some estimates being upwards of 50,000 people) have been killed by Boko Haram’s attacks and attempts to install their own Islamist state. A specific example would be on April 15, 2014 when the group attacked an all girl’s school and kidnapped 250-300 young girls in a northern state in Nigeria and threatened to sell them off as wives for a ransom. This was under the justification that women should not be taught in schools and had more opposition to western thoughts.

Nigerian soldiers hold up recently seized Boko Haram flag in victory

Nigeria has clearly had many bouts with Boko Haram and is in a long and constant struggle against them. Combine that with general political instability and the group is managing to get by. Other nations, such as the United States and some European powers have offered assistance namely in the hunting down of group members especially when they were aligned with ISIS for a time. Some aftermath affects have been a social discomfort in knowing that any one of these atrocities may happen to you or your children while in a public space. Another factor would be the resentment of the opposing religion as Nigeria has had a long history of religious conflicts that have only more recently (couple decades) settled down where this might be a spark to the continuation of struggles. Overall, Nigeria is overtly aware of this group and the new president that is tied to the military has had actions that has supposedly virtually eliminated this group.

Sources:

https://www.dni.gov/nctc/groups/boko_haram.html

Fundamental Human Rights of A Nigerian and Universal Human Rights

http://genocidewatch.net/page/2/?s=nigeria

https://www.dni.gov/nctc/groups/boko_haram.html

https://www.voanews.com/a/nigeria-army-chief-boko-haram-capabilities-virtually-eliminated/3511656.html

https://civil-protection-humanitarian-aid.ec.europa.eu/what/humanitarian-aid/international-humanitarian-law_en