Social Problems and Issues in Pakistan free essay sample

Historically, the dominant role played by Punjab, which is home to over 55 percent of the population and provides the bulk of the army and bureaucracy, has caused much resentment among the other three provinces. There had been little support for the independent state of Pakistan among Sindhis, Balochis, and Pashtuns; in fact NWFP and Balochistan had resisted incorporation into Pakistan. Ever since, Pakistan has battled secessionist movements in NWFP, Balochistan, and Sindh. In the early years, the deepest ethnic fault lines existed between the countrys east and the west wings, which resulted in Pakistans break-up in 1971.East Pakistan, predominantly ethnic Bengali, became the new independent state of Bangladesh. Grievances among and within provinces abound, especially over economic inequities and scarce resources. Pakistans major political parties are also divided along regional or ethnic lines, resulting in a lack of parties that can respond to national concerns. Monster of Economy Pakistans economy suffered serious setbacks from the floods in August 2010. We will write a custom essay sample on Social Problems and Issues in Pakistan or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The government forecasted economic growth would drop to 2. 5 percent in 2010-2011 from 4. percent the previous year. Higher inflation is forecasted, and a growing fiscal deficit is expected to worsen as revenues remained low with a narrow tax base. Electricity shortages also cripple the economy and have often become the cause for violent protests in recent years. Plus, the economy relies heavily on textiles, which account for two-thirds of export income. The country averted a balance of payments crisis in 2008 with help from the International Monetary Fund, and in 2009 the current account deficit shrank with a pullback in imports and 18 percent growth in worker remittance inflows. The economy also suffers from low foreign direct investment due to increasing security problems. Pakistans government has long prioritized defense expenditure over investment in education and healthcare, which impedes its global competitiveness. High illiteracy rates, poor access to education and healthcare, and widening gender and socioeconomic gaps are expected to add to the states challenges, while fueling the narrative of militant groups seeking to use public disenfranchisement as broader recruiting tools. According to the United Nations, more than 60 percent of Pakistanis live on less than $2 a day, making Pakistan one of the worlds poorest states. Social Indicators Health Life Expectancy at Birth: 67 [Source: World Bank, 2008] Education (Literacy rate by gender) Adult Female Literacy Rate: 40 Adult Male Literacy Rate: 66.Adult Male Literacy Rate: 66. 8 [Source: UNESCO, 2008] Poverty Percentage of Pakistanis living below $2/day: 60. 3 [Source: UN Human Development Report, 2007] Although Pakistan is governed by a parliamentary form of civilian representation, the countrys strongest institutions have long been its army and primary intelligence service, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). The constant tug between a powe rful army and a weak civilian government has impeded social development, as military rulers have frequently put more resources toward guarding against attack from rival India than social and economic development. A series of constitutional reforms have sought to limit executive powers and extend greater autonomy to the provinces to counter potential military takeovers. But fundamental changes to the civil-military relationship are required. A slow and inefficient judicial system rife with corruption, and lacking infrastructure and resources, has also fueled public frustration that has been exploited by militant groups in the past. From these competing challenges have emerged a varied set of political, judicial, and non-governmental actors.There are over ninety registered political parties in Pakistan representing a range of ethnic, secular, and religious constituencies. Islamic parties, some with ties to militant groups, have at times proven effective in building support to challenge the status quo. But around a half dozen major parties led by powerful families dominate civilian politics. The feudal systemwhere a small number of landholders control vast resourceshas been a cause for great socio-economic inequity. Powerful landowning families have dominated politics and exercised significant control over national affairs through the bureaucracy and the armed forces.Identification Challenges Population: 97% Muslim (77% Sunni, 20% Shia); 3% Hindus, Christians, and other religious groups. (Note: The numbers are based on the last census conducted by the government of Pakistan in 1998. ) Pakistan grappled with the question of its identity even before it was formedwhether to be a secular democratic country for Muslims and other religious minorities or an Islamic state. The early death of Pakistans founder, Mohammad Ali Jinnah, left the role of religion in society unsettled.The break-up of the country in 1971, when the east wing seceded to become the new state of Bangladesh, further added to the young nations insecurities. Since its formative years, Pakistans rulers have used Islam to define national identity. Both civilian and military governments have allowed religious extremist organizations to flourish and used them as instruments of state policy. In the 1980s, the military and the intelligence services, funded by Saudi Arabia and the United States, helped train and support Islamist fighters against the Soviets in Afghanistan.Pakistans leading role in the anti-Soviet campaign in Afghanistan also led to the radicalization of some of its Islamic religious schools or madrassas, where students were encouraged to join the Afghan resistance. The Pakistani army also backed Islamist militants fighting Indian rule in the disputed territory of Jammu and Kashmir. Another consequence of the states use of Islam for political purposes has been sectarian conflict and competition for official patronage between and within the many variations of Sunni and Shia Islam.Militancy While Pakistans military establishment has long been preoccupied with a conventional war against India, Pakistan has, since its inception, viewed indigenous militant groups as valuable proxies in its fight for regional influence. Immediately after independence in 1947, bands of insurgents were recruited to infiltrate areas of Indian-administered Kashmir to spur revolts; today groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba continue to stage operations in Kashmir with impunity, say many analysts.In Afghanistan, mujahadeen warriors partially funded by the United States and Saudi Arabia during the Cold War are today seen by some in Pakistan as unofficial members of their security structure. Many analysts believe Pakistans powerful Inter-Services Intelligence, or ISI, continues to foster close ties with proxy militant forces. Yet a historical reliance on militant groups has shown signs of backfiring, with some jihadi groups turning against the Pakistani state. In general, Pakistan-based militant groups can be divided into five categories, each with different targets, tactics, and motivations.They include: Kashmir-focused groups (like Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Muhammad), Pakistan-focused groups (such as Tehrik-i-Taliban), Afghan-f ocused fighters (like the Quetta Shura Taliban), transnational groups (al-Qaeda chief among them), and sectarian elements (most notably Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan). Nuclear Deterrence Pakistans nuclear ambitions were born in the 1950s as a deterrent to Indias conventional military superiority; the war with India in 1971 and the subsequent breakup of East Pakistan (present-day Bangladesh) prompted leaders in Islamabad to pursue nuclear weapons. Indias successful test of a nuclear device in 1974 spurred the rush to weaponize. By the mid-1980s, with assistance from European countries and China, Pakistan had mastered uranium enrichment technology, and in 1989, the United States concluded Pakistan possessed a nuclear warhead. Pakistan and India became full-scale nuclear-armed adversaries when, on May 28, 1998, Pakistani scientists tested their nations first nuclear device. Pakistan has since broadened its nuclear program by building civilian power and research reactors; it has also explored plutonium production technologies.According to some experts, Pakistan has the fastest growing nuclear arsenal in the world with seventy to ninety nuclear weapons and produces enough enriched uranium each year for five to six bombs. Control of its arsenal is governed by the armys Strategic Plan Division. Yet security of the countrys nuclear stockpile remains a significant concern (NewYorker) for Western and regional interests. There are also lingering fears about technology proliferation, given revelations in 2004 that Pakistans top nuclear scientist, A. Q.Khan, operated an international proliferation network. Relations with; INDIA Relations between India and Pakistan have been tense since August 1947, when Pakistan was carved out of territories in British-ruled India. The partition led to at least half a million deaths and massive population transfers. At the time of partition, both countries claimed the territory of Kashmir, a Hindu-ruled state with a Muslim majority. While academics on either side dispute the details, Kashmirs ruler eventually decided to accede to India, sowing decades of conflict. The neighbors have fought three wars and numerous skirmishes along the border. New Delhi accuses Pakistan of helping and supporting militant groups that target India. Islamabad, on the other hand, accuses India of fueling insurgency in Baluchistan. Both countries are increasingly competing for influence in Afghanistan, where Pakistan views Indias burgeoning relationship with Kabul as a threat to its interests in the region. Scarce resource sharing, especially of water, has emerged as another flashpoint. The rivalry has also resulted in a nuclear arms race between the two countries.The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan shifted the balance once more, causing Washington to enlist Islamabads support in countering the perceived Soviet threat. Yet when the Soviets withdrew in 1989, American support for Pakistan followed. In the early 1990s, Congress conditioned future economic and military aid on Pakistani abandonment of its nuclear weapons technology. After al-Qaedas September 11, 2001 attacks in New York and Washington, plotted in Taliban-controlled areas of Afghanistan, Pakistan again became a major U. S. ally.But lack of trust and lingering anti-Americanism has tested this alliance. KASHMIR ISSUE Kashmir is at the center of rivalry between India and Pakistan. At partition, both countries claimed Kashmir, a Hindu-ruled state with a Muslim majority. Kashmirs ruler eventually decided to join India, but the decision was never accepted by Pakistan. The two countries have fought two wars and a limited conflict over the disputed Himalayan territory. Both countries continue to claim sovereignty over Kashmir; thousands of Indian and Pakistani troops remain deployed along the borders.India controls 45 percent of Kashmir, Pakistan 35 percent, and the rest is held by China. Throughout the 1990s, Indian-administered Kashmir was wracked by separatist militancy supported by Islamabad. Over fifty thousand people have died in Indian Kashmir in the last two decades because of insurgency, Indian military excesses, and cross-border fighting. By the late 2000s, the insurgency had been largely vanquished by most accounts, but the Indian troops remained.In the summer of 2010, near-daily clashes between stone-throwing Kashmiri youth shouting slogans for freedom and the Indian security forces fueled a vicious circle of violence. Some Indian analysts dubbed the phenomenon Kashmir intifada as cry for self-rule grew louder in Indian-administered Kashmir. Numerous peace efforts between India and Pakistan have been tried over the last decades; most progress was made between 2004 and 2007 with increased people-to-people contact and greater trade.Yet a diplomatic solution remains elusive. CHINA Pakistan refers to China as its all-weather ally, as opposed to the United States, which is considered a fair-weather friend. Since establishing diplomatic ties in 1951, China and Pakistan have developed a close relationship that each values as a strategic hedge against their historical rival India. Border disputes lie at the heart of India-China rivalry; both claim vast swathes of each others territory along their long Himalayan border.India lays claim to Aksai Chin, a part of Kashmir under Chinas control, while China claims the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh on the eastern sector of the border. Pakistan also played a key role in U. S. -China rapprochement in the 1970s. China is Pakistans leading arms supplier and has provided Islamabad with major military, technical, and economic assistance, including the transfer of sensitive nuclear technology and equipment. China has helped Pakistan build two nuclear reactors and in 2010 announced its plans to build two more, as it continues to support Pakistans nuclear program. Bilateral trade has been on the rise, and China is investing in several large-scale infrastructure projects: highways, gold and copper mines, electricity complexes, power plants, and, most recently, a deep-sea port at Gwadar in Pakistans Baluchistan province on the Arabian Sea. SAUDI ARABIA Pakistans relationship with Saudi Arabia is built upon solid economic, religious, and strategic ties. Saudi Arabia sided with Pakistan during its wars with India, and along with the United States, the Kingdom helped Pakistan fund mujahadeen against the Soviets in 1980s Afghanistan.Saudi investment in Pakistan peaked in 2005 (see chart at left), especially in the technology and real estate sectors, while bilateral trade hit $4 billion annually in 2009. But foreign direct investment (FDI) from Saudi Arabia started declining in 2008 in keeping with Pakistans downward trend in FDI inflows. Saudi domestic economic factors and the global recession played a role. Pakistans poor economic performance and l ack of infrastructure coupled with growing security concerns and political instability have also been responsible for decline in foreign investment. Pakistanis are among the largest ex-pat communities in Saudi Arabia, providing roughly one million laborers. Today, Islamabad and Riyadh continue to maintain deep military ties. On the nuclear front, intelligence officials told the Guardian in May 2010 that Saudi Arabia has funded as much as 60 percent of Pakistans nuclear program, and Bruce Riedel of the Brookings Institution says Pakistan provides its Gulf state partner with an unspoken nuclear umbrella.But perhaps Saudi Arabias most noted contribution to Pakistani society is its religious export, particularly the madrassas preaching a conservative form of Sunni Islam, which were built with Saudi money in the 70s and 80s. Saudi-funded madrassas in the countrys tribal region have educated tens of thousands of Pakistani men, including graduates who would become founders of the Afghan Taliban.