At Our Last Meeting:
*********************************************************************On August 28, 2008 the Rockville Rotary Club welcomed Rockville Rotarian Fahad Ahmed as our guest speaker of the day. As the guest speaker of the day, Fahad gave an interesting and information presentation on Pakistan. Fahad moved to the United States when he was eleven years old and as an American citizen calls the United States his home. Fahad has had the opportunity to visit Pakistan in the past couple of years and remarked on how much the country had changed since he was a younger man. We would like to thank Fahad Ahmed for his presentation on Pakistan. Below is a written piece provided by Fahad Ahmed on his presentation “Pakistan”. ************************************************************************ Pakistan
By Fahad Ahmed The area that is Pakistan today, was home to the Indus Valley Civilization. A civilization that flourished from 3,000 to 1,500 BC. It was discovered in 1920, but even today most of the ancient cities of the past remain to be excavated. Archaeological studies show a very complex culture with amazing engineering. Another city that was discovered around the 1920’s was Mohenjo-Daro. This city existed around 2,600 BC. It was a colony with townships and homes, all build out of brick. The inhabitants were skilled at trade, farming, and domestication of animals. The streets and town centers were planned on a grid with perfect patterns. The timing of this civilization parallels that of ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, and Crete. However, around 1,900 BC this civilization came to an abrupt end due to foreign invasion. In 1857 the British Empire extended its rule over this area. On 14 August, 1947 Pakistan gained its independence through a movement, led by Muhammad Ali Jinnah and the Muslim League. It was created as a homeland for Muslims. In 1971 a major civil war broke out between East Pakistan and West Pakistan. The war was caused by a serious political rift between the leadership in the east and the leadership in the west. Each claimed that it had the right to rule the rest of the country. The geography further complicated the situation. East Pakistan was almost 1,500 miles away from West Pakistan, with India in the middle. The inability of the political parties to reach a compromise resulted in the independence of East Pakistan, which is known today as Bangladesh. Today, Pakistan (formerly West Pakistan) has four provinces or states: Sindh, Punjab, Baluchistan, and North-West Frontier. Its neighbors are India, China, Afghanistan, and Iran. The country is blessed with many landmarks. It is home to the Himalayas, the largest mountain range in the world. It is also home to K-2, the second tallest mountain in the world. The height of K-2 is about 28,000 feet. Pakistan is about twice the size of California with 164 million people. There are five spoken languages: Urdu, Punjabi, Sindhi, Balochi, and English. The official language is Urdu. Pakistan’s history has been characterized by periods of economic growth, military rule and political instability. Economy Pakistan’s economy is based on textiles, chemicals, financial services, food processing, and agriculture. The annual growth rate of GDP is about 7%, while inflation is in the range of 9% to 12%. The Federal Banks are pursuing tight monetary policies to control inflation just as the Federal Reserve is doing in the United States. Although Pakistan’s economy is growing rapidly, it has suffered severely due to internal political disputes, political corruption, a fast growing population, costly on-going confrontations with India, and war on terrorism. Government Pakistan is a democratic republic; however it has suffered constant military interruptions and suspension of its constitution. The legislature is comprised of a 100-member Senate and a 342-member National Assembly. The Senate provides equal representation to each province, while the National Assembly provides representation based on the national population. Together, they provide a balance of power in the government. The president is the head of the state and commander in chief. He or She is elected by the Electoral College. The prime-minister is usually the leader of the largest party in the National Assembly. There are many women and minorities in high ranking government positions. According to the law, 30% of the National Assembly seats are reserved for religious minorities and women. Benazir Bhutto was the first women to become Prime Minister.
Military
The armed forces of Pakistan are formed on a volunteer basis. They are very professional and disciplined. They played a major role in repelling the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and in fighting the war on terrorism. The war in Afghanistan lasted 10 years and cost millions of lives. Even today, there are millions of widows, and children without any parents. The Afghan society, peace, security and infrastructure were all destroyed by this war. The Taliban were a movement of students support jointly by United States and Pakistan to fight the Soviet Union. Together they provided military training, war equipment, money, and all other kinds of support. The Afghans fought bravely and defeated one of the most powerful armies in the world. However, Afghanistan was completely ruined. This is exactly where the world went wrong. Although it provided all the support during the war, the aid nearly dried up after it. The efforts to rebuild were not provided. The society remained ruined and became a hot bed for extremism and extreme ideology. Bin Laden invested millions of his personal money in this area. As a result he gained significant sympathy and loyal supporters. The opportunity that the world missed was taken by Bin Laden. He portrayed himself as the helper and took advantage of this dire situation. The problems that we see in Afghanistan today and 9/11 are clearly traceable to the war with the Soviet Union. The war and missed opportunities by the world are the reasons for the extremism and terrorism that we see today. Back to Pakistan When Pakistan was created, it was flooded with serious issues and problems. Million of refugees had arrived from India. They left behind their homes, a life time of savings, jobs, families, to move to the promised land. However, when they arrived at their destination, they found nothing there. There were no jobs, economy, homes, infrastructure, roads, etc. These refugees had to find a way to survive. There were many problems. Furthermore, the new country lacked leadership. Its first generation of politicians were inexperienced men faced with truly daunting challenges. Due to this mess, power slipped into the hands of the feudal landlords - who were the only people with time, money and power. This led to a feudal system that exists even today. The feudal lords or owners of large tract of lands control what happens on their properties. They make their own rules and have their own militia to enforce them. This often victimizes the poor and the weak. The feudal lords have powers beyond their lands. They hold high positions in the Senate and National Assembly. They belong to this association and are able to pressure elected governments away from land and social reforms. The feudal system has and will continue to be a major hurdle for future progress and prosperity of Pakistan. It is not easy to change this system. Many presidents and prime ministers have relied on the support of feudal landlords to get elected. Even General Pervez Musharraf relied on them in his fight against Taliban. He relied on their militia men in keeping Taliban out of their lands. Democracy
Pakistan has constantly gone back and forth between democracy and military rule. The problem occurs when the democratically elected governments are unable to maintain law and order. This leads to internal conflict and violence on the streets by party members competing for power. This is exactly what the army is waiting for. This is the chance for the army to come out and establish law and order. However, once the army is in control, it refuses to relinquish power. The generals suspend the constitution and take over the government. In the short-term the army is able to provide peace and security, but in the long-term they are unable to deliver the needs of the society. Of the 60 years of Pakistan’s history, 30 years have been ruled by military. In 1999, during the term of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, the economic and political situation deteriorated. The Prime Minister was unable to control the situation and began to lose power. His fear of the army overthrowing his government led him to remove General Musharraf from the army post. This decision backfired and General Musharraf gathered the support of his fellow soldiers and mounted a bloodless coup on the government. His army took over government buildings and placed Nawaz Sharif under a house arrest. Musharraf then declared himself the president of Pakistan. 9/11 After the 9/11 attacks, President Musharraf sided with the United States and joined the global war on terrorism. Musharraf sent 60,000 army personnel to the border areas of Pakistan to fight and combat extremism. This has come at a very high price. The army has lost thousands of men, but it continues to press hard against extremism.
Due to this, there have been retaliatory attacks by terrorists in the major cities. This has resulted in the loss of hundreds of innocent lives including women and children and millions of dollars in loss of property. It is important to note that these types of bombings and attacks did not occur in Pakistan prior to the movement of the army to the border areas. The decision to support the United States and fight terrorism was the right decision, but it came at a very high price. President Musharraf is lucky to be alive today. There have been numerous attempts on his life and he has barely escaped them. He played his cards very carefully and made many sound decisions; however, he made a few errors that cost him his job. In order to extend his rule, Musharraf declared a state of emergency. This gave him sweeping powers to control all branches of the government and suspend the constitution. Using this power, Musharraf disposed of 60 judges that were against his rule. The judges argued that the military take over was unconstitutional. This decision back-fired and thousands of lawyers and citizens took to the streets to protest. Finally, Musharraf was pressured and agreed to hold fair elections. After the elections, he was forced out of office by the winning parties. Pakistan is again back to democracy! Many questions remain as to what will come next. Will history repeat itself? Or will a change take place? If the civilian government fails to deliver its promises, it will not be surprising for the military to intervene again. Will history repeat itself? Only time will tell. Despite all the challenges and problems that this young nation faced, it has come a long way. Pakistan is only 60 years old, but is already a major player in the world on many issues. It is the 7th declared nuclear power and has the 7th largest army in the world. Its assets and national interests are protected and safe guarded by the army. No nation in the world is perfect. Pakistan has its shares of problems and challenges. However, it does have the potential to show fast-track progress in the development of its infrastructure, economy, civil rights, and other areas, if democracy prevails.
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VISITING ROTARIANS ON AUGUST 28, 2008: Fahad Ahmed Fahad is a Rockville Rotarian and Assistant Vice President at Sandy Spring Bank. Fahad was the guest speaker of the day and gave an interesting and informative presentation on Pakistan. We would like to thank Fahad for speaking at the Rockville Rotary Club about Pakistan. Terry Gribbin Terry is a visiting Rotarian from the Gaithersburg Rotary Club. Welcome Terry. Henry Sher Henry is a visiting Rotarian from the Pretoria East South Africa Rotary Club. Welcome Henry. Please visit with the Rockville Rotary Club again when you are in the Washington D.C. area. Sandra Sher Sandra is a visiting Rotarian from the Pretoria East South Africa Rotary Club. Welcome Sandra. Please visit with the Rockville Rotary Club again when you are in the Washington D.C. area. *******************************************************************
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