08-22-2006, 02:55 PM
http://www.pakistanonlinehotels.com/paki...istory.htm
Pakistan History
In ancient times, the area that now comprises Pakistan marked the farthest reaches of the conquests of Alexander the Great. It was also the home of Buddhist Ghandaran culture. It was not until 1947 and the independence of India, that Pakistan acquired nationhood. Under pressure from Indian Muslims led by Mohammed Ali Jinnah - considered to be the 'father of the nation' - the British created a separate Muslim state. Originally, it consisted of two parts, East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) and West Pakistan (now a single unitary state), separated from each other by 1600km (1000 miles) of Indian territory. Jinnah, the leading Muslim inside the Indian Congress party that led the independence struggle (see India section), became the new country's first president.
In contrast to India, democracy failed to take root and Pakistan suffered prolonged periods of military rule. The first of these came in 1958, when martial law was declared and political parties abolished. The martial law 'co-ordinator', General (later Field Marshall) Ayub Khan, became President in 1960. He was replaced in 1969, by the Commander-in-Chief of the army, General Agha Muhammed Yahya Khan, who resisted demands for autonomy by the eastern region of the country, where civil war broke out in 1971. The intervention of the Indian army on the side of the secessionists eventually secured an independent Bangladesh, leaving a truncated Pakistan in the west. Democratic civilian government followed the defeat and President Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto took over as president from the discredited military regime.
In 1977, however, the military again took power in a coup and re-established martial law under General Mohammed Zia ul-Haq. Bhutto was executed in 1979. Military rule continued until the death of General Zia in a plane crash in 1988, after which a democratic constitution and civilian government were re-instituted.
A decade of revolving-door civilian politics followed in which the main participants were Ali Bhutto's daughter Benazir, and Mohammed Nawaz Sharif, leader of the Islamic Democratic Alliance (IDA). The IDA was essentially a military creation, designed to maintain their influence as far as possible over national politics. Benazir Bhutto took over the leadership of her father's old party, the Pakistan People's Party. Sharif and Bhutto contested four elections - all tainted by extensive political violence - during the next 10 years, winning two each. Both Bhutto governments and the first Sharif government were dismissed by presidential decree for the same reasons: incompetence, nepotism and corruption. Little if any headway was made in tackling Pakistan's huge political and economic problems. The second Sharif administration also came to a premature end but this time it was the military who intervened after having stood on the sidelines in increasing frustration for the previous 10 years.
The trigger was Pakistan's controversial nuclear weapons program. This had begun in 1971, after Pakistan's defeat by India, and progressed steadily with Chinese assistance thereafter. Pakistan is now believed to possess at least a handful of nuclear warheads and the means of delivery. In 2004, the head of the program, Abdul Qadir Khan, was revealed to have organized the sale of nuclear technology and expertise to several other countries, including Iran and Libya. This has caused a crisis in relations with the West at a sensitive time: Pakistan is a vital ally in the American-led "war on terror".
The original motivation for the nuclear program was ensuring parity with India, which has also developed its own nuclear weapons. The Indo-Pakistan conflict is a central feature of Pakistani politics, particularly with regards to the attitude and posture of the military. At its heart is the long-running dispute over the status of Kashmir which, although it has a majority Muslim population, became part of India (rather than Pakistan) in the 1947 partition. There have been regular small-scale engagements between the Indian and Pakistani armies in the border region, as well as frequent attacks by guerrilla forces (variously backed by either side). The two sides have almost come to war on several occasions. Given the possible consequences, urgent high-level diplomacy, usually involving America or Russia, has been deployed to force the antagonists to back down. More recently the two sides have been talking and in February 2004 agreed on a "road map" which has hopefully began the process towards a path to a final settlement. No resolution has yet been found but both governments have pledged their commitment to peace. A proposed bus route that would link the disputed territory is the latest initiative in the drive for peace.