lets try to tally up who gained & lost from partition. India ----- Losses ------ 1. NE became logistically marooned from its traditional markets and sea outlet (dhaka, chittagong,cox bazar) and has languished since. 2. rich jute crops of b'desh were lost 3. oil & gas in b'desh hills 4. karachi - a prosperous mercantile city was gone 5. land link to central asia cut, left way open for PRC 6. land link to Gulf cut, way open to saudi money & PRC intrigues. no prospect of simple land oil & gas pipeline. 7. the real punjab of canal systems pre-47 all lost, only rump east punjab left 8. a hostile wahabi neighbour that has consistently made a mess of its own affairs. likely to get worse as population and poverty gets more. 9. need to maintain a large land armed forces. 10. need to contain PRC proxy proliferation thru expensive missile program. 11. having a american paid-provider of services in backyard.
Gains ------ none in my opinion. Pakistan -------- Gains ----- 1. UP-delhi-Bihar muslim elite got their dream to rule over a new homeland free from hindu domination 2. muslim middle class saw reduced competition & better prospects and left 3. bangaldeshi muslims got free of their hindu zamindars 4. sindhi-punjabi landlords got to keep their feudal setup 5. hindus/sikhs were chased out to clear resources. some converted. 6. saudi & iranian money, cheap oil, political support of OIC. 7. become a go-between in US-sino detente'. get paid handsomely. 8. create afghan fighters, get paid well. 9. no accountability to people or institutions, elites and army run the economy and dip into govt funds as needed. not possible to this frightful extent in india. 10. get free nukes & missiles from PRC. get to brandish them with no fear of repercussions due to status as america's condom against taliban/al'qaeda. losses(for the general people) ------ 1. left the country open to mulla-army-RAPE combo with no force to challenge it 2. lost most minerals, industries and educational centers to india. Pak today has less good colleges than any _single_ large indian city. 3. gained a large, hostile and increasingly assertive neighbour hegemon who just does not know when to go away. whose relative disparity is increasing day by day with no hope of catching up. canny players like iran, UAE, qatar have deserted the anti-india crowd and built relations. even the saudis only make "noises" of support. 4. the limits of PRC/US support brutally exposed more than once (1971, 1999). saved by Nixon in '71 but still broken into two. 5. US has no use for Pak except as a condom against the faithful..so the prospects of free baskets of mithai and arms from D.C. in future are bleak. some daily wage payments will be made for services rendered. 6. despair..despair..and more despair as resources dry up, no economic growth, no high paying jobs, no HONOUR & RESPECT as the "bastion of Islam", no understanding by a unkind world of how they are always under threat from the school bully, how plucky and martial they are, how they are superior to rice & fish eaters...nope no sympathy at all. the motto is "show me the money!" ..and india has a lot more money, and will be creating more. so people go into web forums and indulge in wet-dreams about how these disparities can be reduced, by nuking iits, iims, techy indian cities...symbols of /hindu oppression/. _________________________________________________________________ Send and receive Hotmail on your mobile device: http://mobile.msn.com
