I grew up in the UK and identify as British. I felt anger when Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands, and I still feel guilt about the return of Hong Kong Island and Kowloon to China in 1997 when they had been ceded to the UK in perpetuity.
My father grew up in Pakistan, and my 1969 birth certificate (wrongly) records my father's place of birth as "Pakistan". But in reality, he was born and brought up in Dacca, in what is now Bangladesh.
Today Pakistan has started a Test series in Chittagong, Bangladesh.
Had Pakistan not fallen apart in 1971, this is what Pakistan's list of largest cities now would look like:
1. Dhaka 21 million
2. Karachi 16 million
3. Lahore 11 million
4. Chittagong 9 million
5. Islamabad / Rawalpindi 5 million
The stadium where Pakistan is playing right now is named after Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury, former Assistant Secretary of the Pakistan Trade Union Federation but later imprisoned for leading the Six Point movement for East Pakistani autonomy.
That in itself is worth reviewing. West Pakistan - modern Pakistan - from 1947 to 1971 had 36% of the population of Pakistan, while East Pakistan was 64% of the population.
But the government was controlled from what is now Pakistan, and lavished 71% of government spending on the 36% of the population which lived in modern Pakistan. In effect, they spent four times as much on themselves as on the majority of the population of Pakistan, which was Bengali.
I consider myself an outsider looking in. I don't identify with Bangladesh or Pakistan.
But the price that modern Pakistan paid for using Bangladesh to subsidise itself was extraordinary. Pakistan managed to lose 64% of its population in 1971.
Jump forward to 2021.
Pakistan - the former West Pakistan - has a population of 225 million sharing an economy of $296 billion, which is just $1,315 per person. Only 59.13% of Pakistanis are literate, and life expectancy is 67.27 years.
Bangladesh - the former East Pakistan - has controlled its fertility and now has a population of 161 million sharing an economy of $409 billion, which is $2,540 per person. 75.6% of Bangladeshis are literate, and life expectancy is 73.00 years.
In effect, when West Pakistan lost East Pakistan it started a long march into being the poorer, less educated, less developed of the two countries.
But of course Pakistan still has a far stronger cricket team!
So my question is this. How do you as Pakistanis feel returning to your lost territory, playing as foreigners in land that was yours? How do you feel about your elders alienating and losing the majority of your compatriots? And how do you feel about the Bangladeshis outperforming Pakistan in pretty much everything except cricket?
I'm not trying to rub it in. These are the same questions that Czechs must ask about Slovakia, and that Serbs must ask about Bosnians.
My father grew up in Pakistan, and my 1969 birth certificate (wrongly) records my father's place of birth as "Pakistan". But in reality, he was born and brought up in Dacca, in what is now Bangladesh.
Today Pakistan has started a Test series in Chittagong, Bangladesh.
Had Pakistan not fallen apart in 1971, this is what Pakistan's list of largest cities now would look like:
1. Dhaka 21 million
2. Karachi 16 million
3. Lahore 11 million
4. Chittagong 9 million
5. Islamabad / Rawalpindi 5 million
The stadium where Pakistan is playing right now is named after Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury, former Assistant Secretary of the Pakistan Trade Union Federation but later imprisoned for leading the Six Point movement for East Pakistani autonomy.
That in itself is worth reviewing. West Pakistan - modern Pakistan - from 1947 to 1971 had 36% of the population of Pakistan, while East Pakistan was 64% of the population.
But the government was controlled from what is now Pakistan, and lavished 71% of government spending on the 36% of the population which lived in modern Pakistan. In effect, they spent four times as much on themselves as on the majority of the population of Pakistan, which was Bengali.
I consider myself an outsider looking in. I don't identify with Bangladesh or Pakistan.
But the price that modern Pakistan paid for using Bangladesh to subsidise itself was extraordinary. Pakistan managed to lose 64% of its population in 1971.
Jump forward to 2021.
Pakistan - the former West Pakistan - has a population of 225 million sharing an economy of $296 billion, which is just $1,315 per person. Only 59.13% of Pakistanis are literate, and life expectancy is 67.27 years.
Bangladesh - the former East Pakistan - has controlled its fertility and now has a population of 161 million sharing an economy of $409 billion, which is $2,540 per person. 75.6% of Bangladeshis are literate, and life expectancy is 73.00 years.
In effect, when West Pakistan lost East Pakistan it started a long march into being the poorer, less educated, less developed of the two countries.
But of course Pakistan still has a far stronger cricket team!
So my question is this. How do you as Pakistanis feel returning to your lost territory, playing as foreigners in land that was yours? How do you feel about your elders alienating and losing the majority of your compatriots? And how do you feel about the Bangladeshis outperforming Pakistan in pretty much everything except cricket?
I'm not trying to rub it in. These are the same questions that Czechs must ask about Slovakia, and that Serbs must ask about Bosnians.
Last edited:
