Hist 4538 January 15, 2004
Population
Bangladesh India Pakistan | Sri Lanka
Muslims 88% 12% 96% |Sinhalese 82%
Hindus 10% 82% 1.6% |Tamil 9%
Christians <1% 2% 1.5% |Muslim 8%
Sikhs ~0 2% ~0 |
Timeline
1947 Independence and partition
Jinnah (1947-1948)
Nehru (1947-1964)
1948 First Indo-Pakistani war
1958 Pakistan: first military regime (Ayub Khan 1958-69)
1965 Second Indo-Pakistani war
1966 India: Indira Gandhi (1966-77)
1969 Pakistan: second military regime (Yahya Khan 1969-1971)
1971 Third Indo-Pakistani war
East Pakistan secedes, becomes Bangladesh
1975-77 India: Emergency
1977 Pakistan: third military regime (General Zia 1977-88)
Zia’s policy of Islamicization
1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan
1980 India: Indira Gandhi re-elected
1984 India: Operation Bluestar, Gandhi assassination, massacre of Sikhs
1988 Pakistan: Zia killed in mysterious plane crash
Benazir Bhutto to power (1988-1990, 1993-97)
1989 Soviets withdrawal from Afghanistan
1998 Nuclear tests in India and Pakistan
1999 Kargil conflict
1999 Pakistan: Musharraf’s bloodless coup
2001 US invasion of Afghanistan
Musharraf opts to join US “war on terror”
2002 India: Godhra incident, massacres of Gujarati Muslims
Themes:
1) Democracy vs. dictatorship
2) Diversity
3) Difficult position of minorities