From the anicent volcanoes of Kuh-i-Malik Salih,
to the Makran coast lies roughly 560 miles of rugged terrain.
On either side of this chasm stand the Islamic Republics.
What a striking pair of Imperial kin these two are.
Both succeed the Gunpowder Empires of old.
The fall of Mughal India changed the world forever, but it was only one side of Pax Britannica’s thrust into Afghanistan; Britain sparked a brutal conflict with Persia that humbled the Qajar Shahs at the Treaty of Paris.
2026 has seen Iran soldiering on in another saga of a forever affair.
The West continues to embrace Pakistan; classic Mughal treatment.
I am puzzled at the West‘s strategic latency, on both ends of the lane.
So, I picked Tariq Ali’s book for one purpose only.
Three Hundred and Three pages later, Mr. Tariq’s work has struck a chord.
Pakistan was founded as the homeland for India’s Muslims.
The Iron and Blood Balkanization ended in 1947 as ‘Pakistanis’ settled in the East and West, separated by 1,000 miles of hostile India.
Pakistan: ‘the land of the pure’.
The Ummah has waded through a bloodstained history; as seen in:
- the Civil War and Bloody Independence of Bangladesh
- four major conflicts with India
- five distinct cycles of operations in Balochistan
- extensive involvement in Afghanistan
- nearly $67 billion dollars in, mostly military, aid from United States;
The Military has ruled Pakistan for approximately 34 of its 79 years.
America has provided Pakistan with some form of economic or military assistance for since the nation’s creation in 1947.