By Agnostic Muslim
Myth 1.
Pakistan lost all 3 wars with India.
Pakistan and India have fought 3 wars - 1948, 1965 and 1971.
Barring 1971 (which occurred while a civil war, assisted by India, was raging in East Pakistan), no war has resulted in a decisive 'victory' for either side.
Myth 2.
Pakistan fights through proxies
Well, this is true. Pakistan has supported Kashmiri Freedom fighters in Indian Occupied Kashmir, and did support the Mujahideen (with US and Saudi support) and later the Taliban.
However, this allegation by Indians completely overlooks India's own long association with proxy groups.
Myth 3.
India has never committed aggression against Pakistan, or any other country.
This is clearly not the case as seen below
Myth 4.
Pakistan spends 70% (or more, depending upon the Indian) of its budget on Defense.
Pakistan's defence budget for 2009 was about 4.4 billion USD. With a GDP of about 160 billion USD and a budget of 33 billion USD, that works out to be about 2.75% of GDP and 13.3% of the total budget.
PAKISTAN'S TOTAL OUTLAY IN 2007-08 BUDGET TO BE ABOUT US$33 BLN. | Goliath Business News
This compares with an Indian defence budget of about 26 billion that is 14.4% of the total budget and about 2.3% - so what's the big deal with Pakistan's defence budget?
Myth 5.
Pakistani politics is dominated by Kashmir
This argument goes along the lines of 'the Army/leadership makes sure that the only thing Pakistanis are aware of is Kashmir, and in this way distracts them from socio-economic issues and avoids investing in development'.
No doubt most Pakistanis are aware of Kashmir, but the fact that we have cutthroat national politics, with political parties that have significant ideological differences, it is absurd to suggest that the only issue mentioned during stump speeches is 'Kashmir'.
Most of the PR and advertisements run by Pakistani political parties in fact focus on providing development and bringing about prosperity, not Kashmir. Most politicians talk about providing, jobs, investment etc. and most Pakistanis vote on that basis - even when voting on biraadri lines since they believe 'their guy' will provide them with economic opportunity/favors.
The political process in Pakistan remains largely driven by issues that are important to most people elsewhere in the world - jobs, inflation, development etc.
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Feel free to offer suggestions on changes, additions, improvements and I'll incorporate them if I think they are appropriate.
Pakistan lost all 3 wars with India.
Pakistan and India have fought 3 wars - 1948, 1965 and 1971.
Barring 1971 (which occurred while a civil war, assisted by India, was raging in East Pakistan), no war has resulted in a decisive 'victory' for either side.
Myth 2.
Pakistan fights through proxies
Well, this is true. Pakistan has supported Kashmiri Freedom fighters in Indian Occupied Kashmir, and did support the Mujahideen (with US and Saudi support) and later the Taliban.
However, this allegation by Indians completely overlooks India's own long association with proxy groups.
- Supported proxies that destabilized East Pakistan for many years leading into 1971
- Supported the LTTE (Tamil Tigers) - a terrorist organization in Sri Lanka
- Supported the Northern Alliance - a group of warlords and criminals in Afghanistan
- Supported Baluch insurgents in Pakistan
Myth 3.
India has never committed aggression against Pakistan, or any other country.
This is clearly not the case as seen below
- Support for insurgents in East Pakistan leding into 1971 and the ensuing war
- Support for the LTTE (a terrorist organization in Sri Lanka) against the Sri Lankan State
- The invasion of Siachen in 1984 in clear violation of the Simla Accord
- Support for the Baluch insurgency
Myth 4.
Pakistan spends 70% (or more, depending upon the Indian) of its budget on Defense.
Pakistan's defence budget for 2009 was about 4.4 billion USD. With a GDP of about 160 billion USD and a budget of 33 billion USD, that works out to be about 2.75% of GDP and 13.3% of the total budget.
PAKISTAN'S TOTAL OUTLAY IN 2007-08 BUDGET TO BE ABOUT US$33 BLN. | Goliath Business News
This compares with an Indian defence budget of about 26 billion that is 14.4% of the total budget and about 2.3% - so what's the big deal with Pakistan's defence budget?
Myth 5.
Pakistani politics is dominated by Kashmir
This argument goes along the lines of 'the Army/leadership makes sure that the only thing Pakistanis are aware of is Kashmir, and in this way distracts them from socio-economic issues and avoids investing in development'.
No doubt most Pakistanis are aware of Kashmir, but the fact that we have cutthroat national politics, with political parties that have significant ideological differences, it is absurd to suggest that the only issue mentioned during stump speeches is 'Kashmir'.
Most of the PR and advertisements run by Pakistani political parties in fact focus on providing development and bringing about prosperity, not Kashmir. Most politicians talk about providing, jobs, investment etc. and most Pakistanis vote on that basis - even when voting on biraadri lines since they believe 'their guy' will provide them with economic opportunity/favors.
The political process in Pakistan remains largely driven by issues that are important to most people elsewhere in the world - jobs, inflation, development etc.
----------------------
Feel free to offer suggestions on changes, additions, improvements and I'll incorporate them if I think they are appropriate.
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