Phase 3- Individual Project
Student- Angela C
To: Mayor
From: Angela Clark
Subject: Cultural Differences between India and Pakistan
Many people, especially in the United States see people from another country and somehow connect them, or think that they are all the same. The fact is that there are many different cultures and at times they may resemble one another, yet are different. For my research today I will discuss the people of India and Pakistan. People of India and Pakistan seem as though they are very similar. Think about it, we all think that they have the same religion, being Muslim and Hindu. They have the same diet, mostly vegetarian. The both of them are from an area that is remotely close, so what is the big deal of saying that they are the same? Well, actually there is a big deal. For one Poland and Italy are close on the map, and an Italian person would not want be mistaken for being Polish, and Polish people would not want to be called Italians. But that is not the only reasons, many would argue that the Partition (the splitting of India by the British at the time of Independence), is the cause for the mutual differences, I too would agree that this is a good place to start, as far as what happened to cause this turmoil. The question has also been asked prior to my research, why India has a great democracy, while Pakistan is a “basket case”. I found many similarities within the two, such as they started at the exact same time, August 14, 1947. The two of them inherited British civil service architecture, a local government system, and a British railroad system for communication and transportation. Also they both had a strong political class, due to the struggle for independence from Great Britain. Both countries were a combination of semi-autonomous regions with a number of spoken languages.
References: Lakhmir, Chawla, (2010) India and Pakistan: what’s the difference? Holland, Steve (2010). "White House hails capture of Taliban leader"