On 14 August 1947, the State of Pakistan was born, thanks to the perseverance of Muhammad Alí Jinnah. Jinnah, and the Muslim League that he represented, were convinced that it was vitally important to create a new state for the purpose of protecting Indian Muslims, minorities and ‘outcasts’ who faced segregation before the supremacy of Hinduism. The birth of this new country was marked by religion, as well as by a series of conflicts, including structural ones (the actual orography of the country and its territorial division), problems with its neighbours (Afghanistan and India) and internal conflicts (ethnic inequality in terms of the control of wealth and power, military predominance and institutional instability). Pakistani society, with its broad rural base and numerous elements that it shared with neighbouring India, has made successive efforts to shed the negative image that the country has abroad. The economic growth the country achieved in the early 21st century and its support for the US (especially following the 11-S attacks) and its opposition to Taliban terrorism represent important factors in this attempt to change the country's image. However, the economic and institutional crisis from which Pakistan is currently suffering has pushed 22% of the population into a state of poverty, with women suffering the most hardship. This monographic work offers a new look at Pakistan and its society, in a view that attempts to avoid prejudice, while acknowledging the secular and modern difficulties that the country is facing.

ISSN: 1132-6107

60 pp.

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