Classic problem for a classically fake state

ARTICLE: Some fear Pakistan could splinter apart, By Paul Wiseman, USA TODAY, January 9, 2008

Comments

[Michael]

This series of articles in Slate makes some of the same observations:http://www.slate.com/id/2181778/entry/2181780/The author also interviews people in the Pashtun and Baloch regions.

It occurs to me there's one perspective we haven't seen focused on yet: the Punjabi on the streets. Do they take pride in their domination of the other groups? Do they see it as a pain in the ass to be rid of? Do they care either way? That's one question that's going to help determine how painful Pakistan's breakup will be.

[Jack]

Recently there were interesting discussions on Language Log about Language in Pakistan and Camp Language (a brief history of Urdu).

The upshot is that Urdu, the official language of Pakistan is only spoken by 7% of the population. So not only does ethnicity (and religion - many Sindhi are Shiite in a Sunni-dominated country) separate them, but language is incapable of uniting them.