Close X
Thursday, November 14, 2024
ADVT 
International

'What Victory? Pakistan Lost Terribly In The 1965 War With India'

IANS, 05 Sep, 2015 12:38 PM
    Pakistan "lost terribly in the 1965 war" with India, a Pakistani historian has admitted.
     
    Historian and political economist Akbar S. Zaidi dispelled "the victory myth', saying that there can be no a bigger lie as Pakistan had lost terribly, Dawn reported on Saturday.
     
    Zaidi said that people are unaware of this fact because the history taught in Pakistan is from an ideological viewpoint.
     
    Delivering a lecture titled 'Questioning Pakistan's history', he said: "Students are not taught the history of the people of Pakistan rather it is focused on the making of Pakistan." 
     
    Zaidi, who teaches history at the Institute of Business Administration, Karachi, was speaking at the event organised by the Faculty of Social Sciences, Karachi University.
     
    "With the celebration of the victory in the 1965 war round the corner, there can be no bigger lie that Pakistan won the war. We lost terribly in the 1965 war," he said.
     
    He asked people to read political and strategic analyst Shuja Nawaz's book "Crossed Swords" that exposed the reality of the war.
     
     
    The remark comes with with Pakistan just two days away from observing Defence Day and marking the 50th anniversary of the 1965 war.
     
    During his lecgture, Zaidi asked: what is PakistanÂ’s history and is there a need to question PakistanÂ’s history. And when was Pakistan formed? Aug 14, 1947 or Aug 15, 1947? For him the fact we are still talking about historical events 68 years later that are apparently settled is interesting. 
     
    On when was Pakistan created, he said one obvious answer is it did so on Aug 14, 1947 but he read out an excerpt from a Pakistan Studies textbook in which it was claimed it came into being in 712AD when the Arabs came to Sindh and Multan. “This is utter rubbish!” he said, rejecting the textbook account. 
     
    Later while responding to queries, Zaidi explained that Parsis and Hindus contributed hugely in the educational development of Karachi and in a similar manner the Sikhs in Punjab. 
     
    “History in Pakistan is taught from an ideological viewpoint. Pakistan needs to be seen as a geographical entity.”
     
    On separate identities, he replied there was no need to do so. “I can be a Sindhi, Hindu and Pakistani simultaneously.” 

    MORE International ARTICLES

    Toronto Boy, 14, Killed While At A Wake In Jamaica: Police

    Toronto Boy, 14, Killed While At A Wake In Jamaica: Police
    The Jamaica Constabulary Force said Ricardo Williams was shot several times around 2 a.m. Sunday morning near Kingston.

    Toronto Boy, 14, Killed While At A Wake In Jamaica: Police

    Sikhs Vote To Elect New Gurdwara Leaders In San Jose, California

    Sikhs Vote To Elect New Gurdwara Leaders In  San Jose, California
    A total of 6,802 registered voters queued outside the San Jose gurdwara in California on Sunday

    Sikhs Vote To Elect New Gurdwara Leaders In San Jose, California

    Bobby Jindal Warns Of Immigrant 'Invasion'

    Republican presidential candidate Bobby Jindal, son of immigrant parents from India, says that immigrants who do not adopt American values represent an "invasion".

    Bobby Jindal Warns Of Immigrant 'Invasion'

    Rainy Deluge Hits B.C.'s Parched South Coast, But Barely A Drop For The Interior

    Rainy Deluge Hits B.C.'s Parched South Coast, But Barely A Drop For The Interior
    A powerful storm is forecast to dump as much as 120 millimetres of rain over Metro Vancouver, the Fraser Valley, Howe Sound, Whistler, the Sunshine Coast and most of Vancouver Island.

    Rainy Deluge Hits B.C.'s Parched South Coast, But Barely A Drop For The Interior

    Indian-American Baby Sitter Kinjal Patel To Serve 14 Years For Toddler's Death In Her Care

    Indian-American Baby Sitter Kinjal Patel To Serve 14 Years For Toddler's Death In Her Care
    Patel was found guilty by court for the death of Athiyan Sivakumar, who was 19-months-old when he died at Yale-New Haven Hospital on January 19, 2014

    Indian-American Baby Sitter Kinjal Patel To Serve 14 Years For Toddler's Death In Her Care

    Indian Labourer Jailed For Molesting Woman In Dubai

    Indian Labourer Jailed For Molesting Woman In Dubai
    The 27-year-old man was accused of groping a 35-year-old woman from Philippines in an inebriated state.

    Indian Labourer Jailed For Molesting Woman In Dubai