Wednesday, Nov. 6, 1963 University Daily Kansan
Page 3
Territory,
Pakistan is a land of many problems.
To begin with, the country is split into two geographic sections, separated by some 1,000 miles of India.
Economy Problems Face Pakistan
The basis of many of the other problems of the country is a high birth rate. Although the area of both wings of the country is slightly more than that of Texas and Oklahoma, the population of Pakistan is more than half that of the entire United States.
The country also has a hard time breaking even economically, let alone coming out ahead. The economy of the country is overwhelmingly agricultural. About 80 per cent of the labor force is engaged in agriculture. And agriculture accounts for about 60 per cent of the national income.
Another problem in Pakistani agriculture is adequate water control. The problem is not the lack of water, but the flooding of the Indus basin of West Pakistan and the Brahmuaputra system of East Pakistan. These floods annually cover thousands of acres of land.
THE AGRICULTURE is primitive, however, and most of the food produced by Pakistan is consumed by those who produce it.
The Indus basin, which has the world's largest irrigated area, also has the world's most serious waterlogging and salinity problems. These result in the loss of between 30,000 and 100,-000 acres of productive land a year.
The increased salinity — salt content of the soil — after flooding also means decreased productivity per acre, causing annual variations of as much as 3 million tons per year.
FLOOD CONTROL is not the answer of all of Pakistan's agricultural problems, however. Farming techniques must be improved, fragmentation of plots must be abolished, farmer credit must be extended, better marketing and communications facilities must be encouraged by the government, and land reform and improved government-farmer relations must be established.
Despite President Ayub Khan's land reform program, which sold 3,500,000 acres to landless farmers, about half of the peasants still are tenants or sharecroppers.
In an effort to curb some of these agricultural problems, the government launched its second Five Year Plan in June 1960. Although not as revolutionary
Kashmir Dispute Ends Unity Against Chinese
The border dispute between Pakistan and India concerns an area the size of Minnesota, lakes and all. It stretches from the wind-whipped peaks of the Himalayas in the north to the idyllic Vale of Kashmir.
After 16 years of bitter wrangling, the unsolved Kashmir question still looms as one of the foremost headaches of South Asia.
At the time of the partition of the Asian sub-continent in 1947, the 562 princely states of India were given the choice of joining either Pakistan or India.
EVERY ONE OF these, with the exception of Kashmir, was incorporated into the Indian or Pakistan state.
The fact that nearly 80 per cent of Kashmir's 4,200,000 people were Muslim seemed to point to Pakistani control. But the maharaja of Kashmir, unable to cope with attacks by Pakistani tribesmen, acceded to India.
India then regarded Kashmir as legally within the Indian Union. Pakistan, needless to say, was enraged, and full-scale war broke out.
A "CEASE FIRE" agreement went into effect in 1949 under the direction of the United Nations. Fire ceased, but the dispute continued.
India had been given the richest two-thirds of Kashmir, and Pakistan held the rest. Both nations felt that all of Kashmir was rightfully theirs.
Pakistan wants a plebiscite for all of Kashmir, which is predominantly Muslim. The Indians refuse to agree to a plebiscite, since they think they might lose.
Tax holidays, varying from four to eight years, depending on the type of investments, bring new foreign investments to Pakistan each year. The resultant blending of socialism and capitalism has gained praise from many Western economists as being pragmatically sound and compatible with Pakistani cultural patterns.
India apparently hopes that if it retains military control long enough, the Indian right to Kashmir's wealth will be universally accepted.
TEMPERS ROSE as Indo-Pakistani takes were tried and failed. Western hopes for a united Hindu-Moslem front against China slowly evaporated.
The remarkable rise of Pakistan's internal industrial development from 50 factories in 1947 to 4,000 factories employed over 500,000 workers relates directly to the business talent of its entrepreneurs, but the problem is far from solved.
became the target for numerous Red Chinese thrusts.
as the first plan instituted in 1958, the plan was praised by most Western economists for its feasibility from the economic point of view and the hard-nosed annual re-examination of goals. The first plan fell short because the population increase far outstripped original estimates. Although the income per capita and agricultural productivity closely approximated the original goals, few real gains resulted in the fight against poverty.
In 1962 the inevitable happened. As if Kashmir were not in the middle of enough trouble, she also
developments with exports in mind seem out of the question at the present time, because Pakistan lacks in quantity and quality the minerals necessary for major industrial production. The only sizable iron ore deposits are inaccessible, and coal resources are limited and of inferior quality.
When the Chinese poured through the Himalayan passes into Ladakh, Kashmir gained a third suitor who vies for her future. Three hands in the pot made the situation even worse.
UNDER THE Chinese threat, India gladly welcomed military supplies from the West. Pakistan became more and more apprehensive, fearing the western military equipment might be used against Pakistan as well as China.
Patti Behen
Mining and manufacturing have quadrupled since 1950, but agricultural products still account for 55 per cent of the national income and 66 per cent of earned foreign exchange. The prosperity of the country depends on the size of the crops and the world price of jute and cotton, two of the most widely grown products. East Pakistan is the largest producer of jute in the world.
LARGE-S CA L E industrial
Afghan Border Fight Hurts Asian Progress
The border area between Afghanistan and Pakistan has long been disputed. That area, which is controlled by Pakistan, is called Pakhtunistan or Pushtoonistan. Here live the Pakhtun tribesmen, who are ethnically linked to the Afghans.
Throughout 1961, the two nations had exchanged verbal charges. Afghanistan said Pakistan was brutally suppressing tribal leaders, and was bombing them with U.S.-made aircraft.
PAKISTAN countered by charging that Afghan armed forces, who were using Soviet equipment, were constantly violating the border.
On Sept. 3, Afghanistan sealed its side of the border, and by Sept. 6 had broken relations with Pakistan. That break was caused by Pakistan's refusal to rescind an order to close the Afghan consulates and trade agencies in Pakistan. Pakistan charged that the Afghan centers were a cover for espionage.
Afghanistan? In 1961 and today both countries are economically undeveloped—and they are at the back door of Russian Communism. The U.S. has poured economic aid into both countries.
Why worry about Pakistan and
Afghanistan is further hindered by having numerous mountains which block most trade routes other than those by air. Western trade which usually came through Pakistan's port of Karachi was severed when Afghanistan blocked her side of the border.
U. S. OFFICIALS feared that that move would spur Afghan ties with the Soviet Union. Also, they felt that the $200 million U.S. economic aid program would be jeopardized by Afghanistan's channeling of trade through the Soviet Union.
In spite of internal efforts, what economic progress the country has made has been due mainly to foreign aid. As of June, 1962, Pakistan had received almost 2.5 billion dollars in non-military aid, with $1,908,-920,000 of that coming from the United States.
Why Do You Read So Slowly?
A noted publisher in Chicago reports there is a simple technique of rapid reading which should enable you to double your reading speed and yet retain much more. Most people do not realize how much they could increase their pleasure, success and income by reading faster and more accurately.
Mike Miller
According to this publisher, anyone, regardless of his present reading skill, can use this simple technique to improve his reading ability to a remarkable degree. Whether reading stories, books, technical matter, it becomes possible to read sentences at a glance and entire pages in seconds with this method.
To acquaint the readers of this newspaper with the easy-to-follow rules for developing rapid reading skill, the company has printed full details of its interesting self-training method in a new book, "Adventures in Reading Improvement" mailed free to anyone who requests it. No obligation. Simply send your request to: Reading, 835 Diverse Parkway, Dept. 3248, Chicago 14, Illinois. A postcard will do.
The Problem of Evil!
Does it exist?
Why doesn't God do something about it?
Is it all in the mind?
Timely Topics Series: 7:00 p.m., Wed., Nov. 6 St. Lawrence Catholic Student Center 1910 Stratford Road
Rev. Brendon Downey, O.S.B.