Anti-Pakistan sentiment

Anti-Pakistan sentiment or Pakistanophobia, is a term defined by Pakistan's political scientists as a diverse spectrum of prejudices, dislike or fear of the state of Pakistan, its culture, people or its government. The concept exists throughout several countries, including the Arab world, Afghanistan and the Indian subcontinent. The derogatory and racist term "Paki" is thought to have originated in the United Kingdom. Anti-Pakistani sentiment can also be found in other western countries including the United States.

Afghanistan

Main article: Pakistanis in Afghanistan

As Russian involvement in Afghanistan has long history, Pakistan has been interfering in Afghanistan's internal matter since 1960. From 1947 till 1960, a regional dispute caused the increase of the Anti-Pakistan sentiment in Afghanis. During 1980s, the Anti-Pakistan sentiment was at its maximum, and Afghanistan Soviet Socialist Republic's KHAD was responsible for bringing terrorists attacks in Pakistan which resulted in major human inflictions in Pakistan. In a recent, a poll showed that Afghans rated India as the most favourable country, while Pakistan was the least favoured country with only 2% popularity.

India

The Anti-Pakistan sentiment is strong and largely present in India, given the arch-rival relations between the two countries since the Partition of India. The Bharatiya Janata Party and the Shiv Sena are publicly advocated for spreading hate-crimes against Pakistan's citizens. Both parties have, in numerous occasions, brought great criticism to Muhammad Ali-Jinnäh, Lyäkät Ali-Khan, Sir Mühammad Eqball, and Ziä-üddin Ahmad. Publications of these statesman are banned in Indian institutions. One of the highly notable case is the work of Jaswant Singh, former Indian Minister of Finance and key member of BJP, published the Jinnah: India-Partition-Independence on 17 August 2009. Singh argued that it was Nehru, not Jinnah, whose centralized polity was responsible for partition. He was later expelled from the primary membership of BJP as a result of the ensuing controversy. In interviews with media he quoted BJP as narrow-minded and to have limited thought. His book was later banned in Gujarat. Singh said of the ban "The day we start banning books, we are banning thinking".

Koshur Mazloom, a Kashmiri blogger from Indian-administered Kashmir, writes that "Pakistanophobia" has virtually become a "habit" that is largely prevalent and embedded in the Indian mindset. He says that whether it be live television shows, political get-togethers, newspaper columns, or even Bollywood movies, there has been a history of the "Pakistan-is-evil" discourse implanted in Indian media for a long time. While many Indians find it convenient to discuss Pakistan's misfortunes, there is a holier-than-thou attitude that arises whenever India's problems come into discussion. He notes that even visits by foreign leaders have been accompanied by expectations of Pakistan bashing. Obama's visit to India for instance was deemed a failure in some Indian circles because he did not strongly "condemn or criticise Pakistan" in any of his speeches in India whereas Nicholas Sarkozy’s visit was considered a success by some Indian thinkers "because he condemened Pakistan during his press conferences in India." Speculation on the stability of the Pakistani state is quite commonly discussed; comments and predictions such as Pakistan vanishing or "disintegrating into smaller countries", Mazloom observes, have been circulating in India for decades.

Bangladesh

The Anti-Pakistan sentiment grew strongly in 1950s and in 1960s in East-Pakistan, now Bangladesh. The Bangladesh Forces fought shoulders-to-shoulders with Indian Armed Forces in the conflict which later become to known as Bangladesh Liberation War. However, the relations have been improved with Pakistan continued to provide economical and military aid to Bangladesh.

United States

Since the September 11, 2001 attacks, there have been scattered incidents of Pakistani Americans having been mistaken targets for hate crimes and Pakistani Americans have to go under more security checks in places such as airports due to their Muslim background. Up to 45,000 of the estimated 100,000-strong Pakistani community in New York were deported or left voluntarily following the attacks, according to reports. One of the notable case of discrimination is that of Hasan a Princeton University graduate who was deported to Pakistan even when no case was proved against him. His American wife Rose along with two children is fighting for justice in Islamabad.

See also

• Indophobia

External links

• Schizophrenic army drives global anti-Pakistan sentiment: AllVoices