Political map of Pakistan
Pakistan and India: Separated at Birth
Being born of the Raj, such as India, Pakistan's creation was born as a product of the "Two-Nation Theory." During the struggle against the British Empire, the All Indian Muslim League began to call for a nation to be created that separated them from the Indian Hindus of the south. At creation, Pakistan took a differing road than India. Choosing to remain a dominion state until 1956, Pakistan called upon the resources of the British empire to help them develop their nation and military. After independence, they remained a nation within the Commonwealth until 1971 when East Pakistan chose to secede from the country and form the nation of Bangladesh. In response to other Commonwealth nations recognizing the new nation as independent, Pakistan left the organization until its reentry in 1989. Though they are both member nations, India and Pakistan have warred and continue to debate over who's claims to the Kashmir region are valid.
Muhammad Ali Jinnah Against the World
Muhammad Ali Jinnah - Pakistani Leader and Nationalist
Muhammad Ali Jinnah remains a controversial figure in the Raj's struggle against the British Empire. Both Gandhi and Nehru viewed him as a vain, proud, and obstructive man. While they were arguing for a united secular India, he and the All-Indian Muslim League fought for a country for Raj Muslims. However, Pakistani contemporaries remember Jinnah differently. To them he had attempted to rectify the differences and tensions between Indian Hindus and Muslims. They recall a time when the Hindus, outnumbering the Muslims, pushed for legislature and independence that favored Hindus. Regardless of which version of Jinnah is told, they both agree that Jinnah came to believe that the only way for Muslims in the Raj to be independent was through the creation of a second state. Jinnah fought Indians and British alike to secure a place where his people would be safe, and in 1947, one year before his death, it was created.
Untouchable in India, Father of Pakistan
To say Pakistan was founded on the principle of being anti-Hindu would be wrong. Jogendra Nath Mandel, Jinnah's partner in the Pakistani movement, was a Hindu born in the Bangladesh region of the Raj, but like Jinnah he had issues with the Hindu majority. He was a Dalit - a member born of the lowest caste in Hindu culture. Knowing that he and others like him would not be treated equal in a Hindu dominated state, he joined Jinnah in his fight to create Pakistan. Indeed, he was such a fervent believer in the state's creation, that in 1946 he was elected to serve as a representative for the Muslim League at conferences discussing partition. He remained a dedicated Pakistani nationalist even after the post-Jinnah leadership began practicing crimes against the hindu minority. He continued to lobby fairer treatment to the Dalit in both nations, and remains a quietly-beloved father of Pakistan.
Jogendra Nath Mandel - Pakistani Leader and Bureaucrat
Pakistan and the Commonwealth
Today, Pakistan still struggles to grant equal citizenship to its people. Special dispensation is given to females who marry male Pakistani nationals, but men who marry Pakistani women must go through a more difficult path to citizenship. Likewise, the non-Muslim minorities, specifically Hindus, struggle to attain the same rights as Muslim nationals receive. Furthermore, Pakistani citizenship laws only allow dual citizen recognition within twenty nations worldwide. The Commonwealth has worked with the government to increase access to governmental elections, with special focus on increasing the role women play in the government, and has provided consultation in 2019 to increase access through online voting. In the cases of minorities and women, the Commonwealth secretariat has worked with local and federal governments to increase the status of marginalized peoples and work towards the organization's goal in providing safety and democracy to all within the nations in the organization.