You would get to understand a lot about the Pakistan issue. Then you need to add knowledge of the history surrounding Bangladesh. I have a personal touch with the time that Bangladesh came into being. I speak to Indians in this day who nod when I speak of that time.
In 1947, the region of Bengal under the British Empire was divided into East and West Bengal which separated the Muslim majority eastern areas from the Hindu majority western areas. East Bengal AKA East Pakistan. Riots ensued. West Bengal is part of India. East Bengal became Bangladesh after the Bangladesh Liberation War which lasted 9 months and It witnessed large-scale atrocities, the exodus of 10 million refugees and the displacement of 30 million people.
Part of that was The Indo-Pakistani War when Pakistan launched pre-emptive air strikes on 11 Indian airbases on December 3, 1971, which leads to a personal touch with me.
The boat I was on (Big E) was headed for home from 30 days on line early that month, running on minimum provisions, mail, and all the other stuff. It abruptly turned tail and headed into the Indian Ocean for nearly 30 more days. After some time, the admiral's plane brought mail, and the White Plains brought food. On the way out, I had a visit in Singapore with an old freighter captain who spoke of going into port in the Indo-Pakistan area and the stench of bodies along the roads.
War is generally about territory.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indo-Pakistani_War_of_1971
Oh, back to 1947, when the Brits divided things up. I was 7 years old, I remember my to-be aunt Mildred's nephew (got it?) xxx Sterner in white army officer uniform in the little "Shiloh" church near my parent's farm, giving a slide show about what was going on there. Yes the US must have had their nose in the mud there too. I remember no detail of his presentation.
I was in touch with one of the Sterners of Nebraska a few years ago; he remembered that presentation.
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