
As Pakistan celebrates the 70th anniversary of its independence, the specter of the 1947 partition that split India and Pakistan still looms.
Pakistan has been in a tug of war between elected and unelected institutions since its inception. Contentious relations between Muslims and Hindus formed the cracked foundation on which the country was established, and a powerful military that regularly wrested control from political leaders has kept it unstable. Now, as Pakistan celebrates the 70th anniversary of its independence, the specter of the 1947 partition that split India and Pakistan still looms, embodied in the clashing priorities of contemporary figures shaped by decades old circumstances. New Rivalries With Old History On July 28, the Supreme Court of Pakistan ruled that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif failed to report his income while chairman of a Dubai-based firm set up by his son in 2006. He was subsequently removed from office.