Lindsey 1

Kyle Lindsey
Places In The Media
Professor Conover
7 December 2011
The True Face of Pakistan
With todays current media, there are many ways that different places in the world
are represented. The nation of Pakistan in particular is one where it is difficult to see
what information about this place is distorted by the media. However the legitimacy of
the medias views of Pakistan as a place of religious driven violence, a place unharmed
by Middle Eastern war, or as a lawless war torn state are hardly questioned. By
comparing these media representations of Pakistan with the factual truths of this nation,
an accurate representation can be determined.
When the average American thinks of the people of Pakistan one of the first
characteristics that comes to mind is their Muslim religion. Unfortunately Islam also
brings a connotation of violence and conflict. This discourse on Islam is centered around
the idea that Muslims are violent and warring towards America (Deane 2006). This is
heavily based on the fact that it was a Muslim group of terrorists who were responsible
for the 9/11 Attacks. The problem with this discourse is that the conflict present from
Islam is not exclusive to the Western world. According to the religious textbook, Sacred
Texts Of The World A Universal Anthology, Islam teaches that Muslims are to only live
under Islamic rule (Smart 1982, 125-177). This law was originally made to ensure a
unified Islamic society, but has evolved into a form of apprehension towards non-Islamic
cultures. In Pakistan this aspect of religious quarrel was seen in a particularly great event

Lindsey 2
just after the countrys independence in 1947. The formation of Pakistan from the
partition of India caused a massive movement of people from Hindu India to Muslim
Pakistan (CIA World Factbook 2011). Even today the two nations live in an unstable
coexistence. Another source of the ill-informed view of Muslims as violent is due to the
fact that there is turmoil within the religion, between different sects. This civil war
exists between the Sunni and Shia, and is basically a centuries old argument over who
was the rightful successor of Mohammed (Smart 1982, 125-177). This could be
compared to Christianitys dispute between Catholics and Protestants, though in Islam it
is far more violent with sporadic fighting and killing amongst the two groups. It is this
unfortunate truth that characterizes the religion of Pakistan. Although there is tension
that radiates from Islam it is not deserving of the hegemonic view that the West has
labeled them with. In order to understand what the people of Pakistan are like, one must
realize that they are not characterized as a whole by the violence of a few.
In fact Pakistan is often seen as a safe haven amongst the war that has plagued the
nations and regions surrounding the country. This discourse is seen in the very popular
novel The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini. Hosseini tells the story of an Afghan boy
living in Kabul during the 1970s, the beginning of almost 40 years of war that has torn
the country apart. The main character is forced to flee his home during this invasion,
escaping to Pakistan. Pakistan is shown as a safe place free from the terrible conflict
around it, a notion that couldnt be farther from the truth. Unfortunately Pakistan is the
destination for many refugees who have fled the war in neighboring countries, with
millions immigrating since the initial Soviet invasion. This has created a very unstable
society, which is overwhelmed by crowding and poverty. Most of the Pakistani people

Lindsey 3
do not have immediate access to potable water and therefore are at high risk of
contracting infectious diseases due to this influx (CIA World Factbook 2011). Not only
is Pakistan a place of safety for the victims of war, but also a sanctuary for those groups
responsible for the conflict. Many of the leaders of Al Qaeda and the Taliban use
Pakistan as a place separate from the war from which to conduct operations. The perhaps
most famous example of this has been Osama bin Laden, Public Enemy Number One,
who used it as a place to evade Coalition forces. These faction leaders are responsible for
fighting overflowing into Pakistan. The media representation of Pakistan as untouched
by the Anti-Terrorism campaigns in the Middle East is horribly incorrect upon taking
these harms into account.
This truth is more conducive to a final media representation of Pakistan, as a
lawless and war torn country. This is shown in one action film in particular, Rambo III,
which gives Pakistan the image of being a war hardened nation of mercenaries and arms
dealers. This discourse is actually somewhat true, but not in the way that Sylvester
Stallone shows it. Historically the region of Pakistan has been subject to numerous
conflicts and invasions, with interest from armies of the Persians, Greeks, Scythians,
Arabs, Afghans, Turks and British. This is primarily due to Pakistans location, which
gives it control of two of the most widely used historical invasion routes between Central
Asia and the Indian Subcontinent, the Khyber and Bolan Passes (CIA World Factbook
2011). The region is also, as stated previously, a place of religious turmoil. This is
because it is essentially where the Islamic World clashed with the religions of the Far
East. The constant movement of armies and people through the area has caused these
beliefs and practices to be left behind. Looking at the past, war is definitely not new to

Lindsey 4
the region, but it has not crippled the region into becoming an anarchistic and conflictcentered society.
The media is a powerful force in the world today, with the ability to define
entities as it pleases. This capability to create hegemony, however, has created a flawed
outlook on much of the world, especially on the countries outside the Western bubble. In
order to see the true face of a nation like Pakistan, it takes an unbiased analysis of the
media representations. By doing so it is easy to see how the culture and history of a
nation has created these hegemonic beliefs and the authenticity of them as well. With the
world growing smaller the once far away and exotic locales of the world are becoming
closer to home and it is imperative that people not live in ignorance, refusing to allow the
media to entirely define their global views.

Lindsey 5
Reference
CIA World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency. 27 September 2011.
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/pk.html (accessed 5
October 2011).

Deane, Claudia & Darryl Fears. Negative Perception Of Islam Increasing. The
Washington Post. 9 March 2006. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wpdyn/content/article/2006/03/08/AR2006030802221.html (accessed 4 December 2011).

Hosseini, Khaled. The Kite Runner. New York, NY: Riverhead Books, 2003.

Rambo III. Directed by Peter MacDonald. Produced by Buzz Feitshans

Mario Kassar Andrew G. Vajna. 101 min. TriStar Pictures, 1988. Film.

Smart, Ninian. From Sacred Texts Of The World A Universal Anthology. Edited by
Richard D. Hecht, 125-177. New York, NY: The Crossroad Publishing Company, 1982.