What did most of the people in East and West Pakistan have in common when they broke from India?

Responses

ethnicity
ethnicity

religion
religion

language
language

political beliefs

political beliefs

When East and West Pakistan broke from India, most of the people had the following things in common:

1. Ethnicity: The majority of people in both East and West Pakistan were ethnically South Asian, with diverse regional and cultural backgrounds.

2. Religion: The majority of the population in both East and West Pakistan were Muslims. Islam was a unifying factor, particularly during the movement for the creation of Pakistan as a separate Muslim-majority nation.

3. Language: The people of both East and West Pakistan primarily spoke various dialects of the Urdu language. Although there were also several regional languages spoken in different parts of the country, Urdu was the official language and served as a common means of communication.

It is important to note that while the above factors contributed to a sense of common identity among the people of East and West Pakistan, there were also significant differences between the two regions, which eventually led to their eventual separation and the formation of Bangladesh.

When East and West Pakistan broke away from India in 1947 and became independent states, there were several commonalities among the people in those regions:

1. Ethnicity: The majority of people in both East and West Pakistan shared a common ethnicity, which is that they were predominantly Bengalis. However, it is important to note that West Pakistan had a more diverse ethnic composition.

2. Religion: The people of both East and West Pakistan were predominantly Muslims. The idea of creating a separate Muslim-majority state was one of the driving forces behind the partition of India.

3. Language: The people in both East and West Pakistan shared the Bengali language, although Urdu was also recognized as a national language.

4. Political Beliefs: Initially, there was a common belief in the idea of a united Pakistan. However, over time, political differences emerged between East Pakistan and West Pakistan, leading to a sense of marginalization and disparity, eventually resulting in the formation of Bangladesh (formerly East Pakistan) as an independent country in 1971.

To answer the original question, the commonalities that people in East and West Pakistan had when they broke from India include ethnicity (predominantly Bengali), religion (predominantly Muslim), language (Bengali), and initially, political beliefs (belief in a united Pakistan).