Pakistan (1954)

[Music] independence day has been a national holiday in Pakistan since 1947 when Pakistan became an independent nation of more than 70 million Pakistan is a Country Split in Two West Pakistan and East Pakistan separated by a thousand miles of another Nation the Republic of India the people of West Pakistan and the people of East Pakistan speak different different languages live in different climates eat different foods but they pray to God in the same way most of them are Muslims it is the Muslim faith which holds the nation together the people of Pakistan have built a new nation in an Old Land most of them do their work in simple ways using simple tools or no tools at all whether Craftsmen Housewives or Farmers many people must make a living with their bare hands let us first visit the people of East Pakistan they live in a wet and rainy land a land of rivers and canals in the Delta of two of the world's Great Rivers the Ganges and the brahmaputra the rivers and canals are alive with traffic they are important highways in East [Music] Pakistan along the canals boats serve as homes to many families by boat they go to places of worship by boat they carry Goods to Market in the water they raise their crops rice is their principal food when rivers overflow in summer young choots of rice are planted by hand and at Harvest Time oxen and people thresh the rice with their feet the Machine age has not yet come to the farmers of East Pakistan out of the water the people of East Pakistan get their most important cash crop jute these tall plants are jute plants burlap and gunny sacs are made of jute harvesting is done by divers as we see it here it is very hard and slow work indeed the jute is planted in fields before the summer floods it grows faster than the water rises at Harvest Time it stands several feet above the water the valuable jute fiber is found inside the bark one by one the stocks are cut open the bark peeled off and the fiber taken out men wash the fibers in the Stream and hang them out to dry much of the East Pakistani economy depends on the jute fiber it is this kind of trade that helps support Daka the largest city and capital of East Pakistan a thousand miles west from rainy wet East Pakistan lies West Pakistan one part of West Pakistan is called the Punjab this means the land of five rivers rivers which give life to this hot and dry region in order to grow crops people must take the water from the rivers or from Wells in some places and at some times the farmers use water wheels to raise the water to higher levels here again all the irrigation work and the farm work is done in a simple way by man and Beast farm tools are simple a wooden drag is used to crush the soil seedlings are planted by hand where water is is scarce grass is hard to get it is cut by hand and carried to the feeding places in The Villages once a week or more often Farmers go to trading villages to buy and sell there they buy what they don't produce themselves small Craftsmen work in The Villages like this basket Weaver here works the village Shoemaker and the blacksmith who makes simple tools and shoes the farmer's horses because water is scarce laundry is brought to the river villages to be washed by the Doby the laundryman people may travel from the villages to the City by traditional Ox carts some of the carts have wooden Wheels others automobile tires in some places the people may travel by bus and sometimes by train though this is less common the most important city of this region is called Lor an ancient trading center once surrounded by thick walls guarded by Mighty Gates today the city has grown beyond the ancient Gates Pakistan's most beautiful mosque is in Lor and many pilgrims come here to [Music] worship south and west of the Punjab lies an even drier region of West Pakistan crossed by the Great indis River which gave the whole subcontinent ENT its name the capital of Pakistan Karachi lies in this region this desert area is the land of camels camel Caravans travel for many miles across the desert to the big marketplaces they may stop at small oases like this one for food and [Music] water camel drivers usually eat in the open next to their animals an oasis is also a place of simple farming where there is enough water peasants cultivate the desert soil and irrigate it some farmers in the Oasis raise livestock for the City Market cows are kept in the Village near the wells and their milk is sold in the big city of Karachi people often travel by boat down the indis river or by bus across the desert in search of work in the capital Karachi is the capital of Pakistan situated on the coast a short distance from the mouth of the indis river in some ways Karachi is a modern city it has several bright new buildings that do not seem to belong to this old land the camel and the bicycle fight their way through the narrow crowded streets of the capital the camel is a beast of burden in [Music] Karachi in this desert region wood is scarce railroads bring it from remote Mountain provinces to cook the food of the city people wood is very expensive in Karachi lumber for construction also comes from far away Forest provinces these large Timbers probably are shaped by hand so in the city as well as in the country there are signs of simple living and hand work as well as signs of the modern these are bales of cotton cotton is the most important cash crop of West Pakistan it grows in irrigated fields of the Punjab and along the indis river Karachi is the gateway to West Pakistan goods from all over the world pass through its busy Harbor and Pak Pakistan's exports pass through it to other countries small ships bring bamboo from Malaya and India bamboo sticks are a popular and cheap building material for the poor bananas also may come from India they are usually sold in the open market near the harbor by Auctioneers auctioneers also sell sugar cane to small Tradesmen Merchants bid for each bundle of cane and the highest bidder gets it Tradesmen carry the sugar cane to their street shops where they cut the cane into small pieces and sell it as candy the marketplace is the center of Life In The City oranges are sold in the marketplace and so are chickens and pigeons for food a street vendor may carry his whole store around his neck the baker prepares chipati in the streets chipa is a popular form of bread in Pakistan fish are cut and dried on the marketplace and often fried on the spot and sold to the people who come to the city in the city as well as in the village work is often done by simple means everywhere people do much of the work by hand but Pakistan is changing