CSS Pakistan Affairs: Must-Know Topics and How to Tackle Them

Pakistan Affairs is the core subject of the CSS examination. Not only does it provide the basic knowledge and build the foundation for a clear understanding of Pakistan's history, development, and current affairs, but its knowledge also helps in other subjects. As you will be entering service in Pakistan, having a solid understanding of the country is crucial. This will not only enhance your performance in the interview part of the CSS but also equip you to be a more effective civil servant by providing you with a strong grasp of national issues. Meticulously covering the current affairs portion within Pakistan Affairs helps you tackle the many dimensions of current events and provides you with a wealth of knowledge and data for essay papers.

While the FPSC syllabus change in 2016 shifted the focus towards contemporary events, pre-partition history remains a crucial section for the Pakistan Affairs paper. This portion still carries significant weight, contributing 20% through MCQs and featuring at least one question. More importantly, neglecting pre-partition history hinders your ability to provide a historical perspective in your answers, a factor that directly impacts your score. Understanding the historical developments and events that shaped Pakistan’s institutions and current issues is fundamental to building a strong foundation of knowledge. Since every aspect of Pakistan, including its political system, executive branch, judiciary, constitution, and economy, has been shaped by past events and developments, neglecting this section leads to a lack of basic understanding and hinders the building of foundational knowledge. This knowledge is essential for crafting well-substantiated answers in the exams.

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Since Pakistan emerged from Islamic ideology, understanding the emergence of Islam in the subcontinent is crucial. This process began with the arrival of Arab traders centuries before, but gained momentum with the conquest of Sindh by Muhammad bin Qasim in 712 AD, acting on behalf of the Umayyad Caliphate. Later, Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni, a ruler of the Ghaznavid dynasty, led invasions in the north and west from his base in Afghanistan (999-1030 AD). This paved the way for the solidification of Muslim rule in the subcontinent under Shahabuddin Ghori (1202-1206 AD). The Delhi Sultanate (1206-1526 AD), established by Qutubuddin Aibak, marked the first Muslim empire in the region. This was followed by successive dynasties like the Khilji (1290-1320 AD), Tughlaq (1320-1413 AD), Sayyid (1414-1451 AD), Lodhi (1451-1526 AD), culminating in the Mughal Empire (1526-1857 AD). Covering the period from 712 to 1857 provides a clear understanding of the emergence and spread of Islam in the subcontinent, as examiners have asked questions in the past about the growth of Muslim societies in the region. A brief overview highlighting the most important aspects of these dynasties is sufficient. It’s important to cover only the essential elements of each dynasty.

The period following 1707 witnessed the decline of the Mughal Empire, a topic frequently tested in examinations that often ask about the reasons for this downfall. This decline also provided fertile ground for the emergence of religious reform movements. Sufi figures like Sheikh Ahmed Sirhindi (Mujaddid Alf Thani), Shah Waliullah, and Syed Ahmed Shaheed played significant roles in these movements. Understanding these personalities and their contributions is crucial as the examiner frequently covers the role of Sufis in spreading Islam throughout the subcontinent. The 2024 exam, for instance, included a question specifically about Sheikh Ahmed Sirhindi's role as a revivalist.

Then come the educationalist movements: Aligarh Movement, Darul Uloom Deoband Movement, and Nadwat-ul-Ullama. This period marks the beginning of modern political history, encompassing events like the War of Independence (1857), the Partition of Bengal (1905), and the Simla Deputation and formation of the Muslim League (1906). The timeline continues with the Minto-Morley Reforms (1909), the Lucknow Pact (1916), the Khilafat Movement (1918), the Rowlatt Act and Jallianwala Bagh Massacre (1919), the Government of India Act (1919), the Delhi Muslim Proposals (1927), the Simon Commission (1927), the Nehru Report (1928), Muhammad Ali Jinnah's 14 Points (1929), Allama Iqbal's Address at Allahabad (1930), the Round Table Conferences (1930-1932), the Government of India Act (1935), the Elections and Congress Ministries (1937), the Lahore Resolution (1940), the Cripps Mission (1942), the Jinnah-Gandhi Talks (1944), the Wavell Plan and Shimla Conference (1945), the Cabinet Mission Plan (1946), and finally, the June 3rd Plan/Mountbatten Plan (1947) with the Radcliffe Award (1947). Following this timeline provides a holistic understanding of the events leading to the formation of Pakistan. Examiners usually focus on one specific domain within this timeline, but understanding the entire timeline is essential for providing historical analysis in your answers.

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Post-Partition History: A Major Focus

The post-partition history section forms a critical part of your exam. This section dives deep into Pakistan’s journey since independence, focusing on how its constitution and political landscape have evolved. You’ll need to compare and contrast key constitutions (1956, 1962, 1973) and analyze amendments made to them. Federalism is another crucial aspect, how power is shared between the federal government and provinces, through institutions like the CCI, NEC, and NFC Award. Additionally, analyzing major events like the Afghan War, 18th Amendment, and the War on Terror is essential to grasp their lasting impact on Pakistan. Finally, understanding the roles of the executive, legislature, and judiciary will solidify your knowledge of how the government functions in Pakistan. By mastering these areas, you’ll be well-prepared to tackle this section and demonstrate a deep understanding of Pakistan’s historical and contemporary landscape.

The Critical Role of Current Affairs

The final section of the exam focuses on contemporary issues in Pakistan. This section significantly overlaps with the general current affairs paper, offering an opportunity to earn high marks in both areas. We can categorize this section into three key domains:

Internal Social Issues: This domain encompasses a wide range of challenges faced by Pakistan, including:

·        Economy and development

·        Security threats and terrorism

·        Water scarcity and management

·        Energy crisis and resource allocation

·        Natural disasters such as floods

·        Education system and population growth

·        Gender inequality and women's empowerment

·        Demands for new provinces and the FATA merger (covered by the 25th Constitutional Amendment)

·        Political instability

It’s crucial to analyze these issues from a contemporary perspective. The nature of exam questions has shifted towards requiring argumentative and critical analysis of problems and potential solutions.

Regional Dynamics: This domain focuses on Pakistan’s relationships with its neighbors, including India, China, Afghanistan, and Iran. It also explores Pakistan’s interactions with major world powers like the United States and Russia. Additionally, understanding Pakistan’s role in regional and global organizations like the OIC, SAARC, ECO, UN, and SCO is essential.

Foreign Policy Challenges: This domain delves deeper into specific foreign policy issues, such as:

·        The US-India strategic partnership and its implications for Pakistan

·        The ongoing Kashmir dispute

·        The Palestinian issue

·        Pakistan's relationship with the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF)

·        Developments in the Middle East

A comprehensive understanding of Pakistan’s foreign policy requires examining its historical development. Analyzing Pakistan’s geopolitical, geostrategic, and geo-economics significance is crucial for grasping the challenges it faces in terms of national security, sovereignty, and territorial disputes. By mastering these three domains, you’ll be well-equipped to tackle the current affairs section and demonstrate a sophisticated understanding of contemporary Pakistan and its place in the world.

Combining the analysis of past papers, the breakdown of the crucial aspects and how to approach them are:

Examiner's Focus:

1.      International Relations:

 This is a major domain, encompassing: Neighbors: Pakistan's relations with India, China, Afghanistan, and Iran.World Powers: The country's interactions with the US, Russia, and other major players. Global Organizations: Pakistan's role in the OIC, SAARC, ECO, UN, and SCO.

2.      Contemporary Issues:

This section covers pressing challenges faced by Pakistan:

3.      Domestic Issues:

Economy, security, water scarcity, terrorism, education, population growth, gender inequality, etc.

4.      Foreign Policy Challenges:

The US-India partnership, Kashmir, the Palestinian issue, FATF, IMF, and the Middle East. Understanding the historical development of Pakistan’s foreign policy is essential. Furthermore, analyzing Pakistan’s geopolitical, geostrategic, and geoeconomic importance strengthens your understanding of national security concerns.

Apart from that having knowledge about the geographical location about Pakistan, its neighboring countries, borders situation with each country, location of rivers, mountain ranges, and different provinces and units is crucial. Try to learn the map and learn the geographical features. Having this knowledge will help you to make your answers better for example in question water crisis then marking rivers with maps will be really beneficial. Also make yourself aware about the natural resources, like mines, water resources, gas resources as examiner ask about the question that cover these areas like equal distribution of resources. Geographical knowledge strengthens your analysis across topics, adding weight to discussions on border disputes or resource allocation.

Focus on constructing well-reasoned arguments. Demonstrate a clear understanding of the topic by providing practical solutions backed by evidence and examples. The nature of questions might change year-to-year as the 2024 paper emphasizes the political dimension. Ensure you have a strong foundational understanding of all the areas mentioned above. By mastering these areas and adopting a well-structured, evidence-based approach, you’ll be well-positioned to excel in your Pakistani affairs exam, regardless of the specific focus each year.

Here are some recommended books and resources for covering the Pakistan Affairs syllabus:

Pre-Partition:

·        Concise History of Pakistan - This is a good starting point.

·        Trek to Pakistan by Ahmed Saeed Khan and Mansoor Khan - This might be a more detailed resource compared to a concise history, but it could offer valuable insights.

Post-Partition:

·        Constitutional and Political History of Pakistan by Hamid Khan - This seems like a solid choice for understanding the legal and political framework of Pakistan’s development.

Current Affairs:

·        Foreign Policy of Pakistan by Abdul Sattar.

·        Continuous reading of newspaper - Absolutely essential to stay updated on current events and issues.