Teaching with the News
India and Pakistan in the Wake of the Mumbai Attacks
Today, India and Pakistan face each other with hostility and suspicion heightened by the terror attacks in Mumbai. Both countries have nuclear weapons. Some experts think that the nuclear face-off between India and Pakistan makes the region the most dangerous place in the world.
In the wake of the Mumbai attacks, officials in the U.S. are focusing on the potential for the hostility between these two neighbors to boil over into active military conflict.
Lesson Plan
In this one-day lesson, students gather information from several audio news reports in order to understand the circumstances surrounding the Mumbai terrorist attacks and the context of the ongoing tensions between India and Pakistan.
Additional Resources from the Choices Program
The story behind the creation of these two countries is complex. Indian Independence and the Question of Pakistan is a published unit that probes the rich history of South Asia and provides historical context for understanding the forces at play in the region today. In a role-play at the center of the unit, students are placed in the roles of the Congress Party, the Muslim League, the Unionist Party, the Sikhs (Punjab), and the Cabinet Mission as they negotiate an end to British rule in India in 1946. Examining the debate leading up to the partition of India into two states provides insight into the historical dynamics that continue to shape India and Pakistan today and provide the backdrop for the conflict in Kashmir.
The unit begins with an exploration of the geography and the evolution of culture in India before European political intrusion. Readings examine the origins of independence and the resulting political systems by exploring many cultural and social factors in the region. Attention is given to the role of religion in the history of that part of the world.
Additional Online Resources
Teachers might find it useful to have students explore the following online resources for coverage of current events.
BBC News Special Reports - Kashmir Flashpoint
background and reporting on developments in this regionKashmir Watch
the news portal of Kashmir International Research Centre (KIRC), an independent non-profit research organisationThe New York Time’s Terrorism in India
links to all of the paper’s resources on the Mumbai attacks
India: Conflicts Within
a project of the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting that provides a range of reporting resources pertaining to this topicHomepage of Dawn
an English-language newspaper from Pakistan
Homepage of The Times of India
an English-language newspaper from India
