Tag: Pakistan stamp

Categories
Uncategorized

Pakistan 1964, Pakistan makes an appearance at the sort of New York World’s Fair

This not quite World’s Fair was dedicated to man’s achievement on a shrinking globe in an expanding universe. New York wanted to do it to show off progress since the 1939 Worlds Fair there. Conceived before the societal changes of the late sixties, by the time it was executed the fair was facing the realities of a changing world. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.

Though the stamp shows the well designed culturally appropriate Pakistan Pavilion over a background of the Fair’s signature stainless steel Unisphere, the largest globe in the world, the stamp is somewhat let down by pour printing. The fair did provide a way for Pakistan to introduce itself to the Fair’s over 50 million visitors who were mostly children. The fair made an impression on the youth of that generation, as it was perhaps one of the last gasps of 1950s America.

Todays stamp is issue A60, a 1.5 Rupee stamp issued by Pakistan on April 22, 1964. It was a two stamp issue in various denominations. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 25 cents used.

The site of both the sanctioned 1939 New York World’s Fair and the unsanctioned 1964-1965 fair was Flushing Meadows Park in Queens. It had long been a marshy garbage and ash dump. New York builder Robert Moses had dreams of turning it into a massive 1100 acre park. The 1939 fair was just the opportunity to make his vision a reality. Unfortunately, the full scope of what he had in mind for the property could not be covered in the first fairs budget. A second worlds fair would provide the resources to finish the job.

Selling the rest of the world on the fair proved difficult, Seattle had hosted a worlds fair in 1962 and Montreal was scheduled for 1967. The Bureau of Exhibitions had several rules that were against the fair. No country was to have more than one fair in a 10 year period, no fair was supposed to last more than 6 months, and no fair was to charge rent to exhibitors. The organizers of the fair traveled to Paris to request that the rules be waived and the event be officially sanctioned by the BoE. This was refused and the organizers then went out with intemperate remarks about the BoE and the BoE responded by making an official statement suggesting that countries not participate in the fair. This is the only time this as happened. The fair went ahead but no shows were Canada, the Soviet Union, Australia and most of Europe. Indonesia initially agreed but relations deteriorated and the completed Indonesian Pavilion  was occupied and barricaded during the Fair.

40 nations did participate, mostly ones trying to ingratiate themselves to the USA. The most popular of the foreign pavilions was Vatican City, that brought over and displayed the Pieta. There were still over 100 pavilions mostly sponsored by American corporations. They mostly displayed consumer goods with a space or computer theme. The fair had a goal of 70 million visitors which would have had it break even with it’s initially high ticket prices. That goal was why it went two years but it only managed 51 million visitors, even after a second year ticket price cut.

The Unisphere globe was maintained in the park after the fair closed as United States Steel donated 1 million dollars to insure continued maintenance. Nevertheless the fountains were turned off in 1970. In the middle 1990s there was a refurbishment that turned back on the fountains. As of today, June 24, the Unisphere has not been removed as part of the BLM erasure of history. In 2019 it however was scaled by an environmental group  to hoist a banner protesting the Amazon River fires that year.

Unisphere in 2018

Well my drink is empty and I will pour another to toast Robert Moses and his realized dream of turning a dump into a park. I would propose a statue, but you know….. Come again soon when there will be another story that can be learned from stamp collecting. First published in 2020.

Categories
Uncategorized

Pakistan 1964, Egypt, Sudan and Pakistan, well actually UNESCO, save the Nubian Abu Simbel temples

These third world UN stamps are fun. Having the gal to ask outsiders to do for them something they know should be done, but are unwilling to do for themselves. The outsiders, in this case UNESCO then bend over backwards to treat welfare queens as partners because otherwise they will just destroy. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.

I am a little surprised Pakistan was willing to serve as a vehicle for this UNESCO project in Egypt. There is some degree of nervousness of the value of pre Mohammed history in Muslim countries. Remember the shock outside the Muslim world when the Taliban purposely blew up ancient Buddhist statues in neighboring Afghanistan. In the period UNESCO campaigned for funding of the Nubian temples. They don’t publicize who gave and how much. It would be interesting to know Pakistan’s contribution.

Todays stamp is issue A59, a 50 Paisa stamp issued by Pakistan on March 30th, 1964. It was a two stamp issue showing ancient sites in Egypt that they hoped to move so they would not be flooded by Lake Nasser when the Aswan Dam was completed. This stamp shows the Abu Simbel temple to and by Ramses II. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth $1.20 unused.

The Abu Simbel temple is a cut from stone temple. It is believed built over a 20 year period from 1264BC to 1244BC after being ordered by Egyptian Pharaoh Ramses II. At the time it was the area of Nubia near the modern border between Egypt and the Sudan along the Nile River. The area was important to Egypt for it was the center of gold mining. The temples had fallen into disuse and indeed buried by desert sand by the time of Jesus Christ.

The temples high point was rediscovered by Swiss Orientalist Johann Ludwig Burckhardt in 1813. He convinced Italian explorer Giovanni Battista Belzoni to look further with a team and on his second try he dug an entry into the temple. The name Abu Simbel refers to the nearest Egyptian village.

The threat. The Aswan High Dam, as seen from space after completion.

In 1959, Egypt and Sudan petitioned the UN to do something about the Nubian historic sites that were to be flooded by the waters of Lake Nasser. Rather than directing the waters elsewhere, it was decided to cut most but not all the stone temples into moveable pieces of 20 tons each and reassemble them elsewhere. Some moved as much as 60 miles, but in the case of Abu Simbel it only moved 600 feet to a new location on a built up hill. The expensive undertaking  was managed by UNESCO and just this temple cost 40 million dollars in 1960s money to move a short distance. The was an alternate proposal from British Rank Organization filmmaker William McQuitty to build a glass dome over the temple and chambers for under water viewing. McQuitty is best known for his film “A Night to Remember” about the sinking of the Titanic. His proposal went as far as a serious engineering design study.

Reassembling the Ramses statue in it’s higher home in 1967. Hope they measured twice before they cut once

The UNESCO campaign to save the Nubian temples went on until 1980. Egypt was so happy about what was done that they again put forth their hand palm up and suggested that UNESCO fund a new Nubian History Museum in Cairo. It is possible for a tourist to visit the Abu Simbel. A guarded convoy of tourist buses leaves daily from Aswan. Interesting it requires guards, perhaps Nubia’s present isn’t so wonderful as the past. Well there is always hope for the future.

Well my drink is empty and I will pour another to toast Burckhardt, Belzoni, and McQuitty for their Abu Simbel work. Gosh I should have an Egyptian in there somewhere. Of course, Ramses II! Come again soon for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting. First published in 2020.

 

Categories
Uncategorized

Pakistan, atoms for peace poliferates until Buddha smiles

How could an American PR stunt lead to two undeveloped countries obtaining nuclear weapons. It took a smiling Buddha nuclear test in India in 1974 to see the calamity of atoms for peace. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.

Pakistan was a new country in 1948. As such there are a lot of the countries first stamps. Among these issues for Pakistan is a new paper mill in 1955, a new agricultural university in 1968, and a new steel mill in 1969. Though serving the nation, many of the above were built with outside help. Nevertheless, interesting issues to me. One than stands out though is todays 1965 issue showing Pakistan’s first nuclear reactor, given to it by the USA as part of the atoms for peace program. India received a reactor themselves about the same time again with help from the USA and Canada. Normally I am annoyed when a gift is given and who gave it to them is not acknowledged on the stamp. Here however, where it just shows stupidity, so there should be as little acknowledgement as possible.

Todays stamp is issue A71, a 15 Piasa stamp issued by Pakistan on April 30th, 1966. It was a single stamp issue showing off Pakistan’s first atomic reactor, the PARR-1, in Islamabad. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 25 cents.

Both India’s and Pakistan’s nuclear programs relied on native born scientists given free advanced educations at Cambridge University in Britain during the last days of British India. See https://the-philatelist.com/2019/03/18/india-1984-rakesh-sharma-becomes-a-cosmonaut-and-goes-to-space/.   The theoretical knowledge of how things work does not mean there was any capability. Abdus Salam was still a science advisor to the Pakistani President Ayub Kahn and set up a Pakistani Atomic Commission back in 1956.

Dr Abdus Salam even got a stamp. Yea nuclear proliferator!

The American atoms for peace program began as a speech given by American President Eisenhower in 1953. The idea was that access to nuclear secrets would be provided with view to nuclear power generation in exchange for the countries agreement to not produce nuclear weapons and that nuclear facilities meet international standards. Early recipients of nuclear reactors under the program were Iran, Israel, Pakistan, and India. Only Iran is not yet a nuclear power, probably due to not being part of British India early and getting one of those scholarships to Cambridge. What a calamity.

The calamity of the program came to a head when India exploded a crude nuclear bomb in 1974. They called the operation Smiling Buddha and obfuscated about what the test meant. America and Canada withdrew support for both Indian and Pakistani reactors but by then the programs were far along with expertise built up and new reactors in the pipeline. Pakistan was not able to conduct its first nuclear test until 1998, after China had stepped in to assist Pakistan’s nuclear program. It was quite a test though with 5 bombs detonated. This made clear that Pakistan’s deterrent was in place. The initial bombs were to be tossed sideways from fighters, American supplied F16s.This may or may not have worked. Remember the original atom bombs were dropped from bomb bays of big bombers from high altitude with parachutes to give the plane time to get away. They have since developed medium range nuclear capable missiles. Abdus Salam having received a Nobel Prize, no not for peace, died in 1996 before the test. Therefore perhaps too much credit/blame is given to A. Q. Kahn. Interesting he had left Pakistan in protest to Pakistan declaring his religious sect non Muslim. Too bad they didn’t do that earlier before the damage was done.

Well my drink is empty and I may have a few more while I contemplate the idiocy of atoms for peace. Come again  for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting. First published in 2019.

Categories
Uncategorized

Pakistan 1954, The “Light of the World” designs a tomb for her husband the “Conqueror of the World”

A large empire rules over a quarter of the people on Earth deserves to be remembered, and this one is by some of it’s surviving architecture. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of tea and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.

Pakistan was newly independent when this stamp was issued. What better way to celebrate the independence than by showing off relics of a long ago empire that the people might feel more connection to than their recent colonial memory. In the early days anything can seem possible and reminding of past greatness can be a good tool for that.

The stamp today is issue O47, a one and a half Anna stamp issued by Pakistan in 1954. It features the tomb of Jahangir, a Mughal Emperor from the 1600s. It was part of a 7 stamp issue celebrating the seventh anniversary of independence from Great Britain. The service overprint signifies the stamp was for official use. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth $2.50 used.

The Mughal Empire stretched through much of current day India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan in the 14th and 15th centuries. The government was Sunni Muslim and the leaders were of mixed Indian and Persian decent. Hindu was allowed to be practiced and Hindu civil law governed them. Muslim law was only applied to Muslims. The empire is remembered for it’s architecture that was heavily influenced by the Persians. The Taj Mahal is the most famous example of such architecture.

Mughal Emperor Jahangir ruled in the 1600s and though he suffered a defeat at the Afghan city of Kandahar he succeeded in expanding the empire. His name means in old Persian, “conqueror of the world” He didn’t quite do that but a quarter of the world’s then population was in his realm. He had 18 wives the last of which was his and his subjects favorite. Upon the marriage, her second, she was given the name Nur Jahan. This means “light of the world.”

The Emperor Jahangir died in 1626 on his way back to his home in Lahore. Nur Jahan set out to build a Persian style tomb in the peaceful gardens of  the home. She was interested in architecture and the result was an elaborate tomb with four minarets that displayed a resurgence in Timurid architecture at the time. The tomb faced Mecca and was decorated with Frescoes. It took 10 years to build. Jahangir’s third son became Emperor having murdered the two older sons. It was not a good time for Nur Jahan as she was confined to palace. She had backed the wrong son in the power struggle.

Nur Jahan holding a portrait of Emperor Jahangir.

When Nur Jahan later died she was placed in a tomb nearby. Later the tombs was damaged by the Sikh Empire under Maharajah Rangit Singh. His occupying general lived at the tomb and took relics back to Punjab when they ran the area.  Some believe the Sikhs even stole a dome off the tomb. British rule saw repairs made but a new railroad routed between the tombs of husband and wife dividing them. The site still exists and is a protected heritage site but some encroachment of the property was allowed.

Sikh Maharajah Rajit Singh. Wars with Britain eventually ended Sikh rule of the area. Note the crazy high heel shoes and little foot stool. Out of place for a warrior King?

Well my drink is empty so I will salute the architectural vision of Nur Jahan, the light of the world. Come again for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting. First published in 2018.

 

Categories
Uncategorized

Turkey 1975, CENTO is about Russia, not you people

Here we have a stamp showing a Pakistani leather vase on a Turkish stamp. At the time, Turkey was in an alliance with Pakistan and Iran that sought joint security and coordinated economic development. At least that is what the member states thought. It was really just a cold war containment strategy against Russia concocted and paid for by the USA and Great Britain. To bad it was a scam, the countries involved were into it. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.

Like the Europa series of joint issue stamps in Europe, CENTO resulted in joint issue annual stamps between 1965 and 1978. They were all jointly issued by Turkey, Iran, and Pakistan and were three stamps with each stamp showing the uniqueness of each country in some area. There was papering over to do. The alliance also included Great Britain and was heavily funded by the USA. Including those two in a five stamp annual issue would have given the game away so the stamps were routed through the economic part of the organization that only included the regional three.

Todays stamp is issue A488, a 250 Kurush stamp issued by Turkey on July 21st,1975. The three stamps that year showed a Turkish porcelain vase, an Iranian ceramic one and this leather one from Pakistan. Each country showed all three under their name. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 95 cents used.

The USA’s strategy for the cold war in the 1950s was one of containment of the Soviet Union where relations with friendly governments in  different regions were formalized for joint support. In theory for common defense but really just to prevent communist takeovers. For the area from Turkey to Pakistan, the Baghdad Pact was formed in 1955. Iraq’s membership ended when it’s Monarchy fell in 1958, see https://the-philatelist.com/2020/01/07/iraq-1958-neither-faisal-nor-churchill-would-have-been-happy-where-his-tanks-were-headed/ . and the organization was renamed CENTO, the central treaty organization. This was the idea of the USA but it was not a member itself. The pro Israel lobby in the USA would not allow it. Great Britain therefore sat in and British forces then stationed in Cyprus were committed to it.

The three remaining countries got on well together and increased ties into other areas as seen by the stamps. It did not work as a military organization. Pakistan tried to invoke the joint defense treaty during their war with India in 1965. Containing India wasn’t the idea so not only did the alliance not come to Pakistan’s defense, both the USA and the UK cut off arms shipments. No more Starfighters for dear ally Pakistan.

Britain effectively pulled out of the alliance when Turkey invaded Cyprus in 1974 and British troops withdrew, see https://the-philatelist.com/2018/02/07/the-british-in-cyprus-again-having-to-stand-between/. The final straw was when the Shah fell in Iran in 1979 and the new Islamic government withdrew. A few months later, the remaining members voted to dissolve CENTO.

There was still interest in economic and development cooperation between Turkey, Iran, and Pakistan. In 1985 they formed a new Economic Cooperation Organization. It’s goal  was to form an economic common market among Islamic nations. It never managed to do that but Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan later joined. That was of course after Russia had trouble itself containing.

Well my drink is empty and I may pour another while I admire a vase made of leather by and for Nomads. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

Categories
Uncategorized

Bangla Desh 1971, maybe if we splinter again, things will get better

A small but populous nation splits off from a country. A generation before, Pakistan in the East and West, did the same, depriving post independence India of instant superpower status. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.

The first stamp issue of an independent Bangla Desh. Notice the spelling. Writing Bangla Desh as two words only lasted for a few months. Surprising that at least in English it is not just called Bengal. But this stamp came after local politicians  had declared independence but while there was still a large Pakistani army and administration on hand that did not agree. That makes the stamp aspirational, which to me are the best kind.

Todays stamp is issue A1, a 1 Rupee stamp issued by the Awami League provisional government of Bangla Desh in 1971. It was part of an eight stamp issue in various denominations that aspirationally  imagined an independent Bangla Desh. The stamps featured maps, flags, slogans and potential leaders of the hoped for country. According to the Scott Catalog, the stamp is worth 30 cents mint. There was a later version with the new currency that were rejected by Bangladesh officials but then issued anyway by representatives in London during 1972, they are considered fake but have similar values.

The area of Bengal had been part of the Mughal Empire before the arrival of the British. Their East India Company took the area after the battle of Plassey in 1757. British India comprised modern India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. They also administered nearby Sri lanka and Burma. This large area would have been far and away the most populous country in the world and even in colonial times, the gross national product was larger than Great Britain itself. It was the intention of most independence advocates that after the British left, it would all be one country. These leaders were mostly Hindu though and the area contained many Muslims and peoples of different races and languages. A Hindu independent greater India was not to be and the British tried to limit bloodshed by dividing off mostly Muslim East and West Pakistan. This was less than ideal for several reasons. Though the same religion, East Pakistan was of a different race and language. In addition, it was separate geographically. Thus the Bengal territories did not feel itself a part of Pakistan. Independent India was sympathetic to the plight of the Bengals. In the 1960s, there was a socialist movement of Bengalis called the Awami league lead by Sheik Mujibur Rahman. He wanted more self rule and that Bengali become the official language of East Pakistan. When this movement was suppressed, independence was unilaterally declared and the Awami League started establishing the institutions of a separate state. There were 90,000 troops loyal to Pakistan in Bangladesh that contested the will of the people and it took a two week war with India for them to realize that they were far from home and their situation untenable. Pakistan’s surrender was the largest since World War II.

Independence was not an immediate panacea. The people were desperately poor and the British had set up the economy for large crops for export and not enough for local food. Independence leaders had all been trained by the British and were socialists. As such they took over the plantations but kept them operating now for the benefit of the state. However whatever revenue came from that was declining and with little getting to improve the lot of the average Bengali. There was a large famine in Bangladesh in 1974 and this lead to much tumult and fighting internally inside the Awami League and outside of it. Bangladeshi officers formerly aligned with the Awami Leaguge staged a coup killing Sheik Mujibar Rahman and his family in an attack on the Presidential Palace starting a long period of coup and counter coup. There are rumors that the coup was arraigned by the American CIA but I think that exaggerates Bangladesh’s importance to the USA.  Peoples hopes had been raised and the results were just not fast enough in coming, and with no more British to blame, it was natural to turn on the leaders.

Well my drink is empty and I may have a few more while I ponder how independence could have gone better. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.