29 AUGUST 1947, Page 18

PAKISTAN

Sra,—Pak is an Urdu word taken from Persian meaning " holy." Istan (as in Afghan-istan) means " place " or " land," so that Pakistan would seem to signify "holy land." Surely Sir Evelyn Wrench, in his article on the founder of Pakistan, would not have us take seriously his acrostic derivation of the word, which, incidentally, leaves out all reference to the Eastern part of Pakistan.—Yours faithfully,

Cannington Vicarage, Somerset. •

P. BROCICLESEIY DAVIS.