Ethnocentrism is wrong … but what is worse is denial of ethnic or sub-cultural differences/identities. Ethnic or sub-cultural differences are common in most countries. There is nothing wrong with taking pride in such identities. They are part of one’s identity and should be accepted/respected. After all, Pakistan is a federation of such ethnic peoples.
Despite the ethnic differences, there are more than enough unifying factors among the people (Punjabis, Pashtuns, Baluchs, Sindhis, Seraikis, Kashmiris, etc) of Pakistan to justify its nationhood. Pakistanis are lucky in this aspect since very few countries have so many unifying components. The propaganda that only Islam can keep the country together is just not true:
Pakistanis speak Indo-Iranian languages (linguistic classification - a branch of Indo-European) written in the Perso-Arabic script.
Pakistanis are mostly Caucasoid by race with some Mongoloid and Dravidoid influences.
Pakistanis share a common geography/economy with close proximity to Indus river and its tributaries.
Pakistanis adhere to the faith of Islam.
Pakistanis share a common history such as under Harappan, RigVedic Aryan, Persian, Greek, Scythian, Parthian, Kushan, Hephthalite, Arab, Turkic, Mughal, etc. periods.
Pakistanis share a similar culture derived from Indo-Iranian and Islamic roots.
all this sounds nice on paper but wont work out.. pakistanis have been independent for 50 years; i doubt if they'd give up that ever.. besides the status quo is ok any changes wud cause large scale problems.. it wud be too much to solve the problems of two big poor countries.. i'd say that pakistan is probably better off independent.. what i would like to see in the future is a pakistan that is as friendly and cooperative with india as canada is to the us.. i am sure south asia would be a force to reckon with then..
btw, are u an indian by any chance?? cos i wonder if any pakistani would rate ethnic/cultural background more important than religion
As long as ignorance thrives in Pakistan (thanks to the feudals, military, religious extremists, etc) ... Islamocentrism will remain Pakistan's mainstream ideological manipulator... This will just weaken the country... Islam alone can never unite Pakistan in the long run... There is enough violence already between the various Islamic factions/sects...
There needs to be revolutionary reforms in the country in order to ensure its long term survival:
Elimination of religious extremism and Islamocentrism
Respect of ethnic and religious differences --- community dialogue for harmony in diversity and understanding/tolerance for each other, including minorities
Unity of Pakistanis based on a common linguistic/cultural (Indo-Iranian), racial (Caucasian), religious (Muslim), geographical (Indus Valley), and/or historical identity
Promotion of secular education and eradication of ignorance/illiteracy
Reformation of rural land ownership -- elimination of feudalism
Policy of only peace and cooperation with all neighbours for its own benefit
Replacement of Urdu with Persian or Arabic as the national language to end cultural domination of an ethnic minority
So you want to replace religious extremism with cultural extremism?
Until Pakistanis face the fact that they have to stand on their feet and stop applying to Uncle Al Arab and stop dissing India at every opportunity, nothing else matters.
All that'll happen is the mullahs will shave their beard and become french cut culture police. ( generals may get a fashion sense and change to purple)
That's certainly not cultural extremism. Its progressive evolution of a country from a backward and narrow-minded Islamocentric society into a modern/rational and justice-based one!
^ Justice requires transparency requires counter-balancing institutions requires respect for constitution requires people that participate. (add in-turn to every requires)
pak4ever,
Very sensible thread… are you really a pakistani?
Right. Just like it bonded the bengali muslim bretherns with the west pakistanis.
Like it or not, a cultural/linguistic similarity is much stronger than religious one, specially when no one seems to be able to define what a “true” islam is.
A muslim punjabi from lahor is more likely to get along with a hindu-punjabi from amritsar than with an ethiopian black muslim. Danger with using religious identity to bond is that it ultimatly leads to khilafat. A pak. sunni starts questioning if it is better to bond with saudi sunni or paki. shia, which ultimatly leads to pan-islamic thinking and hits a dead end.
Nations that are united are mostly based on the following:
*Language (e.g. Arab nationalism based on Arabic language)
*Race (Jews, Children of Israel, united on the basis of race even after 1000s of years)
*Geography (e.g. Same kind of people in Japan, united as Japanese)
We Pakistanis lack all of the above mentioned. So what really remains is religion ISLAM that can, does and will keep us united.
Try to analyze it, we before 1971 was never as Islamic as we are today. In fact, emphasis on Islam was hardly visible. Half hearted implementation of Islam ofcourse results in 1971 like incidents.
Pakistan is among the few countries that have all the commonality to be a unified nation. Punjabis, Pashtuns, Balouchs, Sindhis, Kashmiris, and Seraikis share the following:
Pakistanis speak Indo-Iranian languages written in the Perso-Arabic script.
Pakistanis are mostly Caucasoid by race with some Mongoloid and Dravidoid influences.
Pakistanis share a common geography/economy with close proximity to Indus river and its tributaries.
Pakistanis adhere to the faith of Islam.
Pakistanis share a common history such as under Harappan, RigVedic Aryan, Persian, Greek, Scythian, Parthian, Kushan, Hephthalite, Arab, Turkic, Mughal, etc. periods.
Pakistanis share a similar culture derived from Indo-Iranian and Islamic roots.
^ To be honest, watching Pakistani television channels and media these days, it seems we are more like our Eastern neighbors. Forget Islam, Mongoloid, and Caucasian influences. Regarding the Perso-Arabic script, even a child knows the value of our national language.
Pak4…what are you b’s’ing about? Do you mean that Punjabis across the border from me don’t speak Indo Iranian language and I do? Shut the fk up.
It’s not the proximity to Indus valley, it is the Indus valley itself, and ¾ of it starts in Indian Kashmir. Do you even realize what garbage is coming out of your mouth?
pak4 Baloch and Pakhtuns have more in common with Afghanistan & Iran then Pakistan if you put it this way. Language, culture, heritage, traditions, religions, and history (not to mention race and blood).
By your token, they have little reason to stick with lungi maars since they are shalwar maar.
^
I agree with you for once, you guys should do something about seperating from Pakistan, I say down with the Durrand line!! Rejoin Afghanistan and then the rest of us can properly embrace our Desi Indian identity whilst you your Central Asian/Middle Eastern, like this the country is torn between two identities.
Under Pakistan people will see you as a Pakistani and associate you with Desis and to a lesser extent Desis with you, that becomes your identity to the rest of the world, real ethnicity gets brushed under the carpet and Muslims and westerners alike mistake your nationality/national-origin for your ethnicity. Afghans and Balochs in Pak are not active enough in this regard, they're to dorcile and need to wake up, I say down with the army and Pakistan!!!
Solution is to replace Urdu with Persian or Arabic as the national language to end the cultural domination (including media/tv/etc) of an ethnic minority (Muhajirs/north Indian Muslim migrants/etc). Urdu and Hindi are almost the same language. By imposing Urdu on the peoples of Pakistan, it has caused cultural invasion from India. Reference: http://www.geocities.com/paklanguage
You are missing the whole point. Almost all Pakistanis are Indo-Iranians. However in India, South Indians are Dravidians, Northeast Indians are SinoTibetans, etc. unlike the Indo-Iranian peoples in northwest/north India. Similarly in Iran, 25% of its people are Azeris/etc. who are Turkic unlike the remainder of its Indo-Iranian peoples. So bottomline is Pakistanis have linguistically more commonality with each other than its other neighbors.
Also, Punjabis represent only 2-4% of Indians… most of whom are Sikhs any way wanting independence from India.
Btw, before indulging in personal attacks, please READ again. It is close proximity to Indus RIVER (what I had wrote).
