Re: Bangladesh declares Jamaat-i-Islami illegal
This isnt an assumption, this is may experience. Unbiased and quality literature on history, on current events has been difficult in Pakistan. Its changing somewhat with the help of the internet but consider how many people have access to the internet, and of those who do, consider the power outages, and what of the fact that nearly 50 percent of the country is illiterate completely or at least partially.
Conversation isnt a means of dispensing knowledge. Just because people talk about a subject, doent mean they know what they are talking about, nor does it mean the listener is any wiser. The credibility of the source is as important as the fact that the source has a mouth to speak with.
Local culture, local traditions, these things locals do know. What the locals dont necessarily know is about historical trends. Why? Because most people dont go out to study such trends. Such people are passive observers, they arent there to document or study such things. A farmer in a punjab village isnt concerned with how society is changing in Lahore, let alone across Pakistan. But there are people who DO document such things. For example, I have the Punjab gazette from Jhelum dating back to 1920’s, in which the area is extensively documented, yet most Pakistanis would have difficult time finding such a resource, and certainly no local could teach me as much of the history of the region in such detail as the gazette could.
A foreign born Pakistani obviously would have a difficult time with the culture. however, as far a history of the area, pertinent demographics, social trends, regional issues, such things a foreign Pakistani would know and has access to such info. Hell, in today’s world, with Google maps etc, I often find I know more about an area and where to go then many of the locals…