Potters, Hairdressers, Carpenters, Blacksmiths, Butchers etc.
In our villages in Attock all who claim to be Pathan are landlords, farmers and herdsmen but people who do the professional jobs I mentioned earlier are looked down upon, even if they be Pakhto speaking they are not thought of as Pathan but called Kami/Mussali etc. on the other hand some people like us do not speak Pakhto but still considered Pathan, I’m confused is Pathan an ethnicity or caste?
i guess this aspect of pathan-ness ends as they come to karachi, as there are many pathans who are bus drivers, conductors, chowkidaar, maali, dhobbi etc.
I don't think they have any problems polishing shoes and selling naswaar in UAE.
I think it’s more of a family thing than an individual thing, like say a Nai (hairdresser) becomes a doctor but still caste/status wise he’ll still be considered a Nai. It seems like the families’ profession is what matters.
Why I’m confused is people in our villages think of ‘Pathan’ more as a caste like Rajas and Chaudries are considered in Punjab it’s not thought of as an ethnicity as in Pakhtun, even of Pakhtun origin don’t put much emphasis on it but it’s more about being a landlord and following Pathanwalghi and having Ghayrat and stuff.
I thought maybe these castes were formed this way because when the Pakhtuns came here they didn’t want to do these jobs and looked down on them and so they called themselves just Pathan for caste but other ethnicities gladly took up these professions and took that as their caste.
There’s lots of Pakhto speaking people who are potters in our village but they are not thought of as Pathan's but rather Kami's, is that because they are some other ethnicity and adopted Pakhto?
So basically in all the rambling above what I’m saying is, is it a status/caste or is it an ethnicity. It might be different with other places.
Maybe the word 'PathaanR' that we use is not meant to denote Pakhtun.
khan, chaudhry, malik, khokhar, dogar, junejo, varraich, i have seen ppl from all "castes" work in all types of fields..
some people may try to cling to some sort of "caste" expectation and consider them superior, but when push comes to shove, they or their desendants will not mind driving rikshaws or sewing pajamas.
Honest earning and honest living is just that, people can hold on to their precious lil egos all they want.
people of all castes will work any job whether it be things only Lohar, Machee, chammar people traditonally do...if push comes to shove, (like Fraudia said) but of course there will always be people who will feel "I am such and such, and I dont do these types of things" but pride aside, earning a living is what matters..
here, in the gulf countries, pathans r usually seen working as:
labors
watchmen
potters
truck drivers
hundi (illegal money transfer)
naswaar and drugs suppliers
This has got nothing to do with whether you are Pakhtun, you get the same rubbish all over Pakistan. In Punjab it's the same, you get nais, zameendars, miraasi..you name it.
now the "ashna" characters.. are they Pathan or are the pushti speaking kammi kameens, who serve as teh ashna to pathans?
Leave Pathans ALOOOOOOOONE! Allah ka waasta hai tum laugoan ko!
OK deal, Give me one pathan ladki and I will leave all the rest alone.
PS. I do NOT consider Musarrat Shaaheen a ladki by any stretch of the imagination. SO, please exercise caution.
Kidher milna hai.
Maple Syrup kay Darakht k neechay.
I will be wearing Bermuda Shorts and a Big Dog orange color tanktop. I want you to sing 'Saano nehar waalay pulll tey bula kay, funguy..kithey reh gaya"...zor zor say. I shall come.
omg. That's exactly what I've always imagined the "one" to be wearing when we finally met.
Ab aa bhi jana.
YES....
The ppl you mentioned are called... KASAB DAAR and they are not considered Ethenic PUKHTOONS althouh they are Pathans they speak pashto.
Its not True that they are looked upon down.
And.. secondly.. For any person of sound mind... NO PROFESSION IS AN INSULT.......
For Halal Rizq watever profession is Admirable. Lots of ppl who are not KASABDAAR and are ETHENIC PUKTUNS work as watever they have the opurtunity.
Ashti, you're obsessed with pathans.
^ Some sort of complex methinks?
The word pakhtuns/pashtuns can be considered in two different ways as a belief system not caste) and as an ethnicity, nowadays it has formed itself into an ethnicity like any other group. In the same way there was no concept of sindhi or punjabi till about a century or so ago, the difference being because of the associtaion with soldiers and conquerors and the migration to all ends of the world.. people with a limited link to "pathans" claimed they were pathans on the basis of bravery and pashtunwali. So in the same way you have many ethnicties as well as other religious groups as Hindus and sikhs and have settled in pashtun areas who insist tehy are pakhtuns because they live with self respec and speak pakhto.
^
It is quite clear that those Hindus and Sikhs are ethnically Pashtun they look just like any Muslim Pashtun, same built, skin complexion and eye colours.
Why’s it so hard to accept that not every Pashtun is a Muslim?
The idea that they came from India and settled in the Pashtun areas is very absurd.
In my opinion to qualify for being a Pashtun you have to have three qualities, have Pashtun lineage, follow Pashtunwali and speak Pashto, if either of these are missing you are an incomplete Pashtun. :p
^ nope many of their lineage can be traced to India..and using the argument of practicing pashtunwali and specifiy what you mean by the pakhto language which dialect of pakhto? with or without persian urdu words?...under those 3 conditions you mentioned you'd be hard pressed to find many pashtuns!