Re: Persian For Western Pakistan
^
Shouldn't the Hindku be celebrating Basant instead? They're Indic not Iranic.
Re: Persian For Western Pakistan
If you pashtuns did not know urdu, how would you ever understand all those indian movies you love so much? All the buses from karachi to upcountry have indian movies running on them. ;)
Even kabulis love the indian movies. Reality is that urdu is the language of communication in the sub-continent and as india continues to emerge as a regional power, the need to learn urdu/hindi will become an economic necessity in the region. In fact those in pathanistan with urdu skills will have a distinct advantage over others.
Re: Persian For Western Pakistan
wow, I have no problem with indic culture per say, and to know about other cultures is a great thing and to accept them as well. However, I don't want pashtuns to lose their pashtun(Afghan) identity, history, culture, adn you are right last of the dinosaurs. I think its high time intellectal pashutns(Afghans) from both side of the durand start a revivial of pashtun culture. I personally think the internet has helped to a certain extent, however to get it to the masses will require a lot of work. What do you suggest last rora? Maybe some more joint literary programs from both sides of the durand, or educational institutions.
P.S. There was a mushaira very nice. Little by little we should work to retain our culture.
Re: Persian For Western Pakistan
good point
P.S. There was a mushaira very nice. Little by little we should work to retain our culture.
also another good point
so urdu/ english are needed for economic reasons...cause economic power and succecss needs business contacts with outsiders..and english/ urdu are spoken by so many people, we can not avoid those languages and have to practice them for business/education puposes...
THOUGH pashtoon culture must be revived, so favoring persian revival, could be threatening pashtoon...that's why i'm against the idea of persian for west pak
instead pashtoons need to work harder in maintaining their cultural/linguistical heritage...internet is one way, teaching pashto to pashtoon in school woud help too.
i'm not pashtoon but i'm learning that language, and i feel sad to see that my fiance, who is pashtoon living in NWFP...can not even read or write properly that language cause he learnt only urdu and english at school!
Re: Persian For Western Pakistan
good input there parissenoor. So how are you finding pashtu, harder than you expected? Anyways, Pashtu should be taught and pashtun(afghan) culture must be revived.
Re: Persian For Western Pakistan
it’s not harder to learn than urdu…but easier than japanese or chinese:D…i would say it’s as hard as german:blush:…so i have good hope to be able to speak it one day inshallah
Re: Persian For Western Pakistan
When you first heard pashtu, what language did you thikn it resembled? I normally ask this question, when I compare it to ossetian.
P.S. Last rora, what do you think about the Ossetians? I believe we both have eastern iranian languages. Do you or any other pashtuns/pashtanas have any info regarding their culture?
Re: Persian For Western Pakistan
^
Ossetians are related to Pashtuns, most of them are Orthodox Christian but there’s lots of Muslims amongst them too, sadly the Muslims are being persecuted and forced to accept Christianity, the state has practically made it illegal for them to practice Islam and their Christian neighbours look at them with contempt and deliberately do things to make them feel uncomfotable like build bars, pubs and clubs near their Mosques and Christian Churches over their cemetries, God help the Muslim Nation, Amen.
I opened a thread on them, if you or anyone else has anything to add please do. 
Re: Persian For Western Pakistan
also another good point
so urdu/ english are needed for economic reasons...cause economic power and succecss needs business contacts with outsiders..and english/ urdu are spoken by so many people, we can not avoid those languages and have to practice them for business/education puposes... THOUGH pashtoon culture must be revived, so favoring persian revival, could be threatening pashtoon...that's why i'm against the idea of persian for west pak instead pashtoons need to work harder in maintaining their cultural/linguistical heritage...internet is one way, teaching pashto to pashtoon in school woud help too. i'm not pashtoon but i'm learning that language, and i feel sad to see that my fiance, who is pashtoon living in NWFP...can not even read or write properly that language cause he learnt only urdu and english at school!
Economic reasons are going to destroy Pashto.
Turning a blind eye to the realities will not help anything, not acknowledging the problem will not mean it will go away, denial wont help Pashtun culture in anyway.
The truth is that the way things are going in western Pakistan very soon Pashto language and Iranic culture will be replaced with Urdu language and Indic culture, if it doesn't become extinct altogether it will be pushed so far into the background that it will be hardly worth calling ourselves Pashtun anymore, we'll become Indic because that is the dominant culture in Pakistan and everyone will lump us with other South Asian countries whose dominant cultures are Indic such as India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Maldives and we'll have no cultural connection to our western Central Asian neighbours anymore because ethnic identity is based on the culture we practice not on race and that's a fact, burying our heads in the sand will not change that.
The other day my little cousin got beat on the back of his hands with a stick ten times by his teacher for speaking Pashto at school, he tells me on the phone only Urdu or English is allowed at his school. It's no wonder our younger generation can't speak Pashto properly or have any interest in Pashto literature, just compare their linguistic skills to that of our grandparents generation, us ABCP's not knowing certain big words is perfectly understandable but these are kids back home.
The only way to ensure Pashto's survival is to work to unite all Pashtun regions in Pakistan, be they those which are occupied by Punjab, are considered a part of Balochistan, or a part of Northern Areas and of course the Tribal Areas and NWFP and rename it all to Pashtunistan and have a standard dialect for the whole province. All provinces in Pakistan should be given autonomy and instead of Urdu each province should have it's own tongue as it's national and official language which should be the lingua franca, the language of academics, careers, arts, media and religion (make it liturgical language together with Arabic, replacing Urdu). Karachi should be made a seperate province for our Urdu speaking brothers and Urdu should be limited to it. We should be one pakistani/muslim nation/ummah (political alleigance) with one leader, army, currency and one center but recognise that we are multi-ethnic with our individual cultures just the same ideology, sort of like a regional subsititute to the khilafah.
But you know what? That's ^ just my fantasies, it aint going to happen and Pashtuns will get assimilated into the domiant Pakistani culture which is Indic and I try and change my mindset to suit that because it's inevitable and I don't need any stress over it, as they say if you can't beat them join them, I know that's un-Pashtun of me but come on guys be realistic and look at the real world outside your comp and observe what's happenin, utopian Pashtun pride websites and articles aint reality. :(
Re: Persian For Western Pakistan
Ey bachas na fahmedee....
For those wanting to know, there is a world of difference
between Dari and Farsi. Dari is the purest and oldest
form of the language out there. It uses the suffix 'ra'
and stresses less on words. Farsi lacks the suffix 'ra'
and stresses on the words tremendously. Dari is also
the largest and most widely spoken language of Afghanistan.
Spoken by Tadzhik, Uzbak, Turkman, Hazarah and many
pashtoons. More than 3,000,000 speak the language.
Personally as an Uzbek, I love the language. It's much
more softer than Pushto. Still I don't think any one
should be forced to learn or speak Dari or any other
form of Farsi. Everyone is fine with the language they
speak in Pakistan. Plus part of 'living and let live' theory
is accepting different people and their ethnic backgrounds
rather than trying to shove one's own belief and customs
down someone's throat.
Re: Persian For Western Pakistan
Tashakur:blush: