Re: True Face of India
Not to beat a dead horse, but I would make this one point. To be fair southie, this im sure is the response any intelligent educated Hindu would give. But what of uneducated and superstitious Hindus?
**There are stories passed down from elders in our village of Hindus who would walk on opposite sides of the road in order to avoid their shadows mingling with those of Muslims. Or of those Hindus who if you went to their homes, would serve their Muslim guests on Palm leaves or the like and reserve the plates for their Hindu guests. Or they would fill their buckets on opposite side of the well to avoid mingling with the Muslims. So to many Hindus, perhaps not as well versed even their own faith, Muslims were often and perhaps still are considered to be among the lower caste, if unofficial. **
There are those who draw up these fantasies of pre Partition India, as if we all lived together as brotherly as conjoined twins, but Religious discrimination was and is a very real thing.
Still though, you are right, baggage from the caste system is still prevalent among Pakistanis, especially among villages where everyone knows everyone else s family background. But beyond the villages, the anonymity of the city means many otherwise low caste clans etc do relatively well…
Med the reason behind all that is laid in non vegetarian and vegetarian food. since muslims were considered to be meat and cow eating individuals, so strictly vegetarian hindus had no option but to stay away from muslims. Just like U can find many muslims staying away from restaurants who would serve forbidden stuff.