I have been browsing this forum since the last few months, but this is going to be my first post. I have observed that the Pakistanis have a notion that the Muslims in India are a very oppressed class and given a chance, they will rush to Pakistan. This is all BULLSHIT! I don't know what some lame Pakistani sites say, I just know what I have seen in reality. I will tell you, in my school, there were around 8 Muslim students in a class of 45. And not even once, I ever felt that they are different from the rest of 37 of us. We used to play together, study together, party together and we even used to discuss how Sachin Tendulkar thrashed Shoaib Akhtar in 2003 World Cup. Even today, in college, I have many Muslim friends and professors but neither of them have ever been discriminated on the basis of their religion. They all are achieving great success in their respective fields whether its Academics (like we have the IAS 2009 Topper from J&K) or Cricket or Bollywood (I don't need to give examples here) because they all are INDIANS, by heart.
So please change this opinion of yours which you have created just by reading some fake news on the Internet. I accept that there are some groups within India, which see Pakistan as their homeland. But these groups hardly account for 2-5% of the Total Muslim population of India (which is more than the population of Pakistan).
Apart from this issue, I have one more issue in my mind.
Every Indian child grows up reading that India has 9 Neighbors - Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan & Sri Lanka. So it comes to us as a shock that the map we have been seeing since the last 15 years is not completely ours and India doesn't share any border with Afghanistan, at least it doesn't in reality. It was around 2 years back that I came to know that GilgitBaltistan and Aksai Chin are not a part of India in reality. Trust me, I was shocked as hell. But now I have accepted this fact.
India has 43% of Kashmir, Pakistan has 37% and China has occupied the rest 20%, so what I feel is whatever we have, we should be satisfied because I have seen people fighting on this forum, as in one day the Indians will get hold of the P.O.K and the Pakistanis will get the Indian Kashmir.
Apart from this, I want to know a few things about Pakistan:
1. What do general Pakistanis feel about the Indians?
2. How do the Pakistanis rate India as a country?
3. How are the other religions (apart from Islam) treated in Pakistan? Are they given equal rights and freedom?
3. Is Pakistan that unstable as we see on various news channels and on internet, unstable as in daily there is a bomb blast somewhere or the other?
4. Why is the Pakistani Army the most respected institution of the country? What's the reason?
Please give me an honest answer because I have already read enough shits on the Internet.
A good start to your PDF experience, sir. Welcome to PDF and a good post! I shall answer you anchoring my answers into the realistic picture that we hold.
1. What do general Pakistanis feel about the Indians?
Generally, Pakistanis feel OK about Indians, we share a common cultural root and are consumers of Bollywood and Indian soaps. Pakistani businessmen are interested in Indian economics and Pakistani academia, especially the social sciences, is extremely interested in India and Indians. Pakistanis abroad share a better dyad with Indians then we locals do.
2. How do the Pakistanis rate India as a country?
Pakistanis rate India very well as a country and this is the main fact that scares Pakistanis; we do not want to be left behind and have to compete with a supremely powerful India. Pakistani educated class especially sees Pakistan at the cross-roads where either we'll begin catching up or be left in the dust. We admire your achievements, are cautious of your power and interested in your model.
3. How are the other religions (apart from Islam) treated in Pakistan? Are they given equal rights and freedom?
That truly varies across the socio-economic status of the said minorities, well to do minority members face little or no problems. Not so well to do minorities are marginlaised but this is not truly based on their minority status it is actually due to the colonial and feudal inheritance that we have. Same as your Caste and Minorities status, the ground realities in Pakistan are not so different despite the media portrayals and harsher laws.
3. Is Pakistan that unstable as we see on various news channels and on internet, unstable as in daily there is a bomb blast somewhere or the other?
Actually Pakistan is extremely stable and that's the problem. The Status-quo of Pakistan has an extremely strong writ of the government but a weaker one of the law and order institutions. A good comparision would be of the underworld culture of your native country. The exception is that our gangs have political agendas and thus commit acts of terror.
4. Why is the Pakistani Army the most respected institution of the country? What's the reason?
Punjabi and Pakhtun culture (around 75% of Pakistan) has an affinity to the warrior culture. Thus, the army, the most vocal face of our armed forces, has a deep affinity within these cultures. Secondly, the army is seen as a non-interest group though after Musharaf era this is no longer a mainstream perception. Thirdly, for most Pakistanis the Ayub era is held as the golden era which was again a military regime. Fourthly, a lot of people in Pakistan believe that democracy is unsuited for the nation and thus look to the autocratic system of the military as the better alternative.
Regards.
What do you think of Africans then?
