I dont think so.
Well I guess you learn something new everyday, didnt know that and had to look it up. You are right.
Am I hateful of Muslim influence in SA? No. Do I dislike it? Yes.
The case with Sikhs is different, men and women have to cover their heads when in gurudwaras, its not specifically meant for women, and it is a religious order, not a Muslim influence.
Hindu Rajput women that cover their head are actually pretty rare, maybe 5% of Rajput women in Rajasthan I have seen do that, but yes that is something I am not a big fan of. Why? Because it isnt our culture.
We can agree to disagree here.
My problem with the Indian poster was trying to portray India and Pakistan as similar cultural entities. when the ground reality is he is living in the past. Culture was same when the present day present day Pakistanis were Hindus/Sikhs/Buddhists hundreds/thousands/whatever X (amount of years you prefer) ago, not today. Only thing similar today is language. Take that away and difference between and Indian-Ecuadorian and Indian-Pakistan will relatively be the same culturally speaking...
I am pretty sure 500 years ago Pakistan was not a muslim majority country. Maybe Balochistan and KPK were muslim majority, but definitely not Sindh and Punjab where most of Pak population resides. Punjab as recently in the 1901 British India census had a Hindu majority (barely at 57% i BELIEVE, but a Hindu majority nonetheless).
Anyways, I am getting sidetracked here. the point I was trying to make still stands, replace my 500 with 1000 years ago, or 2000 years ago.
1. Cultural influence from Islam is pretty significant and entrenched in Indian culture. You can not hope to rid yourselves of it, just as you can not hope to rid yourselves of English influence. Sikhism grew as a religious movement that adapted Islamic beliefs and practices into a Hindu mould. So as far as influence goes, it is fairly well entrenched. Just as you learned something new about Shalwar Kameez, there are other things for you (and me) to learn. Most important of which might be having an open mind about other cultures. For example, if I were to live in North Africa or East Asia or Middle East or Central Asia, I would not have a problem since the Islamic influence at work makes all these places 'familiar'. Islamic doctrine is focused more on values rather than specific practices or manifestations. This is a point I was trying to put across to @
Contrarian.
2. If someone talks about shared social and cultural values between India and Pakistan, then they certainly have a point. For example you have just admitted that we share linguistic heritage. Urdu & Hindi vary from one another only in degree of influence from the near West (Middle East, Persia, & Central Asia). And of course language is the most powerful symbol of cultural expression. You can not deny this.
3. Your obsession seems to lie with the identity based on difference from 'the other'. Hence your insistence upon India and Pakistan being very different (in fact opposites as you seem to imply). This is a negative approach my friend. It would be better if you define yourself for who you ARE rather than who you are NOT. As for me, I think that the whole of humanity is a family. The differences are to be celebrated as long as these do not lead to immorality / immaturity.
4. Indeed history of Islam in Baluchistan is about 1350 years old. For Sindh it is 1300 years old. Muhammad Bin Qasim established the rule of Ummayyad dynasty beyond Sindh and even beyond Multan. Lahore itself was sometimes considered as part of 'Multan'. Multan had a motley of rulers for the next few centuries who were Hindus / Muslims / and even Qarmatians sometimes. As for Western and upper Punjab, Muslim influence existed since a long time. Muslim saints were active in preaching-by-example more than 1000 years ago. Being from Lahore gives me a unique opportunity to confirm this fact.
It is no accident that Western Punjab has been a Muslim majority region for hundreds of years. You may find figures for United Punjab when it included Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, and some princely states, but I am specifically pointing at Western Punjab that is part of Pakistan now. So the Punjabi culture had shared values from both religions, and from both Bharat and its near West. Just look at how many Punjabis live in Delhi and there your point about cultural dissimilarity sounds hollow and based on parochial world-view. Mere insistence in contradiction to facts would just be blind dogmatism.
5. I appreciate Indian posters who make an effort to point at shared cultural practices for whatever reason (Akhand Bharat, love for peace, wider connection with world culture, etc...) because they are pointing to something that actually exists.
6. Read and expand your horizons buddy. There is a lot out there neither or us knows. Happy learning.
where they wanna sound more British than the real Britishers already living there
i never said so!
