You're saying the identity crisis is due to Muslims who migrated from India only? Putting the entire blame on a minority population hardly seems fair. You'll have Punjabis and sindhis looking desi as f*ck and claiming arab/persian identity then who is at fault here?
This is not a conclusion I made in one day. For decades I have read and considered this subject because I saw this emerging identity crisis way back in 1980s informed by my personal experiance as a young man with conflicted backgrounds.
To begin with identity is not about 'looks'. if that were the case the entire European world including the wider west like USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand etc who all are of mostly European extraction would have one identity. Nobody calls Trump a German. He is American [whatever that means] despite being grandson of German migrant. A Englishman, a German, a Irishman, a Dane, a Swede etc presently exactly the same look, the same culture, the same attire, the same religion etc but you can't say they don't have separate identities. Indeed even artificial identities like Canuks and Yanks have evolved divided by a ruler straight line on the map dividing the same geography.
The issue is in Pakistan is there are identities. Solid identities. Punjabi, Sindhi are solid examples. In UK we have four national identities - English, Welsh, Scots, Northern Irish combined into UNITED Kingdom. The Norther Irish overlap into Republic of Ireland but that does not denude United Kingdom in anyway. These four identities are celebrated All are Christian. But Christianity alone is not the identity because so are the Germans, the French or even Russians. Being Christians is not what makes UK. Being English. Welsh, Scot, Ulster is what makes UK.
Similiary Pakistan is a federation. Pakhtuns, Baloch, Sindhi, Punjabi each with their own province. Indeed the original blueprint of Pakistan alludes to this from 1933. This is what informed the making of the acronym Pakistan.
However after 73 years Pakistan is still a ship lost in the sea of identity politics. The main reason has been the experiances of the minority 4% being pushed on the majority 96% which means today the majoirity is even infected by this malaise.
Like I said before the schizophrenia of the minority migrants has been inflicted on the majority. To give a simple example. If I am living in Patanagar, a Bihari colony in Karachi how will I justify my migration? Economics? Religion? Ethnicity?
I am actually a Indian Bihari in ever way. In my tradition, in my historical tradition etc. The only strand that I can cite to justify and give beef to my identity so that India is the other is by using religion. Take away my religion and I am a Indian. Thus the need to stress religion as a identity.
This is why it is well known fact that Indian migrants tended to be socially liberal but voted for left of right conservative religious parties. Religion thus became the main identity after 1947. The flaw in that was evidently clear. There are 40 Muslim countries. Islam is not the exclusive preserve of Pakistan.
The way forward should have been each province to celebrate and own t's own glorious history and then contribute to the national tapesty as Pakistan. All threads woven together. It is still not too late.
By the way there is no such thing as Swiss or Indian ethnic group. Both are made of differant 'bricks' put together. Below is one of the most stable, long lived and prosperous countries of Europe called Switzerland with a strong identity and recognition across the globe.
However there is no such thing as "Swiss". They are just mashup of Germans, French, Italians, French etc.
