Of course once a war erupts and people (soldiers) put their uniforms on it does not matter who is on the opposite side of the barrel. I mean Pakistani and Indian Punjabis as well as Pakistani Mujahir's of various ethnic groups have already fought their brethren so to speak. Same story with numerous Arab countries during the few (albeit they occurred) Arab-Arab conflicts. That's evident.
However my question was more about the people to people relations. Does the average Pakistani Punjabi such as you in the UK feel any affinity to the average Indian Punjabi in the UK? I know that there is the divide in religion between Punjabis in Pakistan and Indian Bengalis and Bangladeshi Bengalis but that should not be too much of a hindrance or is that the case?
Of course modern-day ethnic groups are social constructs like everything else (basically), unless people really believe that entire ethnic groups were created by the same nuclear family and their offspring without any outside "assistance". However you have to agree with me that there is a ethnic group called Punjabi, a language called Punjabi (which like all other larger languages has dialects) a Punjabi culture (which like all culture of larger ethnic groups have different layers depending on the historical regions) and that many Punjabis feel some short of kinship one way or another. There is also a genetic affinity (on a larger scale of course like in any ethnic group not everyone shares the same haplogroup or ancestry but you can make enough conclusions to categorize a group like with other ethnic groups/populations in region x or y of the world).
Anyway I have a few Pashtun friends (1 from Waziristan in Pakistan) and the other is from Kandahar (the Pashtun heartland in Afghanistan if I am not wrong) and they feel an affinity to each other but here I have seen Pashtuns from Pakistan (I don't know if they are false-flaggers or trolls) who feel no affinity to any Afghans.
Anyway I guess this is what makes conflicts in South Asia complicated as there are so many layers and due to the very large diversity. Something that I will never understand either is the case system in India. Won't ever understand it. Sure we Arabs have our retarded sectarian lot, largely a recent phenomenon sadly, but they are in general a very small minority and some of them can change, but once a member of a lower caste it seems that it is a death sentence in India. How can Indians tolerate this I won't ever understand. And there is some religious element (if I am not wrong) involved too to make matters worse so it's not as easy to remove. It's been there for millennia as well if I am not wrong.
Anyway good to see you around here. I hope that you are doing well my friend.
Cheers mate, good to see you here too, the more diverse a forum, the broader our perspective becomes.
And yes, you are right in that respect. Most Indian and Pakistani Punjabis do feel a kinship with each other, I am friends with Indian Punjabis too, both Sikhs and Hindus and to say that they are some of the closest friends I have would not be an exaggeration.
Regardless of the issues we have in South Asia, both Indians and Pakistanis usually tend to stick together, especially Indian and Pakistani Punjabis. For example, in school and colleges, the Indian Punjabis had our back and we had theirs. When my Sikh friend was threatened by some random chav, that guy was jumped by both Pakistanis and Indians.
But the relationship, at least in my opinion, is not extended to other Indians. It is indeed relegated to Indian Punjabis. We didn't care about the other Indians much and neither did the Indian Punjabis, as they were mostly from South India and spoke a completely different language and had a different culture and mindset.
And I do feel a kinship with Indian Punjabis, but I would never let it conflict my love for Pakistan though, and we don't expect Indian Punjabis to do the same either. India and Pakistan both have Punjab provinces, so I respect soldiers from both countries and I have never had any issues with this. Rest is politics and mostly the issue of Kashmir that has increased tensions between India and Pakistan, if the Kashmir issue was resolved, Then I am certain that India and Pakistan would have been very close friends, just like the founders of both nations envisioned it.
Are practically all of the Pakistani Mujahir not Muslims? How is it possible to stir up pro-Indian elements among such a populace? From an outsiders view that seems contradictory as most Mujahir, correct me if I am wrong, moved to Pakistan exactly due to them wanting to live in a nation where the majority shared their religion. Also another question, if you don't mind (I don't discuss such personal stuff in person with people or even religion so I will have to do with forums/social media) are most Pakistani Mujahir not from the borderlands of Pakistan (Northern India in general) or are there also many from elsewhere in India such as Deccan which long had and still has a large Muslim population. For instance Hyderabad or Kerala etc.
Haha, not surprised about that. After all you had to prove your loyalty in the eyes of many natives (I believe) so being vocal probably helped. Or more importantly having experienced the unfortunate killings that followed in the wake of the establishment of Pakistan and India.
Anyway what about when Pakistanis and Indians on this forum have heated discussions and racial slurs are involved aimed at Indians? Do you feel personally attacked in such a case as a person with ancestral ties to modern-day India?
I am not a Muhajir. I am ethnically Kashmiri and Awan (west Punjabi) but I do have relatives who are. Racial slurs are nothing new in the subcontinent, I don't personally like them but you can't police the internet as they say.
And it is not to stir pro Indian sentiment, it was more to stir anti Pakistan sentiment and ask India for help in arming an insurgency, but again like I mentioned, the guy who did that has been disowned by the very party he founded, even though before that he was considered almost like a spiritual leader.
And I think the Muhajir community is very diverse, they are however mostly from North and Central India, with a significant minority of them coming from other areas. Also, a lot of the community are actually descended from other groups who came from what is now Pakistan and Afghanistan. For example, I know someone who was related to the royal nawab family in UP, which was founded by Pushtuns but are now of course considered part of the muhajir community.
Mate, South Asia is arguably the most diverse place subcontinent in my opinion. The different ethnic and linguistic groups found here far outnumber any other diverse areas, historically speaking at least.
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