J for jihad or J for jobs

[A.Rafay]

It all begins with lullabies. Sing praise of invaders and warriors to toddlers, and you are likely to raise children who would glorify militancy as adults. Teach toddlers about entrepreneurs, poets, and philosophers, and you may raise an enlightened nation.

Given the widespread violence in Pakistan, which has caused at least 40,000 violent deaths in the past few years alone, many wonder about its root causes. People ask how Pakistanis could commit such barbaric acts. The scapegoating kicks right in. Most readily blame India for hatching violent conspiracies against Pakistan. Polls after polls show that Pakistanis believe India poses the greatest threat to their security. Others blame the great Satan, the United States, for masterminding terror in Pakistan’s streets and squares. And then there are others who blame Saudi Arabia and Iran for the same. Almost no one finds fault with Pakistanis.

But Pakistan does have a J for Jihad problem that begins with what is taught to children even when they are in the cradle. Even from a young age, Pakistanis are bombarded with tales of warriors, of whom not a single one being indigenous, who arrived from foreign lands to protect Muslims or to spread Islam. These holy warriors seldom built schools or hospitals in the invaded lands, but their conquests are celebrated nevertheless. And when Pakistanis could not find any contemporary warriors to sing praise for, they turned to militarising even the alphabet. Toddlers are being taught J for Jihad in Pakistan!

J is for Jobs

I wonder whose job it is in Pakistan to create jobs. The socio-political discourse in Pakistan is devoid of any meaningful discussion of growing the employment base. Even those who are supposed to be the economic gurus talk only of GDP growth and inflation rates, but are mum about growing the employment base. Ask any expert about how many workers are gainfully employed in Pakistan and they may not have an answer.

Lack of sustenance providing jobs and the increase in violence are intrinsically coupled. A quick glance of the age pyramid in Pakistan would reveal that the largest cohorts in Pakistan comprise the youth and young adults in their prime working age. While the economy fails to create jobs in urban centres that are required to absorb the growing tide of the young and restless cohorts, the militants and other outlawed outfits handsomely reward those who are willing to join their ranks and pick up arms against the civilian and military elite that hoard resources from the rest. If the economic engine spits out enough jobs in Pakistan’s urban centres and small towns, the youth may decide not to join the dark side. Don’t take my word for it. David Foot, Canada’s renowned demographer and a former professor at the University of Toronto, has been arguing the same in the Middle Eastern context. If the Palestinian kids had jobs, they wouldn’t be throwing stones, argued David Foot.

​

When was the last time the government of Pakistan released employment figures for public consumption?

The reality is that the government of Pakistan (the political apparatus and the civilian bureaucracy) is least prepared to create the environment necessary for growing an employment base in Pakistan. Many experts argue that the government is in fact more of a drag than a facilitator for job creation. The government in fact cannot even collect owed taxes, let alone help create jobs. Why else would the recently released report on doing business reveal that Pakistan ranked 162 out of 185 countries in ease for paying taxes?

The public sector discourse on economy is too abstract, and at times meaningless, when it comes to job creation. Consider Pakistan government’s primary text on the state of economy, The Economic Survey of Pakistan, which struggles to say a word or two about employment statistics. And even those numbers are highly suspect. The government claims that in a country where a large number of children are so malnourished that they are categorised as wasting or having stunted growth, the unemployment rate in 2010-11 was only 6 per cent. What does this number imply? Does it mean that only 6 per cent of the labour force is unemployed, while the rest are gainfully employed?

The government further claims that 53.84 million of the 57.24 million comprising the labour force in 2010-11 were employed. In fact, the government believes that the unemployment rate in Khyber Pukhtoonkhwa (KPK) decreased during the same time period. This may suggest to some that Pakistan has resolved its economic woes, which is hardly the case. Let’s first look at the situation in KPK. With devastating floods that displaced millions from the province and the armed insurgency that further forced millions to leave the province, it should come as no surprise that, even if the numbers are suspect, unemployment may have declined because those without jobs and sustenance have most likely migrated to Punjab and Sindh.

But what does the government mean when it counts someone as employed. Does the government truly believe that the 53.8 million were gainfully employed in Pakistan? The government has set the minimum wage, which it cannot enforce even in the capital Islamabad, to 8,000 rupees. I think that the government counts any one earning the minimum wage as employed, regardless of the fact if 8,000 rupees were insufficient to support an average sized household that often struggles to feed six to seven individuals. Obviously those earning minimum wage cannot sustain a household, suggesting that a large number of Pakistanis are underemployed, thus earning less than sustenance wages, thus resulting in massive food insecurity.

One wonders if the government has a plan to boost employment? Yes it does. However, the plan does not work for workers in Pakistan. In the government’s own words: “The Government of Pakistan is making sincere efforts to boost overseas employment.” The government of Pakistan sounded extremely pleased in reporting that the number of expatriate workers had increased to 0.45 million in 2011. The government even offers a breakdown of expatriate workers by skill level, which it fails to do for workers employed within Pakistan.

J is for Jamat-i-Islami

The political and religious parties in Pakistan are also without a plan. Jamat-i-Islami (JI) is a classic spoiler when it comes to the party’s economic policy. Knowing that JI will never be in power, the party makes the most ridiculous claims about raising the minimum wage to levels that neither the economy can sustain, nor the government could enforce. But that hardly concerns JI because they know whoever makes the government will have to answer the electorate for the minimum wage promises made by the likes of JI.

Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) is no different. It also lacks a real economic tsunami. PTI’s PowerPointed, typos ridden economic policy is hardly a policy document. Similar to JI it makes tall claims but fails to offer even short details about how those plans will be implemented. PTI claims to grow the economy at 6 per cent annually and promises to bring the inflation down to 7 per cent. First, without logistical details, no self-respecting economist will buy these numbers, which are almost impossible to achieve under the current global economic situation. Secondly, with the inflation rate leading the GDP growth rate, as claimed by PTI, the workers will continue to chase goods and services in vain.

Nation building demands that Pakistanis should revisit how the key messaging glorifies violence even for toddlers. The folklores have to abandon the unnecessary and irrelevant praise for warriors and mercenaries. Instead, parents have to develop a new narrative that praises living legends of the likes of Eidhi and Hussain Dawood.

http://dawn.com/2012/10/24/j-for-jihad-or-j-for-jobs/

 

[somebozo]

A very well written article and an epitome of my own thoughts.

Pakistani history needs to be revised and we don't need to sing praises of invaders who only came to expand their own empires and economies. The core of our identity crisis lies in our endless pursuit to be identified as "Muslim ummah" which is nothing but a mere mirage. A gora friend of mine has very low opinion of Pakistanis...he says instead of blaming British for colonialism, the people mentally aspire to be enslaved and the British were just wave of another rulers in the region..sort of sounds true to me!

When you crave enslavement, there will be many to take advantage of it.

1984-1994: CIA Funds Militant Textbooks for Afghanistan
The US, through USAID and the University of Nebraska, spends millions of dollars developing and printing textbooks for Afghan schoolchildren. The textbooks are “filled with violent images and militant Islamic teachings, part of covert attempts to spur resistance to the Soviet occupation.” For instance, children are “taught to count with illustrations showing tanks, missiles, and land mines.” Lacking any alternative, millions of these textbooks are used long after 1994; the Taliban will still be using them in 2001. In 2002, the US will start producing less violent versions of the same books, which President Bush says will have “respect for human dignity, instead of indoctrinating students with fanaticism and bigotry.” (He will fail to mention who created those earlier books.) [WASHINGTON POST, 3/23/2002; CANADIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, 5/6/2002] A University of Nebraska academic named Thomas Gouttierre leads the textbook program. Journalist Robert Dreyfuss will later reveal that although funding for Gouttierre’s work went through USAID, it was actually paid for by the CIA. Unocal will pay Gouttierre to work with the Taliban (see December 1997) and he will host visits of Taliban leaders to the US, including trips in 1997 and 1999 (see December 4, 1997 and July-August 1999). [DREYFUSS, 2005, PP. 328]

 

[pak-marine]

It all begins with lullabies. Sing praise of invaders and warriors to toddlers, and you are likely to raise children who would glorify militancy as adults. Teach toddlers about entrepreneurs, poets, and philosophers, and you may raise an enlightened nation.

says it all our nations present state is the direct result of reading twisted history , takes many many years to realize .

 

[somebozo]

It all begins with lullabies. Sing praise of invaders and warriors to toddlers, and you are likely to raise children who would glorify militancy as adults. Teach toddlers about entrepreneurs, poets, and philosophers, and you may raise an enlightened nation.

says it all our nations present state is the direct result of reading twisted history , takes many many years to realize .

We proudly desecrate the memorials of Sir Ganga Ram but cherish Mohammed Bin Qasim. This is bound to happen! We are trying to erase our history and replace it with loony tunes. We are worst than Israel which is at-least able to find some roots of its own!

The attack on Malala has exposed another dilemma of Pakistani nation with regards to infiltration of foreign ideologies.

Malala can be regarded as a local hero, attacked by militants inspired with foreign ideologies hell bent on destroying our social fabric and bringing us under the sphere of enslavement. The British colonialism of South Asia wasn't as dangers as much as these terrorist inspired by foreign ideologies are.

 

[darkinsky]

It all begins with lullabies. Sing praise of invaders and warriors to toddlers, and you are likely to raise children who would glorify militancy as adults. Teach toddlers about entrepreneurs, poets, and philosophers, and you may raise an enlightened nation.

says it all our nations present state is the direct result of reading twisted history , takes many many years to realize .

the present state of our nation is just because of few metric history books, you are already high in merijuana, history lessons doesnt effect anybody, next time you will also blame the karachi target killings on wrong history taught to our school children

and as we are talking about glorifying the invaders here, i dont think you guys have enough guts to condemn the uncle sam's invasion in the first place

 

[somebozo]

Flawed and imaginary Arabized identity has become the biggest curse for Pakistani nation. The sickening ideologies emanated from this flawed identity are now posing grave threats to world peace and the very existence of the country itself

“These walls are funny. First you hate 'em, then you get used to 'em. Enough time passes, you get so depended on them. That's institutionalized.” --Morgan Freeman as Red in Shawshank Redemption

Pakistan is the primary and worst victim of institutionalized falsehood. How ironic is the fact that the ‘fabrication gurus’ had to concoct so-called ‘Ideology of Pakistan” long after the inception of Pakistan. The chauvinistic and undemocratic mindset, right from the beginning, had a realization the powers will have to be conceded to people if a genuine democracy takes root in newly emerged state.

To keep a tight grip on power and to keep the masses enslaved, a mind control strategy was sought through systematic and institutionalized indoctrination by the crooks at helm of the affairs, especially feudal cum politicians and civil bureaucracy. At that particular time, the military and mullah were ‘dragged into game’ as junior partners, where the later was to act us ‘paid propagandist’ to divert people from real to ‘non-issues’.

The unscrupulous feudal cum politicians had to rely on the ‘muscle power’ of military while confronting the challenge of growing dissenting voices. Thus, it provided an opportunity to military establishment to take the plunge and modify its role from a ‘junior partner’ to a ‘big boss’.

The civil and military establishments both resorted in appeasing the mullah to consolidate their illegitimate regimes. Consequently, the mullah exploited the situation to advance his own agenda. This agenda was (is) based on pan-Islamism and it was the very reason that the mullah had opposed the separation of the Sub-continent earlier. Furthermore, he deemed it a perfect opportunity to avenge his earlier defeats.

However, it was not only typical mullah who played religious cards to advance his agenda. It was a great irony of the history that Mohammad Ali Jinnah, the founding father of the nation and a man with all the secular credentials and liberal in life style resorted in religious rhetoric to popularize his movement for a separate Muslim state. The history repeated itself when Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, another man in modern outlook betrayed his progressive supporter and thus, opened ‘hell gates’ of extreme religiosity, inflicted on the people by then military dictator Gen. Zia.

While refusing to learn a lesson from the separation of Bangladesh which was also a big blow to the notion that religion can be a binding force of diverse ethnic and cultural groups, the Pakistani establishment thus intensified its institutionalized efforts of carving out a flawed and concocted identity of the country as well as its people.

The establishment was desperate to paint a false identity fearing that the flourishing democracy on the other side of the border may ultimately devour their hegemonic rule. The power hungry establishment was also aware of the fact that the religious euphoria could not really cater to the needs of the all ethnic and cultural groups living in its territory.

Therefore, it was decided to instill this false identity by means of all sorts of coercion and manipulation, including enactment of discriminatory and draconian laws against the minorities and women, changing curricula with infusion of hate speeches, violence and extremely bigoted and intolerant worldview and patronizing violent extremist religious groups.

Besides, the state initiated ruthless Arabization (as newly found identity) of society on the cost of the Baloch, Sindhi, Pashtoon, Punjabi, Saraiki and other indigenous identities. The new imposed Arabized identity had some distinct features i.e. 1-detachment from South Asia and attachment with Middle East, 2-self-hatred (showing distain towards South Asian ancestry and obsessed efforts of tracing genealogy in Arabia, Central Asia or Iran) and love for foreign invaders of the past and sympathies with global jihadists of the present.

Today, this flawed and imaginary Arabized identity has become the biggest curse for Pakistani nation. The sickening ideologies emanated from this flawed identity are now posing grave threats to world peace and the very existence of the country itself. But the people of Pakistan are still not ready to determine who their real enemy is. They are totally oblivious of the history of Sub-continent prior to Arabian invasion on this soil led by Mohammad bin Qasim.

This flawed identity is one of the biggest contributors in widespread confusion in the society about the real enemy. The people of Pakistan, in general, have developed sympathies for Jihadist terrorists as they have a feeling of shared identity with them. Thus, the nation is fighting this battle half heartedly. This identity crisis has produced a population which is falling fast into hypocrisy and double standards.

The people of Pakistan want to emulate Arabs in every sphere of life but at other hand, their social ethos, family system and values all are deeply rooted in their South Asian identity and they have a strange love-hate relationship with this identity. The collective guilt of living “immoral” or un-Islamic (on South Asian ethos) lives is pushing them towards more religiosity and thus more isolation and self-hatred.

As a result of this identity crisis, deliberate disconnect with the past, twisted and biased history and being part of illusionary ‘Umma’, majority of the Pakistanis are living in a state of deep confusion and denial. Thus, they resort in supremacist religious ideologies and glorification of the invaders, just to soothe their bruised but inflated egos. This persistent state of denial, bigotry and confusion is resulting as irrational, extreme and violent behaviors.

The inability to comprehend the concepts of a nation state, modernity, equality and pluralism has made the perplexed Pakistani nation incompatible with modern world. Hence, the only areas where they are far ahead of other nations are massive corruption, extremism, violence and terrorism. The feature scenario also seems bleak as any critical thinking is immediately threatened with life. There is a serious and dire need to revive local (South Asian) identities and to return to a pluralist society which has a history of thousands of years in the Sub-continent.

the present state of our nation is just because of few metric history books, you are already high in merijuana, history lessons doesnt effect anybody, next time you will also blame the karachi target killings on wrong history taught to our school children

There is a reason why history is taught at schools - to shape the future of the youth and their association to the land they are going to live in the future. Instead of understanding the gravity of situation, you are ridiculing it as a light matter. I pity your intellectualism.

and as we are talking about glorifying the invaders here, i dont think you guys have enough guts to condemn the uncle sam's invasion in the first place

Uncle Sam invasion started during the cold war by funding proxies like Taliban who would one day turn their guns and at that time Uncle Sam was being cited as great friend and patron of Pakistan. Once again our "invader" glorifying got the best of us. Now we are left to handle the mess!

 

[Contrarian]

the present state of our nation is just because of few metric history books, you are already high in merijuana, history lessons doesnt effect anybody, next time you will also blame the karachi target killings on wrong history taught to our school children

and as we are talking about glorifying the invaders here, i dont think you guys have enough guts to condemn the uncle sam's invasion in the first place

Hard to understand why you donot get the simple concept. They are right.

 

[darkinsky]

There is a reason why history is taught at schools - to shape the future of the youth and their association to the land they are going to live in the future. Instead of understanding the gravity of situation, you are ridiculing it as a light matter. I pity your intellectualism.

you need to understand that there is no conspiracy to brain wash pakistanis from the hostory books, as regarding teaching us real history, what 'real' history should be taught to us, our ancestors were hindus living in stone age and who used to perform stone age exercises like satti for women, girls were buried alive, dalits had no right

or according to indians all muslim convert were infact hindu daltis

invader or not muhammad bin qasim changed the course of history for pakistanis and he laid the foundation stone for the muslim state in sub continent.. there is no wrong history taught in the history lessons and neither you need to jump up and down like a kid complaining in a childish way

if you are so anti arab BTW you can get of from saudi arabia when ever you want dear... living on arab money while cursing them at the same time doesnt suit you

 

[somebozo]

Making sense of Pakistan’s identity crisis

The Hindu : Opinion / Leader Page Articles : Making sense of Pakistan’s identity crisis

Hasan Suroor
A new book argues that there is no hope for Pakistan unless it sorts out its identity crisis which, it says, is the root cause of the country being such a disaster.
Arguably 60 years are not a long time in the history of a nation but by 60, even a country with a troubled past such as Pakistan, is expected to at least start making sense of what it stands for and where it is heading, however fuzzy the direction. And when it continues to flounder — like Pakistan — lurching from one crisis to another, it becomes a liability not only to its own people but also has implications for the wider international community, especially its neighbours — in this case India.

Pakistanis are a proud people. They feel humiliated when their country is mocked at as a “failed state” and routinely mentioned in the same breath as the pirate-infested Somalia which does not even have a properly functioning capital. For all its afflictions, Pakistan (a functioning democracy, however flawed, with a free press, an independent judiciary and a vibrant civil society) is by no means a failed state.

Not yet. But signs of a meltdown are all too evident and there are genuine fears about its future. One view, of course, is that the West will not allow it to fail for its own strategic reasons. But that is hardly very reassuring.

So what went wrong? How did a country which has no dearth of talent and whose founders had such high hopes for it that they named it “Pakistan” (a pure country) go so horribly wrong? Was there something rotten at the very core of the idea of Pakistan that has been its undoing? Is Pakistan’s failure to make sense of itself the result of a deep confusion over its Islamic/Muslim identity? If yes, what is the way forward, if any?

A new book, Making Sense of Pakistan (Hurst & Company, London) by Farzana Shaikh — a highly regarded U.K.-based Pakistani scholar and Fellow of Chatham House — argues that there is no hope for Pakistan unless it sorts out its identity crisis which, it says, is the root cause of the country being such a disaster. Indeed, in order to make sense of Pakistan, it is important to make sense of its identity crisis first.

Everything that is wrong with Pakistan today — its “distorted economic and social development,” its “obsession” with India, the sectarian divisions that have blighted relations among its various communities, its proneness to military dictatorships and the rise of extremism first directed at its “enemies” and now devouring its own creators — is a direct or indirect result of its confused sense of itself, Dr. Shaikh says.

So deep is this confusion that more than six decades after its creation, even the definition of who is a “Pakistani” is not clear with the Indian Muslim migrants still being regarded as outsiders by ethnic communities which claim that they are the “real” Pakistanis by virtue of their historical roots in the region. Over the years, this conflict between indigenous Muslim groups and migrants has been a source of deep (and frequently violent) divisions in Pakistani society. And it is still festering.

But nowhere is Pakistan’s self-inflicted identity crisis more evident than in relation to India, according to Dr. Shaikh. Because of the nature of its creation — a secessionist state born in opposition to the Indian nationalist movement — Pakistan was lumped with an identity, defined in terms of what it was “not” (it was “not India&#8221 rather than what it was.

“Indeed, much of the uncertainty over Pakistan’s identity stems from the nagging question of whether its identity is fundamentally dependent on India and what its construction might entail outside of opposition to the latter. This has prompted the suggestion that Pakistan is a state burdened with a negative identity shaped by the circumstances of Partition,” Dr. Shaikh says.

Ever since its formation, Pakistan has struggled to overcome this negative identity. Its search for what it regards as legitimacy has, in fact, been the “defining feature” of its policy towards India, especially the Kashmir issue, and is at the heart of its quest for military parity with a neighbour “almost seven times its size in population and more than four times its land mass.”

The dispute with India over Kashmir has come to symbolise Pakistan’s obsessive bid to delink its identity from its historical antecedents. To quote the author: “It is here [over Kashmir], amid the rhetoric of rival claims over territory and state sovereignty, that Pakistan has fought to assert itself and to liberate its identity from the uncertainties that have attached to its status as merely ‘not India’.” She argues that Pakistan’s efforts to achieve this identity underline its historical claim to parity with India: a claim “grounded” in Mohammad Ali Jinnah’s insistence that “equality of the nations of Hindus and Muslims” be the basis for any territorial division of British India.

As much as the national interest, it is Pakistan’s compulsive desire for parity with India (an extension of its efforts to assert its “independent” identity) that has shaped much of its foreign policy leading it to seek help from foreign powers. Take its alliance with America which, the author points out, has been motivated as much by security considerations — a protection against an attack from India — as by its “need for validation and its desire to win recognition of its special status.” Being a “strategic partner” of the world’s only superpower is seen in Pakistan as a boost to its “global image” to match India’s global status.

Again, it is Pakistan’s “self-perception” of national identity that, according to Dr. Shaikh, has led it to compete with India in the race for regional domination — by, for example, flexing its muscles in Afghanistan. “Although the consequences of these foreign policy ambitions have often been devastating to Pakistan and the strategic costs immense, no price is yet seen to be too high to validate Pakistan’s claim to nationhood ... Thus Pakistan’s struggle against India is deeply embedded in a painful awareness of its own lack of a national history,” she observes.

Ultimately, though, India is only part of a bigger story of Pakistan’s struggle with its identity which, Dr. Shaikh contends, has had a profound effect on every aspect of the country’s life and, indeed, its world view. The uncertainty resulting from a lack of consensus on what constitutes Pakistan’s national identity has “deepened the country’s divisions ... discouraged plural definitions of the Pakistani ... blighted good governance and tempted political elites to use the language of Islam as a substitute for democratic legitimacy.”

Today, Pakistan remains an enigma with no clear understanding of the nature of the Pakistani state. Analysing the causes of this debilitating confusion, she traces it back to the origins of Pakistan, the politics of its creation and the flawed assumption of its founders that religion could be the basis of a modern, forward-looking state.

A project forged around the idea that a Muslim religious identity, overriding cultural and social factors, was enough to unify a nation was doomed from the start. And, sure enough, the project started to unravel within years of its inauguration with Bengali-speaking Muslims breaking away from Pakistan to form their own Muslim state of Bangladesh. It is Pakistan’s “artificiality” as a nation-state — its eastern and western wings separated by more than a thousand miles of Indian territory and its citizens divided by a variety of linguistic and cultural traditions despite a common religion — that has prevented the evolution of a coherent national identity. This, in brief, is the thrust of Dr. Shaikh’s argument.

So what’s new, one might ask. Doesn’t it sound all too familiar? Dr. Shaikh may not be breaking new ground here but it is refreshing to come across a Pakistani viewpoint that doesn’t regard the discussion of Pakistan’s legitimacy as a no-go zone. It is a sensitive issue with Pakistanis who, as Dr. Shaikh points out, believe that India still “rejects the rationale of Pakistan’s statehood even if it has been forced to accept its reality.”

At the outset, Dr. Shaikh makes clear that her book is a “work of interpretation rather than of historical research.” Even so, one is often struck by what seems like an over-interpretation of Pakistan’s identity problem. There is a tendency to conflate issues which are not directly related to identity in order to fit an argument. For example, to see Pakistan’s arms race with India purely in terms of its attempt to overcome an identity crisis is to ignore the fact that any small country can have genuine security fears vis-À-vis a big and powerful neighbour, especially if there is a history of conflict between them.

That does not, however, take away from the importance of this book. It is a work of serious scholarship dealing with some of the most important issues that have shaped Pakistan and which, if not resolved, can have consequences for its future.

 

[darkinsky]

so you need to get history lessons from indian author, doesnt that speak volumes about your own identity crises??

 

[neokautilya2]

you need to understand that there is no conspiracy to brain wash pakistanis from the hostory books, as regarding teaching us real history, what 'real' history should be taught to us, our ancestors were hindus living in stone age and who used to perform stone age exercises like satti for women, girls were buried alive, dalits had no right

or according to indians all muslim convert were infact hindu daltis

invader or not muhammad bin qasim changed the course of history for pakistanis and he laid the foundation stone for the muslim state in sub continent.. there is no wrong history taught in the history lessons and neither you need to jump up and down like a kid complaining in a childish way

if you are so anti arab BTW you can get of from saudi arabia when ever you want dear... living on arab money while cursing them at the same time doesnt suit you

the bold part proves how u have been brainwashed since childhood..... u are living evidence of what is being taught in pakistan.... indians are not epitome of morality as well..... atleast every indian knows how the dalits had been oppressed and work has been done to give them equal status in society.... but anyways u wont understand.

 

[somebozo]

you need to understand that there is no conspiracy to brain wash pakistanis from the hostory books, as regarding teaching us real history, what 'real' history should be taught to us, our ancestors were hindus living in stone age and who used to perform stone age exercises like satti for women, girls were buried alive, dalits had no right

or according to indians all muslim convert were infact hindu daltis

invader or not muhammad bin qasim changed the course of history for pakistanis and he laid the foundation stone for the muslim state in sub continent.. there is no wrong history taught in the history lessons and neither you need to jump up and down like a kid complaining in a childish way

if you are so anti arab BTW you can get of from saudi arabia when ever you want dear... living on arab money while cursing them at the same time doesnt suit you

Hinduism wasn't that flourishing in the ancient part of Asia now called Pakistan and the obsession with Mohammed Bin Qasim has never been part of the regional history until Zia Ul Haq education reforms. There is no shame in admitting the past, Prohpet Abraham family was pagan, Prophet Mohammed tribe were idol worshipers and most of the Sahabas were ex-pagans. Coming to peace with the truth will solve many problems and make us appreciate our own culture and heritage. Remember Islam, no matter how magnificent emerged in a society devoid of any culture and heritage. It is false to argue the Mohammed Bin Qasim altered the course of the history in a land which gave the world its first university, modern sewage system and organised city planning - 5000 years ago while Islam came from a land which was the center hold of paganism. The reason why hardcore clerics insist on destruction of all heritage and history in the name if Islam is to cover the traces of their own incompetency and extinguish the most minute possibility of logical reasoning.

You are following a typical mullah line with accusations. The Arabs did not enforce their language or culture upon us and I am not anti-Arab. Instead we try to forcefully seek our roots in Arabian identity which makes no sense - and turns us into a laughing stock.

I do appreciate that Arabs take great effort in preserving their culture and heritage - barring few bad apples - and instead of bad mouthing Arabs try to learn a few good things from them.

You must have heard:
Kawa challa hans ke chal apne chal bhe bhool gaya.

Comments from the article:

An excellent piece which should be an eye-opener for every Pakistani and others who love this ancient and majestic land called Pakistan. Pakistanis should feel very proud of their centuries old rich and vibrant culture which evolved in the Indian sub-continents as a result of peaceful co-existence and daily interactions among people of different ethnic, religious and cultural backgrounds. Islam came to India via the people of central Asia. During the Ottoman and Moghual periods, people of all faiths lived in relative peace and harmony. Unfortunately, Pakistani people are now being forced to swallow the violent, intolerant and discriminatory version of this peaceful religion. Having travelled widely in numerous Arab countries on WHO-sponsored training missions, I have witnessed the cruel, inhuman and discriminatory ways foreign including Pakistani workers, professionals and even visitors are being treated by the oil rich Arabs. Pakistani religious zealots may pretend that by dressing like clowns they are copying the Arab/Islamic culture. However, in the eyes of Arabs, Pakistanis are "miskeens' and are treated even worst than workers/visitors from non-Muslim countries. Any Pakistani professional who has worked/lived in any oil rich Arab country will tell you that Muslims and especially Pakistanis are always paid much less for the same work as compared to the European and Americans. Moreover, Arab people generally do not consider Pakistanis and non-Arabs as good Muslims. Whereas any Arab can become instant 'Imam' in Pakistan, I have not come across a single non-Arab imam while praying in numerous mosques in the Arab world. I wonder why Pakistanis consider the US, the European countries, India and even Israel as their worst enemies. These countries treat their Muslim population much better than the Arab treat non-Arab Muslims. Living in North America and Europe for the past half a century, I know that the vast majority of about seven million Muslims living in the US and Canada are enjoying middle or upper class life. Moreover, like every one else, they enjoy all the religious freedom to practice Islam in peace and security. By following blindly, the foreign minted version of Islam, Pakistani people are heading towards economic, cultural and spirtual suicide.

 

[somebozo]

so you need to get history lessons from indian author, doesnt that speak volumes about your own identity crises??

Its not about the nationality of author but the weight of the truth mentioned in the article. However, your emotional outburst does expose your own identity crisis.

Turks are Muslims but they have not given up their Turkish heritage. Similar Pakistan does not need to give up their heritage and reverse on their culture in the name of Islam.

Iranians are Muslims but they have not given up on their Persian heritage, when Arabism was forced upon them they split into a different branch of Islam.

Syrian are Muslims and have become Arabized over a period of time, yet have not given up their Syriac and Roman culture.


Religion does not equal heritage and culture, but when we try to enforce such we are turning a section of society into identity-less savages!

 

[darkinsky]

the bold part proves how u have been brainwashed since childhood..... u are living evidence of what is being taught in pakistan.... indians are not epitome of morality as well..... atleast every indian knows how the dalits had been oppressed and work has been done to give them equal status in society.... but anyways u wont understand.

seems like you have been brainwashed into believing that there didnt exist a better civilization then india those times, the girl were buried alive in ancient india, and satti was also practiced till it became outdated after muslim rule, even today the families try to kill the girls before they are born in india

here is some food for your ignorant brain

Sati (practice) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[neokautilya2]

Hinduism wasn't that flourishing in the ancient part of Asia now called Pakistan and the obsession with Mohammed Bin Qasim has never been part of the regional history until Zia Ul Haq education reforms. There is no shame in admitting the past, Prohpet Abraham family was pagan, Prophet Mohammed tribe were idol worshipers and most of the Sahabas were ex-pagans. Coming to peace with the truth will solve many problems and make us appreciate our own culture and heritage. Remember Islam, no matter how magnificent emerged in a society devoid of any culture and heritage. It is false to argue the Mohammed Bin Qasim altered the course of the history in a land which gave the world its first university, modern sewage system and organised city planning - 5000 years ago while Islam came from a land which was the center hold of paganism. The reason why hardcore clerics insist on destruction of all heritage and history in the name if Islam is to cover the traces of their own incompetency and extinguish the most minute possibility of logical reasoning.

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please dont take me otherwise but what i percieve the reason behind this is because the arabs themselves and prophet mohammad (pbuh) never took pride on there pagan past and i read somewhere that in makkah idols were broken and the religious structures destroyed once it was conquered..... so what i think ppl in pakistan are just imitating what the arabs did... over that i pardon me if am wrong..