24 absurd beliefs Pakistanis have

[Kabira]

Point 1:
My grandparents were mostly in east Pakistan, present day Bangladesh. My grandfather's older brother was a barrister in Lahore, who lost his first wife in Partition. He remarried in India again.
As I said, both religions killed each other. Saying that only one did is a gross distortion of history.

Bangladesh is not Pakistan. And i don't believe in your lies, so your hindu family some how ended up in Bangladsh and Pakistan before 1947?

 

[Nihil]

Bangladesh is not Pakistan. And i don't believe in your lies, so your hindu family some how ended up in Bangladsh and Pakistan before 1947?

Bangladesh still had 20% Hindu population after 1947. Many prominent Bengalis have had roots in present day Bangladesh. Lahore was, and is still a major city in Pakistan. What is not there to believe in this?
@ghazi52 see one of your absurdities on display. Someone who believes that no Hindus were there in Lahore before the Partition.

 

[Butchcassidy]

24 absurd beliefs Pakistanis have
By Syed Ali Abbas Zaidi

......

Norms are beliefs about how members of a group should behave in a particular context. They are informal and often ‘invisible’ understandings and rules that govern a group’s behaviour towards particular religious, social, cultural, political and socio-economic triggers.

Norms generally define what is acceptable in a society or group and are the building blocks for appropriate and inappropriate values, beliefs, attitudes, behaviours, ideologies and narratives.

These rules are generally implicit.

In addition to what is considered normative in societal, political or cultural context, there are smaller groups within a society which endorse a particular norm. On one hand, norms define how to move, what to wear, how to speak, what to discuss, what not to challenge and the likes, while on the other, they shape narratives that construct the social fabric and religio-political discourses. Quite often, these norms are reflected in laws but not always. I will try to short-list some bizarre norms and beliefs that are prevalent in our society today:

1. Attributing failures to fate, foreign hands or conspiracy

“Jo karwaya, Amreeka ne karwaya”

(Whatever happened, happened because America made it happen)

“Foreign hands were involved”

“Jewish conspiracy!”

Or simply

“It was fate.”.

2. God will take care of this, Insha’Allah!

God will help, yes, but only if you are willing to help yourself as well. Apathy never goes rewarded anyway. This idea has become a convenient scapegoat for our leaders and people alike when one’s incapability to strive against an unwanted situation is tested.

3. The West versus Islam

Many modern extremist narratives are built from the idea that there is a constant war between the West and the forces of Islam. At a societal level, the general understanding is that westerners do not have ethical or moral values, and are baysharam (shameless) and bayghairat (without any integrity).

4. Let’s ask the religious scholar instead

Different matters related to the broad spectrum of human life, sciences and other knowledge-based fields are taken to mullahs or clerics, as if they have all the knowledge in the world and are the most potent problem solvers. They are human too; stop putting them on a pedestal.

5. Civilians are less patriotic

An idea that exists in a few military circles, and in some shades penetrates into mainstream society as well, is that men in uniform are more patriotic than civilians.

Who introduced this scale to determine ones patriotism anyway? This is absurd. The establishment driven narrative that politicians are all dirty gets endorsement from the same thought-process. I am no less patriotic than the men in green.

6. Homosexuality does not exist

The debate around homosexuality is virtually absent in Pakistan simply because, even though everyone knows it exists, it is silently shoved under the carpet. Saying it does not exist won’t change reality.

7. Shaadi karwadoo – sab maslay hal hojayein gey!

(Get them married – all their problems will get solved)

8. Secularism means Godlessness

This common notion in our society highlights that secularism means Godlessness. Those propagating these beliefs, for obvious political reasons, need rigorous lessons in political science.

9. It’s always the woman’s fault

Whether she is seen smiling on the streets or just got out of a relationship that did not end well, it is always the girl’s fault.

“Why is she wearing such clothes? Is she asking for it?”

“Why did she smile? That must mean a yes!”

Should a woman always wear an angry look on her face while walking on the streets? Is she not virtuous otherwise?

10. No power on earth can undo Pakistan

Well, this narrative should have drowned in the Bay of Bengal in 1971 but it still manages to stir hyper (blind) nationalists to the core.

11. Sharing food with non-Muslims

This is one of the most shameful norms I have noticed. Many families do not share food or crockery with non-Muslim domestic staff. Lots of research needs to be done about how it became a norm even though there seem to be no Islamic rulings preventing a Muslim from sharing food or utensils with non-Muslims that I have come across.

13. A veil is a symbol of modesty

To some, wearing a veil automatically makes a person more modest and pious than others. It is like a sign-board, shouting out to society that those who are veiled are modest and those who aren’t are not.

15. Modernism is taking off ones clothes

In the same way, being ‘modern’ is also gauged on an illogical scale.

“Baray modern ho gai ho!”

(You’ve become so modern!)

16. Liberalism means partying

Political liberalism is equated with life-style liberalism, which is not the case. The ‘liberal-secular’ is a metaphor used by right wing parties and writers with a negative connotation, to mark someone as having no values. It is part of the larger discourse that utilises these norms in the society and sees liberalism as a threat.

17. You love someone? Moun kala karwa diya

(You have disgraced the family)

18. It’s okay to bribe, sometimes…

Many of us have come across religious, pious people giving the explanation that,

“It’s okay to bribe someone, if it gets the work done.”

Hypocrisy knows no bounds when religious people indulge in an evil practice which they themselves preach against in public gatherings.

19. Your elders are always right!

Common sense would suggest that they might be right sometimes, maybe even most of the times, but not always. There are many things and new trends which they do not know about. How can they be in any position to give a verdict on such novelties, let alone be right?

20. Pakistan Ka Matlab Kya? La Ilaha Illallah

Whether this slogan was denounced by the founder of Pakistan or not is a different debate, but it darkens the white portion of our flag. We need to be more sensitive to the non-Muslim minority of Pakistan.

And on a logical basis, intellect also begs to inquire how a country’s name can mean ‘there is no God but Allah’.

21. Extremism is because of drones

Narratives around extremism have greatly been influenced by right-leaning forces, equating extremism with drones, Extremism has dented the basic social fabric of our society, leaving behind human and financial losses. We vehemently need to challenge such narratives that seek patronage from the society.

22. Internet equates to ****

As the Internet expands into rural areas and lower-middle classes, this norm is usually used by elders to prevent youngsters from using the Internet. Yes, the Internet does give access to ****, but that is not all that it does. It is a medium to be used as the user deems fit. Many schools and colleges ban internet usage for students on the same pretext, preventing them from accessing an endless source of knowledge.

23. Arts? A futile pursuit

Artistes are change-makers in any society; they evoke new ideas through different art-forms and enable a society’s progress. The downfall of art as a whole in Pakistan has a lot to do with this norm, injected into individuals by the society from a very early age.

24. We live in sectarian harmony

I grew up in 12 cities of Pakistan and my name instigated the following questions from my class fellows,

“Do you mix blood with rice?” “Do you spit in tea before serving?” And so on and so forth.

I am sure such sectarian hatred exists in all sects, with every sect claiming to possess the absolute truth and the rest are simply kafirs, mushriks (infidels). We live in a very sectarian minded society, from politics to cultural acceptance. Although I realise this is a way to make sure the other sect looks unappealing to the listener, a lot needs to be done to challenge the absurd myths people may make up about sects other than their own.

Once firmly established, a norm becomes a part of operational power structures and hence, becomes difficult to change.

Our society is rife with absurd norms, such as these, that halt intellectual and collective progress. While all groups within Pakistan do not endorse these norms, the conversation to challenge them has to start from us. NOW.
24 absurd beliefs Pakistanis have – The Express Tribune Blog

Though #7 would be apt for @Armstrong

 

[Kabira]

Bangladesh still had 20% Hindu population after 1947. Many prominent Bengalis have had roots in present day Bangladesh. Lahore was, and is still a major city in Pakistan. What is not there to believe in this?
@ghazi52 see one of your absurdities on display. Someone who believes that no Hindus were there in Lahore before the Partition.

You are twsiting my post, this is trolling. I just doubted your claim of having relatives in both sides of muslim majority country.

I already said Pakistan was 90%> muslim before partition, so obviously rest were non-muslims. Even now you can find some hindus here and there in Lahore.

 

[Nihil]

You are twsiting my post, this is trolling. I just doubted your claim of having relatives in both sides of muslim majority country.

I already said Pakistan was 90%> muslim before partition, so obviously rest were non-muslims. Even now you can find some hindus here and there in Lahore.

I am a Bengali with roots in Calcutta. Bengalis as such were the earliest western educated of all people in South Asia, because the oldest colleges and universities (Presidency college and Calcutta University) were there. Also, our family, like many other Bengalis, have had no ties to agriculture for at least three centuries. The absence of agriculture makes you more mobile. And Dhaka for example had a huge Bengali population. Rabindranath Tagore, Satyajit Ray - all prominent Bengali intellectuals had landholdings in Bangladesh (Khulna and Mymensingh respectively). Tagore's niece (Sarla Devi) for example married a barrister, who was again based in Lahore.
These are all historical facts of prominent Bengali families, which run counter to the propaganda that fills your head. It runs counter to the ideology you stick to, so you try to close your ears, and shout "Lies! Lies!"

 

[Kabira]

I am a Bengali with roots in Calcutta. Bengalis as such were the earliest western educated of all people in South Asia, because the oldest colleges and universities (Presidency college and Calcutta University) were there. Also, our family, like many other Bengalis, have had no ties to agriculture for at least three centuries. The absence of agriculture makes you more mobile. And Dhaka for example had a huge Bengali population. Rabindranath Tagore, Satyajit Ray - all prominent Bengali intellectuals had landholdings in Bangladesh (Khulna and Mymensingh respectively). Tagore's niece (Sarla Devi) for example married a barrister, who was again based in Lahore.
These are all historical facts of prominent Bengali families, which run counter to the propaganda that fills your head. It runs counter to the ideology you stick to, so you try to close your ears, and shout "Lies! Lies!"

So your family was not really ancient-Pakistani but someone who moved to Lahore for work and after partition moved back to India without much problem.

 

[Nihil]

So your family was not really ancient-Pakistani but someone who moved to Lahore for work and after partition moved back to India without much problem.

Yeah, without much problem!

My grandparents were mostly in east Pakistan, present day Bangladesh. My grandfather's older brother was a barrister in Lahore, who lost his first wife in Partition. He remarried in India again.
As I said, both religions killed each other. Saying that only one did is a gross distortion of history.

 

[Always Neutral]

24 absurd beliefs Pakistanis have
By Syed Ali Abbas Zaidi

......


24 absurd beliefs Pakistanis have – The Express Tribune Blog

ADD A 25TH

BLIND BELIEF IN #ZAID HAMID.

That Idiot today on his twitter tried to pass of a fake story as that of BBC with the link www.bbc-news.co.uk when everyone knows what the true link is. When his *** was turned to grass he deleted the link.