I am a Pakistani Indian

[curioususer]

Raza Habib Raja

There is something about India as an idea which transcends the modern day political configurations. It is the idea of India as a huge mass of land which stretches from Baluchistan to present day Bangladesh. This idea of India is independent of any political configuration. In fact during the past thousands of years, this mass of land has very seldom been a unified political entity. And yet there is something which loosely unites the inhabitants despite their substantial religious and at times even ethno linguistic differences (after all let us not forget that more than 200 languages are spoken in India). There is something, perhaps difficult to articulate, which enables this huge stretch of land to be called India irrespective of various political shapes it has assumed over thousands of years.

My country Pakistan was created only 60 years ago. In my eyes, the current political landscape consisting of India, Bangladesh and Pakistan is just one of the many political permutations, Indian subcontinent has witnessed over thousands of years. This current political formation does not mean that I have ceased to be an Indian. Yes at this point I will say that I am a proud Pakistani. I opened my eyes here and I love it intensely despite the fact that I have often been severely critical of the way things are being run here. But at the same time I would also like to say that I have an Indian identity as well.

I am the heir to the same great Indus valley civilization and I have the same claim to India as those who belong to modern political India. It is this common great heritage, underpinned by the idea of India independent of political configurations, which unites me with those who live in the present political entity of India. It is our common heritage irrespective of our different political and for that matter even cultural differences( because India has many sub cultures which differ substantially from each other ).

Yes those who worship the idea of two nation theory will negate it and ironically their sentiments will find endorsement by Hinduvta brigade. The former thinks that identity is perhaps a monolithic phenomenon and Pakistan equates to an antithesis of India. They think that identity is solely a political cum religious construct and since Pakistan is a separate political entity therefore we are now just Pakistanis in every respect of the way. The political Pakistan means fostering of a completely new identity and a complete divorce from the past. For them their past starts from the point their ancestors converted to Islam and their identity morphs into anything concrete only after the creation of Pakistan. And this group, comprising of so called nationalists, is also wary of ethnic identities and aligns itself with the state cultivated narrative of “One Pakistan: One Nation”.

The later (Indian right wingers) think that since Pakistan became a separate state, their country was “partitioned” and an unforgiveable sin has been committed. By creating Pakistan, its inhabitants have divided mother India. They keep on talking about the glory of Indus valley civilization and mention India as a historically single political entity which in 1947 was divided along religious lines.

Well needless to say that I disagree with both the parties. My premise is that people have multiple identities. I am, a Pakistani, a Punjabi, a Muslim and of course an Indian in the sense I have mentioned above. In fact we all have multiple identities. At times one identity may become dominant due to certain circumstances and may even take a strong political expression such as demand for a separate state. However, even if does so, the other identities though relegated do not simply disappear. So in my case my Indian identity is there despite my Pakistani identity. Though I may not consciously ‘choose” it but it is for me not only a matter of choice as it is an identity shaped by history and culture transmitted through generations. It is that common historical heritage which binds me together with those who live in the neighbouring political India.

At present I am in USA and studying at Cornell. Some of my best friends are Indians and I am amazed that how much common we have despite apparently “hostile” political situation between the two countries. And they do not belong to North India only ( as it is often said that North India is culturally closer to Pakistan) but from South also. It is that commonality which transcends political and for that matter even ethnic and religious differences which binds me to them. I do not think of them as foes but as my brothers and sisters with whom I share a great common heritage.

And yet I will not apologize for Pakistan as it is my country and I opened my eyes here. I will nevertheless reiterate that creation of Pakistan at least in my eyes does not negate my Indian identity and origins. I would like to remind all those who are bent upon imposing Arab wahabi culture on us that it is alien to us.

I believe that realizing our common Indian identity is important as it will lead to erosion of bitterness. Yes modern Pakistan and India are a reality but then so is our great common heritage. Yes it is important for us to be loyal to our political states but at the same time not overlook the joint heritage.

I am a Pakistani Indian….

Source:I am a Pakistani Indian…… | Pak Tea House

 

[RazPaK]

I'm sorry for the author. Truly.


But he needs to understand that this is his background, and that he can't paint all Pakistanis with the same brush.

 

[Ayush]

interesting read. .

 

[Thorough Pro]

Raza Habib Raja

These are the kind of people for whom word "mother ******" was invented.

 

[ShahidT]

These are the kind of people for whom word "mother ******" was invented.

He expressed what he feels. besides, if you are a native of Punjab, Sindh, Kashmir, what were you known as before partition?

But the way he has implied that past heritage of Indus valley, etc is something that makes all Pakistanis 'Indian' is actually very wrong and inconsiderate. we have a large population of Baloch and Pashtuns who do not identify with the same past, since their origins are kordestan/khorasan. you have to be sensitive to that fact and not flare up this rhetoric every now and again, even if you are punjabi or sindhi.

What matters is that we together constitute one Pakistan all under the umbrella and guidance of Islam, though we may have cultural or racial diversity. if you remove even one tribe, ethnic or other group out of this collage, then the nation falls. at this moment we need efforts to strengthen our bonds as a nation, a family, not throw spanner in the works with irresponsible, widely read articles or opinions like this.

 

[Thorough Pro]

Proud Muslim ruler of Hindustan.

He expressed what he feels. besides, if you are a native of Punjab, Sindh, Kashmir, what were you known as before partition?
But the way he has implied that past heritage of Indus valley, etc is something that makes all Pakistanis 'Indian' is actually very wrong and inconsiderate. we have a large population of Baloch and Pashtuns who do not identify with the same past, since their origins are kordestan/khorasan. you have to be sensitive to that fact and not flare up this rhetoric every now and again, even if you are punjabi or sindhi.

What matters is that we together constitute one Pakistan all under the umbrella and guidance of Islam, though we may have cultural or racial diversity. if you remove even one tribe, ethnic or other group out of this collage, then the nation falls. at this moment we need efforts to strengthen our bonds as a nation, a family, not throw spanner in the works with irresponsible, widely read articles or opinions like this.

 

[janon]

Proud Muslim ruler of Hindustan.

Umm...no, before partition you as well as we were ruled by the british empire. Maybe they didn't teach you that in school. I wouldn't be surprised.

And if you go further back, you wouldn't be a "ruler", unless you belonged to one of the royal dynasties. Other than the royals, the rest were all subjects. No matter what your religion. Some people think that just because they belong to one religion, they were "rulers", because the royal family belonged to that religion too.

 

[ShahidT]

Proud Muslim ruler of Hindustan.

read what I wrote... 'if you are a native'. barring a few exceptions, how many rulers in our history did anything for the people? most were concerned with maintaining their power doesn't matter if our cities burned or razed to the ground. or building extravagant useless structures, giving it to others far away rather than uplifting the people's conditions. for them we were subjects destined to be treated like s**t, regardless of colour or creed.

if you consider yourself to have mughal or turkic blood, even many amongst the mughal royalty themselves had hindu mothers. after few centuries more than 3/4ths of their blood was probably local too. forget about any of us that claim some distant, far away link that's not verified.

 

[janon]

read what I wrote... 'if you are a native'. barring a few exceptions, how many rulers in our history did anything for the people? most were concerned with maintaining their power doesn't matter if our cities burned or razed to the ground. or building extravagant useless structures, giving it to others far away rather than uplifting the people's conditions. for them we were subjects destined to be treated like s**t, regardless of colour or creed.

if you consider yourself to have mughal or turkic blood, even many amongst the mughal royalty themselves had hindu mothers. after few centuries more than 3/4ths of their blood was probably local too. forget about any of us that claim some distant, far away link that's not verified.

Unless he was a king or prince or belonged to a royal family, he wouldn't be a ruler either.

These ridiculous and grandiose delusions of some people, that they were "rulers" and hindus were their subjects or slaves, betrays something shameful about them - they think that if the rulers were muslims, then all the muslims in the country were "ruling over" people of other religions. Either that shows something very wrong about islam, or about the people who believe in that particular delusion. He seems to have imbibed the notion that having a muslim ruler automatically means muslims subjugating others, others being slaves.

If not, he would have realized that muslims and hindus and everybody else were subjects of the rulers.

Not to mention the fact that there were lots of hindu and other empires in the subcontinent. But then hindus don't claim that just because the Maratha empire existed at that time, all hindus were "proud rulers". No, only the ones in the royal family were.

 

[Thorough Pro]

Off course they did, British considered Muslims as enemies, as they had stabbed them to snatch government from them and feared reprisal.

British did not rule Muslims, they ruled Hindustan, Muslims were their enemies, their equals or better, Hindus they treated as slaves just like they were slaves of Muslims for thousands of years. This is where your slave mentality "hindu mentality" comes from. You can not rise like honourable men, you use deceit, lying, and back stabbing as your greatest weapons, cause this is what you learned in your thousand year slavery.

Umm...no, before partition you as well as we were ruled by the british empire. Maybe they didn't teach you that in school. I wouldn't be surprised.

 

[janon]

Off course they did, British considered Muslims as enemies, as they had stabbed them to snatch government from them and feared reprisal.

British did not rule Muslims, they ruled Hindustan, Muslims were their enemies, their equals or better, Hindus they treated as slaves just like they were slaves of Muslims for thousands of years. This is where your slave mentality "hindu mentality" comes from. You can not rise like honourable men, you use deceit, lying, and back stabbing as your greatest weapons, cause this is what you learned in your thousand year slavery.

Sorry, I don't have time to respond to all the stock phrases that are spouted by delusional victims of propaganda. Yeah right, muslims in India were better or equal to the british, while hindus were slaves. Lol. Its sad that anybody can be so ignorant of history, but hey - you are Pakistani.

Anyway read more, the internet is a wonderful place to learn beyond what they taught you at school. Most young Pakistanis spout these stock phrases of "hindu mentality, slaves, while we were proud muslim rulers, blah blah". Later some of them go on to realize real history, if they keep reading beyond the propaganda.

"Slave mentality", "hindu mentality", blah blah...lol. It is amazing how Pakistan actually managed to raise an entire generation to think and speak in this fashion. Comical too.

I'm sorry that I don't have the time or patience to re-educate you. Hopefully you will learn by yourself. Until then, enjoy your delusions of having been proud rulers, or equal to the british while they ruled, whereas "hindu baniyas" were slaves and so on. Anyway you have put a smile on my face for now, you are the classic, stereotypical product of Zia's attempt at rewriting history in Pakistan's schools.

 

[funtoosh]

guy is desperate not to be associated with pak like most youth of pak today.
we are all genetically the same but pakistanis minds have been corrupted by the virulent strain of religion for the last few deccades and hence the current generation think s that they are invaders and not indigenous people.

 

[Bang Galore]

I'm sorry that I don't have the time or patience to re-educate you.

Why sorry? Be thankful. Be very thankful!

Old saying: Big rock...very strong head....still not good result !

 

[funtoosh]

Off course they did, British considered Muslims as enemies, as they had stabbed them to snatch government from them and feared reprisal.

British did not rule Muslims, they ruled Hindustan, Muslims were their enemies, their equals or better, Hindus they treated as slaves just like they were slaves of Muslims for thousands of years. This is where your slave mentality "hindu mentality" comes from. You can not rise like honourable men, you use deceit, lying, and back stabbing as your greatest weapons, cause this is what you learned in your thousand year slavery.

so the fault of making us like this is due to the muslims ruling us for 1000 years. its only fair that we now unlearn our slave mentality and become better than the muslims.which we have done.
the entire muslim world is not equal to india today in terms of human capital. maybe they are richer due to past plunder or digging the ground. but as human capital the entire muslim world are light years behind india. and this has hapneded in just 60 years.

 

[Shinigami]

interesting read. although i am not comfortable with a pakistani calling himself indian

Off course they did, British considered Muslims as enemies, as they had stabbed them to snatch government from them and feared reprisal.

British did not rule Muslims, they ruled Hindustan, Muslims were their enemies, their equals or better, Hindus they treated as slaves just like they were slaves of Muslims for thousands of years. This is where your slave mentality "hindu mentality" comes from. You can not rise like honourable men, you use deceit, lying, and back stabbing as your greatest weapons, cause this is what you learned in your thousand year slavery.

is this what they teach you in your pakistan studies text book?