I dont think you have travelled a lot then as such.
All along north to south of Pakistan, there are multiple pockets and groups of people who consider themselves "arab" by taking their "Syed" heritage a bit too literally. Others dont even have lineage to use as an excuse but still end up dressing up like Arabs and imposing draconian restrictions on their families in the guise of Islam and Arabism. With most providing the argument that "because we are Muslims, we are Arabs".
There are three different arguments I have heard from different viewpoints summed together:
First on the basis of genealogy , yes there are many in Pakistan who may consider themselves of Arab "blood" since detailed family tree's and authentic genealogical charts have been recorded as a practice since the times of the Tughlak dynasty.
Many of these Arab lines are from the Sufi Saints that came into India to preach and propagate Islam, for eg the descendants of Moenuddin Chishti of Ajmer carry Arab-Afghan heritage and can through detailed verified genealogical charts..however to consider that for 900 years to this day this bloodline carries only Arab-Afghan blood is to be unrealistic. The number of converts in India grew under these Saints and many married into many local populations in an effort to "integrate" Islam into India(not the opposite).
So yes, there is now a measurable section of both India & Pakistan that is Arab,Afghan and Persian by heritage and lineage...
This means that while they do have a separate identity..it is not Arab or Persian or otherwise.
It was a unique identity of being Indian(pre-partition) Muslims..of being part of the land rather than alien to it...
It had little role to play in politics until the British came along.
However, these people form much less of the actual population of Pakistan and are generally mirrored by many "fake" representations of Arab lineage(which in reality may not even have a single Arab Chromosome in them). And these have mirror counterparts in India as well. These are generally "created" for personal gain rather than identity and should not be taken as an attempt to be more Arab than the Arabs.
Second: are the "urbies" or Wannabe "arabs".. this new phenomenon is the direct result of the interference and influence of the Saud Dynasty into Pakistani society. The introduction of this Modern Arab Extremism has led to a large section of the religious leadership in Pakistan and otherwise to completely consider themselves alien to the rest of South Asia simply based on the fact that their religion is Islam.
So even though a person may be entirely Dravidian by his lineage.. He considers himself a Arab(apparently being Muslim cuts you off from the land) and starts to dress and act accordingly. This conversion varies across the spectrum with various shades of Arabism and Afghan cultural shades appearing within this lot. This does however point more to the nature of the people of this land to adapt to different influences rather than a testament to being separate from the rest of South Asia.
India was able to avoid this phenomenon because the major Islamic education centre's in British India(Deoband,Osmania University, Aligarh University) stayed within India after Partition(although most of Deobands Scholars migrated to Pakistan..and did not take up the Deoband name again.. which means that many of those that consider themselves Deobandis arent exactly following those of the original institution..although this requires more research) and hence the leadership that provides Islamic thought and guidance in India is still fairly controlled through these institutions.
While in Pakistan, there is no centre to "regulate" Islamic thought... its everyone's heyday and interpretation...which when it comes in the hands of the uneducated or unbridled.. results in the disaster we see today.
A third argument is that the area that the Indus River has always been a buffer between South Asia and the Middle east..
The mixpot where hundreds of cultural colors end up mixing and hundreds of different identities exist. And where generally.. the Indus has acted much like a cultural equivalent of a timezone divider. If such is the case, then there will always be an identity issue across Pakistan since it is caught between two differing shades of cultural views.
One in the east that is more colourful and vibrant but varying, and the other in its west that is more Sober and uniform but disciplined. Education may have been one tool to unite these two halves and promote a balanced harmony.. but that never happened.
In my view..the final result is a mixture of all these conditions and perhaps other social phenomenon which history has influenced.
The actual study will require less bias and bigotry than which can be provided by many PDF members in my view.
