What's new

What is pakistani culture?

Joined
Jun 23, 2010
Messages
5,341
Reaction score
-29
Country
Pakistan
Location
Pakistan
When people say "pakistani culture" what does they mean by it? I am confused about this term. Does Pakistani culture means culture associated with ahal-e-zuban of urdu? or it is sum of cultures of all ethnicities of pakistan and if yes then how does it make any sense?....
 
When people say "pakistani culture" what does they mean by it? I am confused about this term. Does Pakistani culture means culture associated with ahal-e-zuban of urdu? or it is sum of cultures of all ethnicities of pakistan and if yes then how does it make any sense?....



No need to make new thread, This issue will be discussed in many threads, Just quitely read those posts. And moreover its not only u, many are confused about "Identity", its called identity crisis...
 
No need to make new thread, This issue will be discussed in many threads, Just quitely read those posts. And moreover its not only u, many are confused about "Identity", its called identity crisis...

In my opinion a separate thread is ok for this topic........ In my opinion pakistan is multicultural, but i am confused about this term "pakistani culture", what does they mean by it.
 
The way I see it, Pakistani Culture is all three of these :

(a) The Cultures of our different ethnic & linguistic communities.

(b) The overlapping Culture that has been bred due to centuries of continued existence with ethnicities exchanging different cultural practices that were traditionally uniquely associated with another ethnicity. For example most of our older generation is fond of wearing the Karakuli Cap even if its unique to the Pasthun belt, the Peshawari chappal is worn across Pakistan & the koti (vest) that may have its origin in the UP is worn across Pakistan now whether its by the Pasthuns or the Punjabis.

(c) An overarching appreciation of how Islam has deeply influenced our respective cultures & enjoys a special place in our outlook on life & about life & I'm not talking about praying 5 times a day or fasting but rather that standards of propriety, of ethics & morality are indeed a part of a culture & they in turn breed or let die different cultural practices or dispositions. This also leads to a greater appreciation of 'Hum log eik qaum hai kiyun ke hum Musalmaan hain' then otherwise possible in a society with such distinct ethno-linguistic fault-lines !
 
In my opinion pakistani culture is a sudden formation made in 1947 as a result of two nation theory . It also implies making heroes of only muslim invaders and neglecting local heroes and local languages.
And topic have been discussed alot of times
 
The way I see it, Pakistani Culture is all three of these :

(a) The Cultures of our different ethnic & linguistic communities.

(b) The overlapping Culture that has been bred due to centuries of continued existence with ethnicities exchanging different cultural practices that were traditionally uniquely associated with another ethnicity. For example most of our older generation is fond of wearing the Karakuli Cap even if its unique to the Pasthun belt, the Peshawari chappal is worn across Pakistan & the koti (vest) that may have its origin in the UP is worn across Pakistan now whether its by the Pasthuns or the Punjabis.

(c) An overarching appreciation of how Islam has deeply influenced our respective cultures & enjoys a special place in our outlook on life & about life & I'm not talking about praying 5 times a day or fasting but rather that standards of propriety, of ethics & morality are indeed a part of a culture & they in turn breed or let die different cultural practices or dispositions. This also leads to a greater appreciation of 'Hum log eik qaum hai kiyun ke hum Musalmaan hain' then otherwise possible in a society with such distinct ethno-linguistic fault-lines !

You gave very good examples of overlapping culture. But how does Pakistani culture deal with cultural differences between different communities of Pakistan. Forexample Punajabis demand jahaiz from female's family while pashtuns instead demand particular amount of "zar" (gold) from male's family which is additional to haq-e-mehar. Among Pashtuns nikkah is performed at male side after rukhsati while among punjabies there is nikkah first then rukhsati. there are countless other examples.
 
In my opinion pakistani culture is a sudden formation made in 1947 as a result of two nation theory . It also implies making heroes of only muslim invaders and neglecting local heroes and local languages.
And topic have been discussed alot of times

I am not talking about history, heroes, invaders, ideology of pakiistani......... my topic is Pakistani culture
 
What is culture?

How you eat and dress ?

Your social customs?

Your group likes and dislikes and thought processes?
 
You gave very good examples of overlapping culture. But how does Pakistani culture deal with cultural differences between different communities of Pakistan. Forexample Punajabis demand jahaiz from female's family while pashtuns instead demand particular amount of "zar" (gold) from male's family which is additional to haq-e-mehar. Among Pashtuns nikkah is performed at male side after rukhsati while among punjabies there is nikkah first then rukhsati. there are countless other examples.

Why does it need to deal with them ? Let each have the space to express themselves; the Pashtuns have KPK, FATA & parts of GB & Balochistan. The Punjabis have Punjab, the Sindhis have Sindh, the Baloch have Balochistan & each of the smaller ethnicities have carved out a niche for themselves in either bigger cities or in the majority communities by having a syncretic culture of sorts in a symbiotic relationship with the majority community. Its up to the constituent assemblies in each of those areas to recognize, nurture & promote their respective cultures.

And as for the differences you mentioned...think of it this way - My cousin (Punjabi-Kashmiri) got married to a Pashtun; they had both bhangra & something called the Khattak dance at their weddings, the food selection was reflective of the two ethnicities too, the segregation of the sexes was in line with the sensibilities of the bride's family & in some places the different practices too were exchanged or let go of for the sake of the other side.

P.S Oye....we don't demand jahaiz - Its a gift from the family of the bride ! My Dad for example refused to take any Jahaiz even when my maternal grandparents were enthusiastic about buying the bride & groom some accessories for the new life together.

P.P.S Aur nikah pehlee ho yaa baaad mein shaaadiii tou hogaiii naa....koi maslaa nahin ! Koi cultural clash nahin...its a non issue !
 
And as for the differences you mentioned...think of it this way - My cousin (Punjabi-Kashmiri) got married to a Pashtun; they had both bhangra & something called the Khattak dance at their weddings, the food selection was reflective of the two ethnicities too, the segregation of the sexes was in line with the sensibilities of the bride's family & in some places the different practices too were exchanged or let go of for the sake of the other side.

I was not talking about inter-ethnic marriages or solutions for it, normally in inter-ethnic marriages both parties put aside cultural differences. my point was existence of differences between different cultures of Pakistan. forexample how much my pashtunwali feels part of pakistani culture to an urban urdu speaker of karachi? To which extent "nowroz" of northern areas feel pakistani festivel to a lahori who celebrates "basant" festival.
 
AFAIT. Pakistani culture is the name of a process of cultural evolution happening in Pakistan right now. It will take us Pakistanis a century to build and it will not be homogeneous but an integrated multicultural society. Differences make a country, beautiful - Pakistan will look different to what it looks like today in 50 years.


This is what we are, and we are beautiful and proud of every fabric of our culture.

389070_439585419405727_538171687_n.jpg
 

Latest posts

Pakistan Affairs Latest Posts

Back
Top Bottom