A FEW weeks ago I was chatting with a cousin who was born and brought up in Britain. He had just returned from an informal meeting at his office and appeared visibly annoyed.
On inquiring he let out a tirade of emotions because a couple of people at this meeting had asked him what his origin was. When he replied by naming the English town he was born in, they seemed dissatisfied with the answer and prodded further in a civilised manner, until they finally asked about the origin of his parents.
He appeared truly shocked at their questions and behaviour. He claimed that they had never accepted him as a native and would be reluctant to call him British. It was difficult for me to clearly understand the reasons behind his cathartic outburst. Surely it is not that bad asking about someone’s origin; we do that all the time in Pakistan!
Unesco describes culture as a “set of distinctive spiritual, material, intellectual and emotional features of society or a social group. It encompasses, in addition to art and literature, lifestyles, ways of living together, values systems, traditions and beliefs. Respecting and safeguarding culture is a matter of Human Rights [sic].” It also goes on to report that around 175 million persons are residing away from the country of their birth and one in every 10 persons in the developed regions is a migrant.
Different things can at times signify your roots. Some people can easily be identified by their names; others can be grouped together because of the similarities in their physical appearance. You can also correlate between groups of people by just noticing their cultural practices.
Our society in Pakistan is extremely heterogeneous but unfortunately we still have not come to terms with the concept of multiple identities. To be proud of your ethnicity is considered to be unpatriotic. How can persons whose ancestors have been Sindhis or Pakhtuns for hundreds of years suddenly give up being what they are and adopt just one identity which is just over 60 years old? Race or ethnicity exists at multiple levels; it varies from your genetic make-up to how you practice your culture. A completely independent subject of research is dedicated to this area known as anthropology. But unfortunately only culture has come to take the burden of race in our country.
If we start from the basics and believe that all humans are not the same and accept diversity as a fact rather than a burden, then we won’t go astray. Why is it wrong for a person to retain their cultural or genetic identity and at the same time adopt a new one? What is wrong in being a Pakistani of Sindhi or Seraiki origin or Baloch or Kashmiri origin?
A recent example can be taken from the issue of renaming the NWFP. Why are we so afraid in giving the people what rightfully belongs to them? When Chaudhry Rahmat Ali came up with the acronym of Pakistan, the second letter (A) in this name actually stood for Afghania. The people of the NWFP have actually made a compromise in agreeing to name their province Pakhtunkhwa.
The usual rhetorical argument given against renaming the province is that it will increase the sense of separatism there and it is not just Pakhtuns who live in the province. The interesting part is that we conveniently forget other provinces with similar dilemmas. Punjab still retains its name even though there is a large Seraiki population there. What about Balochistan which has both Pakhtun and Brahvi people living there in substantial numbers and how can we forget Sindh which has a large population of Pakistanis of North Indian origin (a term recently coined by Ayesha Siddiqa for mohajirs or the Urdu-speaking community).
These problems are not specific to Pakistan. In most of the developing world one group of the population is trying to suppress another on the basis of ethnic, cultural or religious differences. Even in our neighbouring country to the east, there is a great deal of ethnic tension between the north and the south. But we need to introspect first before we are even eligible to comment on others.
We cannot have a dialogue if we all think the same. So difference is necessary. And we all know that the smaller the differences, the more fiery the dialogue may become. This can be avoided by having a clear ideology and an agenda which caters to the needs of everyone. But for this to happen we need to have sincere politicians and genuine political will, a very rare entity to come across in Pakistan.
We should be celebrating our ethno-cultural diversity rather than suppressing it. This diversity should be our collective strength rather than weakness. By accepting we are different at many levels we can become more tolerant of each other. The more rights we give to different ethnic groups the more they will participate in being true stakeholders in the country. We should be studying different ethnic groups at an academic level and should encourage research students to do PhDs in this area so that it gives us more insight into different ways of life and hence into our society. We really need to create a truly pluralistic society otherwise we shall disintegrate into the realm of history without a trace.The road ahead of us is not an easy one. We are facing grave difficulties in the form of economic instability, deep-rooted terrorism and morally corrupt politicians. If we sincerely want our children to live in a country of civilised people we really need to do something now. We can start by accepting our friends and neighbours with an open heart and respect their right to love, live and propagate their culture and religion.
http://archives.dawn.com/2008/08/07/op.htm#2
No comments:
Post a Comment