https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iEnrcpeIsYY
Our Brown Pundit Zachary Latif will hopefully share his perspectives on Pakistani Psychosis soon. Tarek Fatah gives a good synopsis of Pakistani Psychosis and Islamism in the above video. I am not an expert on Pakistani Pysochosis, and cannot validate many of Tarek Fatah’s perspectives on Pakistan. However, with respect to Islam, many muslims (including prominent religious leaders) privately share many of Tarek’s views, but the vast majority are too afraid to share their views publicly. Tarek Fatah is very knowledgeable about Arabic, Islamic scripture and Islamic law. If you have the time, please watch the entire video.
What is Pakistani psychosis? I am not completely certain and look forward to evolving my views with new information. To oversimplify, it is the combination of several things:
- A negation and rejection of:
- the traditional moderate Hindu influenced Islam that was common in Pakistan before 1947
- pan Hindustani Bharatiya Deshi Arya culture that greatly influenced the ancestors of modern Pakistanis in the 1940s. This culture still extends across and influences much of Asia now.
- An embrace and idolization of extreme Arab Sunni Islamist or near Islamist Islam, partly inspired by Ibn Taymiyyah. Specifically extreme Sunni interpretations from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Al-Azhar University Egypt and the Ikhwan (also called Muslim Brotherhood–a Salafi soft Islamist global organization.)
- Note that many Pakistanis who embrace this extremist Sunni Islamist or near Islamist Islam are not Arabic, Koranic, Hadith, Sira, or law jurisprudence experts and don’t fully understand or appreciate what they are idolizing and embracing.
- Extreme Sunni Arabs–especially Saudis–generally look down on Pakistanis as a type of slave subhuman untermensch. Imagine how many Americans in the deep south looked down on slaves in the early 1800s. Then multiply it by a hundred and maybe you get into the ballpark. Extreme Sunni Arabs don’t much respect Asians or Africans in general. [Not all Sunni Arabs are extreme Sunni Arabs.]
- Arab worship is why Pakistan embraces a type of pan global Islamism and takes great pride in her leadership over the Chechan fight against Russia, Bosnian fight against Serbia, Kosovan fight against Serbia, “Iraqi resistance” fight against Americans, Iranians, Iraqi Army, Shiites and Kurds; Libyan Jihadis, Syrian Jihadis, Kashmiri fight against India, Algerian Jihadis, Somalian Jihadis, Nigerian Jihadis, Filipino Jihadis, Thai Jihadis, Indonesian Jihadis, Afghan Jihad against Russians, Iranians, Northern Alliance, Afghan National Army, UN, NATO, US, Tajiks, Uzbeks, Hazaras. Pakistani jihadis play an important role in wars and terrorism across Africa, Asia, Europe, Australia, North America and to a lesser degree parts of Latin America. There are allegations that Pakistani Jihadis have participated in attacks against Burmese.
- Extreme paranoia and conspiracy theories of everything Indian or Jewish for no reason other than it is Indian or Jewish. To a lesser degree this is also true of Afghanistan, Iran (despite Pakistan’s deep cultural and religious links with Afghanistan and Iran), Israel, Europe, Russia and North America. This is not based on a calculation of Pakistani values or Pakistani interests, and is irrational.
- A state within the state euphemistically called “Deep State” or “General Headquarters”-“GHQ” for short. They are opaque and ambiguous. Most of the people supporting it are useful idiots. Most of their leaders are confused. They see Pakistan as the nexus around which the world turns and believe that every action that foreigners take is somehow about Pakistan; reminiscent in many ways of the Ugly Americanism [we are the only influential powerful country . . . everything that happens to foreigners or that foreigners do is related to us] of the second half of the 20th century. They promote a type of confused unclear Pakistani nationalism that is fused with a type of global pan Islamic nationalism. They work hand in glove with Islamists; but many of them aren’t very religious or don’t have a deep understanding of Islamism or truly believe in Islamism. The irrational, confused, amorphous, mostly manic bipolar, psychotic state of their brains might sometimes be called the psychosis of the Deep State.
The combination of all four of these phenomenon might collectively be called “Pakistani Psychosis”.
It is important to remember that many Pakistanis are good people. Many Pakistanis are minorities who utterly reject the Pakistani Psychosis. Many Pakistanis are good muslims. Many Pakistanis are normal. Many Pakistanis are great sources of love and light. But they are fighting an uphill battle against Pakistani Psychosis.
These are the Pakistanis the world should try to help but rarely does.
I look forward to everyone’s feedback. I am sure my views on Pakistani Psychosis will evolve with new information and feedback.
[As a clarification to what is written above, a global pan Islam nationalist isn’t necessarily a practicing or believing muslim. Tariq Ali for example.]
PS. Please also watch this interview by Husain Haqqani that comprehensively covers most of these themes:
This video by Husain Haqqani as well:
Husain Haqqani additionally emphasizes the need of Pakistan for neoliberal economic reforms and opening Pakistani tourism, student visas, work visas, business travel, trade, business development. Open up with India, China and the West. Then Pakistan could become a self reliant developed rich country.
Husain Haqqani says that he is a Pakistani but also a civilizational Indian. Husain appears to celebrate the success and rise of India. I completely agree. The rise of India is very good for Pakistan much the way the rise and success of Pakistan is very good for India.
Madiha Afzal, author of “Pakistan Under Siege: Extremism, Society, and the State” (Brookings, 2018), also covers many aspects of Pakistani narrative dysfunction:
40 minutes it Madiha’s research finds more support for extremism among Pakistani young people than older people–which she tries to explain. As an aside previous research has found support for extreme Islamism rises as education increases and as affluence increases.
Husain Haqqani is concerned that CPEC will saddle Pakistan with debt to China that Pakistan will not be able to service. [Might CPEC saddle Pakistan with about $60 billion in debt?] Husain Haqqani says that Pakistan is no longer even a semi democratic country, but a country where the military and intelligence services control decision making. And the media is under deep and strong control. The US no longer considers Pakistan and ally. It is not Imran Khan’s government. It is General Qamar Javed Bajwa’s government. No better person could have been found since Imran Khan during his Oxford days used to be called “Im the dim.” He gets to called the PM and someone else gets to call the shots. Doesn’t see Indian Pakistani relations going anywhere anytime soon.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ds5yTBafmS8
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The following is a great summary of Lashkar e Taiba, one of the main proxies of the Pakistani Army Deep State General Headquarters establishment. They avoid attacking Pakistani minorities (including twelvers, irfan, sixers, hindus, christians, sikhs, bahai, sufis, sindhis) inside Pakistan except when ordered to by the state; while engaging in attacks against other Islamic sects and other faiths outside of Pakistan:
I would recommend watching a spectacular summary of Pakistan by Christine Fair where she describes Pakistan as massively more dangerous to the world than Iran and implies that America should collaborate with Iran to manage Pakistani psychosis:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXJYgcaug00
Many BP articles related to Tarek Fatah and Husain Haqqani linked to below.
Article first published March 26th, 2018. Revised January 23rd, 2019.
At U.S. Urging, Pakistan to Be Placed on Terrorism-Financing List – The New York Times
The part about the Arabs is harsh, but pretty funny.
For Indian Christians, their goal in life if living in the West is to marry a white person. Even prior to this, they drop any remaining vestiges of Indianness as quickly as possible including clothing, food, language, etc.
For Indian/Pak Muslims, likewise there is an intense desire to have an arranged marriage with an Arab. It rarely happens, but is more common among those who achieve higher social status like going to medical school.
Not so with Syrian Christians of Kerala though. They are very much Indian and very proud to be one.
Raj, I am sure many Indian Christians you know have that desire.
Many Indian Christians who live in America or live in India are proud of their Hindustani heritage and aren’t trying to find a caucasion husband per say; although organically they may ultimately marry a caucasion husband. Do you find the tendency to marry caucasion husbands greater among Deshi Christians than Deshi Hindus for example? [I have not.]
Raj, what percentage of Indian muslims do you think worship Arabs and want to marry Arabs? First I have heard of this phenomenon. Most Indian muslims that I have interacted with aren’t fans of Arabs put it very, very mildly. Most Indian muslims as best as I can observe are patriotic Indians who identify with shared Hindustani Bharatiya culture. This is why I am surprised by Kabir’s reaction to the concept of shared pan Hindustani Bharatiya Deshi culture; and trying learn Kabir’s perspective.
Kabir knows vastly more about Pakistani muslims than I do and can better address the question of Pakistanis marrying Arabs.
Indian Muslims may identify with “Bharatiya” culture. Why wouldn’t they? They are Indian.
Pakistanis are NOT Indian. We rejected you and your entire civilization to create a sovereign Muslim country. If we wanted to identify with “Bharatiya” culture, we would have stayed part of Bharat. We see ourselves as an Indo-Muslim polity and as the inheritors of the Mughals and the other Muslim rulers who came before that. Most of what is today’s Pakistan was solidly Muslim-majority before Partition.
Pakistanis find this “we are the same” attitude from Indians very condescending and frankly offensive. We separated from you for a reason. Most of us really don’t like you. 7o years of socialization has an effect. As do four wars. Many of us have family who served in the Pakistan Army and as such they are obviously not very fond of Indians (to put it mildly). This is why I say we will never be “best friends” and the most we can aspire to is to be normal neighbors who neither like each other much nor hate each other. Even this limited aspiration can only happen once the territorial dispute is solved.
This is not to say that Pakistanis and Indians in the West don’t bond over their shared “Desi” identity. But we don’t discuss Kashmir or other fraught topics. At least that has been my experience. We just bond over the fact that we eat the same food, wear shalwar kameez, and speak Hindustani (at least with North Indians). I don’t think Pakistanis really hang out with South Indians. The Hindus go to their mandirs and we Muslims go to our mosques.
With all due respect, you guys know next to nothing about Pakistan.
Most Indian and Pakistani Muslims marry each other. I have never heard of arranged marriages with Arabs. Arranged marriages are generally within extended families or with someone from the same city or region. If a Pakistani Muslim and an Arab Muslim fall in love, that is a different matter.
I’ll let Zach come and tell you all what’s what. For the record, he is also kind of fed up with Indian commentators pontificating about Pakistan.
Peace.
P.S. As a Pakistani, I find this invocation of “Pan Bharitya Deshi Arya…..” extremely nauseating. Pakistanis are the inheritors of Indo-Muslim (Indo-Islamic) culture. So don’t presume to tell us that we are “Deshi Arya” whatever. That is part of the whole reason we made a separate country.
Seriously, no offense intended Kabir. 🙂
I deeply value your perspectives, wisdom and insights and have learned a lot from you. This article is deeply imperfect and I deeply appreciate any input and suggestions you provide. You don’t have Pakistani psychosis and are not connected to the deep state, Jihadi culture, Arab worship, paranoia, or negation of pre 1947 Pakistani Islam. I haven’t specified what percentage of Pakistanis are contributing to Pakistani psychosis. Sometimes a small minority of trouble makers can cause a psychosis that greatly harms a country. Lenin and Mao believed that only 2% of people can rule a country.
This article is written from the perspective of someone who loves Pakistan and roots for a strong successful Pakistan. I think that non Pakistanis understanding Pakistan will increase compassion, respect and empathy for Pakistanis. I think it will help improve relations between Pakistan and the rest of the world; and much more importantly benefit Pakistan.
I am a Dara Shikoh and Jahanara Begum shipper. I revere and honor Khwaja Abdullah Ansari, Gareeb Nawaz, Qutbuddin Bakhtiar Kaki, Baba Farid, Alauddin Sabir Kaliyari, Nizamuddin Aulia, Rumi, Hafez, Kabir, Nanak, Shirdi Sai Baba. This is what I mean by pan Hindustani Bharatiya Deshi Arya culture. I could be dead wrong. But I love pan Hindustani Bharatiya Deshi Arya culture and think the world is vastly better off for it.
The very term “Pan Bhartiya etc” makes me want to throw up. And I am a “liberal” Pakistani. You can imagine the rest of my countrymen are going to deeply deeply resent you. We are an Indo-Muslim polity. We are the inheritors of the Mughals. We aren’t interested in anything having to do with “Sanatana Dharma”. We are only interested in Islam. That’s why we made a country. That doesn’t mean that non-Muslim Pakistanis are not Pakistanis. Nankana Sahab is great. I’m sure Katas Raj is great too. But Islam is our culture. Most Pakistanis would probably tell you that being Muslim is more important to them than being Pakistani.
The whole point of Zach’s post “Paki Pundits” was that you guys (Hindus and Indians) need to please for the love of Allah/bhagwan lay off Pakistan. Find some other topics to write about. This is just getting annoying now.
To paraphrase Faiz Sahab (with apologies to the great poet)” Aur bhi dukh hain zamanay main [Pakistan] kay siwa”.
Islam is a religion, not a culture.
Not true. See the Wikipedia entry on “Cultural Muslims”.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_Muslim
There is a distinct Indo-Muslim high culture (that of Delhi and UP) which features Urdu and the Mughals as a major aspect. This is the high culture of Pakistan. Not surprising given that the main people behind the Pakistan movement were the “Ashraaf” of the UP.
Your statement is just as offensive as saying “Judaism is a religion not a culture (or ethnicity).” Say that to an Israeli and see what response you get.
It is Indo-Islamic culture, not Islamic culture. Remember, there is also Bengali Muslim culture, which just can’t stand Indo-Islamic culture of Delhi-Lakhnow.
There is such a thing as Islamic culture as well. Or “Islamicate” culture if you prefer.
Bengali Muslim culture is a separate thing which we are not talking about at this moment because it has nothing to do with Pakistan’s culture (post 1971 Pakistan).
Kabir, it will take me some time to try to process and incorporate what you are saying.
Deep anger and deep affection are very similar emotions to me. They are closely connected in the subconscious human psyche. Because of this, can’t they flip on a dime? Hasn’t this happened again and again throughout history. This happens all the time in Eastern epics, Eastern stories and Eastern histories . . . but let us leave that alone for a moment because not everyone is familiar with them.
America and Japan; and America and Germany were ferocious enemies in 1945. Yet overnight they switched to being the closest and warmest of friends. While the switch wasn’t overnight . . . it was pretty fast between France/Germany, UK/Germany, Netherlands/Germany too. The switch was deep and real at the people to people level. Another example is Vietnam and the US. Vietnam very quickly after the death of Lê Duẩn (pronounced very differently) in 1986 became warm and close friends of Americans. Vietnam is one of the most pro American countries in the world. Not just in the south (former South Vietnam) but in the heart of the former communist north (former North Vietnam). Many Americans now live in Vietnam, own businesses in Vietnam, conduct business in Vietnam, are tourists in Vietnam. US Vietnamese trade is legion.
Japan and South Korea are now close friends. Japan and the Philippines are now close friends. Japan and Vietnam are now close friends. This would have been unthinkable in the 1940s.
There are too many other examples to list. If they can do it, why can’t India and Pakistan become best friends? This is what the Jinnahs (Muhammed Ali and Fatima), Nehru and Gandhi wanted. I know it will take longer than one day. But for the life of me I can’t understand why India and Pakistan can’t become best friends. Maybe I am too stupid to understand.
“This is not to say that Pakistanis and Indians in the West don’t bond over their shared “Desi” identity. But we don’t discuss Kashmir or other fraught topics.” We do bond and we do discuss fraught topics. We love each other. Many of us marry each other. We collaborate as founders of the same companies, in the same business associations, in the same lobbying groups, as co-writers of the same papers, as musicians and singers in the same performing bands. If we can bond, why can’t Pakistanis and Indians from Hindustan?
Please, none of this is argumentative or confrontational. I genuinely don’t get it. I don’t understand.
As long as you guys are sitting on Muslim land (which is what we think Kashmir is) we are not going to be best friends, that is the bottom line. As long as our Kashmiri Muslim brothers and sisters are being raped and killed, we are not going to be best friends. The border between Pakistani Punjab and what you guys call “J&K” is still known as the “Working Boundary”. We have not accepted it as the International Border. There is a “Line of Control” cutting through Kashmiri Muslim territory. Countries that have a territorial dispute are not best friends.
France and Germany fought multiple wars over Alsace-Lorraine. It is only not an issue now because the EU means that “French” and “German” people can cross borders without showing any documents. They all think of themselves as Europeans. They also all happen to be Christian.
I guess you are not a Punjabi otherwise you would understand the amount of bitterness we feel over the ethnic cleansing that was done on both sides. Trains arrived in Lahore with dead Muslims on board. We are not going to forget that.
A good first step would be to acknowledge that we are a separate sovereign Muslim country. We are not “Bharatiyas”. Pakistan and Bangladesh used to be the same country. But for us to get anywhere, we have to acknowledge that they are Bangladeshi, not East Pakistani any more. They have the right to run their affairs as they see fit. Pakistanis also have the right to live according to our own interpretations of Islam, whether Indians like it or not. We have the right to choose what aspects of our history we are interested in. If we chose to throw out “Sanatana Dharma” entirely and turn Westward towards the Muslim Ummah, that is our choice.
Pakistani Muslims and Indian Muslims do marry each other. In that case, our shared religion trumps our national identities. Even then I doubt these families discuss Kashmir at the dinner table.
Indian and Pakistani-Americans can bond as Americans, where we face many of the same issues (the average white person can’t tell us apart). At home, we despise each other. Perhaps some Punjabiyat remains. But why would a Pashtun from Peshawar give a damn about a Tamil or a Maratha from India? The Pasthuns are interested in their Afghan brothers. They don’t feel “Indian”. The Punjabis are the ones who have embraced Pak-nationalism. We like your movies and your latest songs, but that is it. Politically, we are Muslim first. We want nothing to do with a Hindu country. That is what you don’t seem to understand.
Jinnah was deeply misguided when he thought that after a bloody Partition and ethnic cleansing he was going to go back and live in his mansion in Bombay. One could almost call that delusional.
P.S. As to business associations, I have seen that there were always separate organizations for Pakistani professionals (OPEN is one of them) and Indian professionals. There is a real separation into national groups. Perhaps that has not been your experience.
I had friends that were Indian Hindus. We all learned music from the same ustaad. But we did not discuss their religion, nor did they show interest in Islam. We also never discussed Kashmir. We just enjoyed the latest songs from Devdas and sang the same ragas. So yes, there are cultural bonds. But those cultural bonds are fairly shallow.
Thanks for sharing. Learning a lot as always.
What you saw about Pakistani American and Indian Americans not collaborating is a DC specific thing. The rest of America finds DC unfathomable. I don’t want to elaborate except bilaterally.
Not sure that it was DC specific. Every major city has its Indian groups and its Pakistani groups. I used to work for an organization called the American Pakistan Foundation, which was supposed to lobby for the interests of Pakistani-Americans. There was also the American India Foundation, which lobbied for the interests of Indian-Americans. Our interests are not always the same.
Growing up, my parents had Hindu friends that they had made at university in the US. Their son and I have the exact same name. Of course they were not super-religious (they ate meat) just the way that my family were not super-religious Muslims. Still somehow I don’t ever recall discussing the intricacies of Pak-India relations. They forebore from criticizing Pakistan, knowing that it was a major part of our identity. We used to go to Diwali parties. So I have nothing against Hindus at all. But I did notice a lot of separation between Indians and Pakistanis when I grew up. At college, we had a Pakistani Students Association, an Indian Students Association, and a Muslim Students Association.
Note: These people that I’m talking about were from UP, so that was what the cultural bond was.
March 26, 2018 at 9:15 pm
“As long as you guys are sitting on Muslim land”
So how exactly does a land, and it could be any land, become muslim land?
Kashmir was Muslim majority long before Partition. I believe Sufis from Iran came and converted the population. Also, there was a Kashmiri king (I think his name was Shah Mir) who converted to Islam. The populace converted with him.
If Kashmir had been a province of British India and not a Princely State, it would have gone to Pakistan no questions asked.
I don’t have the energy to get into further details right now .
Kashmir was a Buddhist country before Muslims came.
Or
Kashmir was a Hindu country before the Muslims.
Take your pick.
The reference point is 1947. In 1947, all Muslim-majority areas were supposed to go to Pakistan. The “K” in the word “Pakistan” stands for Kashmir. If Kashmir had been a province of British India, the entire thing would be Pakistani territory today. It is only because it was a princely state and it was the right of the Hindu Dogra (not a Kashmiri) king to choose that he “acceded” to India. The majority of the people even at that point were Kashmiri Muslims.
The history of centuries ago is totally irrelevant at this point. You sound like a Zionist claiming the Torah gives you rights to Palestine. I don’t have any more time for this ridiculousness. India has to deal with the fact that the Kashmiri Muslim people hate your guts.
This is false.
Kashmir’s King at Independance was a Hindu who elected to be part of India.
Kashmir’s Prime Minister at Independence was a Muslim, who also elected to be part of India.
The Kashmir issue is for the Governments and the people of Kashmir to worry about, not people like us here who have nothing to do with it.
Islamization has peaked in the Middle East and also in Pakistan. You need to look deeper. This article is about 10 years too late. Pakistan is not an extremist country anymore.
“Islamization has peaked in the Middle East and also in Pakistan. You need to look deeper. This article is about 10 years too late. Pakistan is not an extremist country anymore.”
mzp1, we are agreed. The Pakistani people are fighting back against Islamists and making progress at the cultural people level. How can the world (muslims and nonmuslims alike) help them?
The global Islamic reformation has made considerable progress over the past few decades. The bottom I think might have been circa 1991:
—world started to turn against extremists in Afghanistan and Kashmir and Pakistan
—Iranian reform accelerated
—Asian economic miracle in Indonesia/Malaysia/Turkey started transforming the muslim world
—Algeria fought against Islamists,
—Jordan accelerated free market reforms,
—India began economic reforms that would socio economically empower Indian muslims,
—the “big bad” of the Islamic world [communism] was decapitated
—raising of global consciousness
The point is that if Kashmir had been part of British India it would have gone to Pakistan because of the clear Muslim majority. It is only because it was a princely state that the issue arose. Add to that, it was a princely state in which the ruler was of a different religion than the majority of his subjects. In Junagadh, the Muslim Nawab chose Pakistan, but India held a referendum in which the Hindu majority chose India. Such a referendum was not held in Kashmir. The Nizam of Hyderabad wanted to be independent and India militarily invaded. No one principle was followed in any of these cases, just whatever was convenient for India to grab more territory. As for Instrument of Accession, India was only supposed to be responsible for limited subjects and Kashmir had a lot of autonomy. As you point out, Sheikh Abdullah was the Prime Minister (not the Chief Minister as in other Indian states). However, within a few years Sheikh Adullah was in jail. Autonomy has steadily been withered away.
I agree that the Kashmir issue is for the governments and the people of Kashmir to worry about. However, many Pakistanis are actually ethnically Kashmiri so we obviously are concerned about what happens to our brothers and sisters in the Valley.
@AnAn: I enjoyed watching the video posted here. Thanks a bunch.
https://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2018/04/hamza-bin-laden-warns-of-shiite-expansion-in-the-middle-east.php
“Hamza [bin Laden] uses the occasion to once again warn that the Shiites are expanding throughout the Middle East, including “toward the Two Holy Places,” meaning Saudi Arabia’s holy mosques. He accuses the Saudi government of being incapable of stopping this Iranian-led expansion and he calls upon Muslims to support the jihadists’ cause in the Arabian Peninsula.
The Shiites are advancing “from the outside on several fronts and from the inside as well,” but the House of Saud has demonstrated a “shameful inability” to confront them, Hamza claims. This means the Saudi government is “not eligible to defend the Two Holy Mosques.”
After attempting to undermine the legitimacy of the Saudi regime, Hamza calls “upon our people in the Arabian Peninsula to prepare the equipment and materials, and prepare to protect the Two Holy Mosques from the Rafidah Safavid (Shiites), and to support their mujahidin brothers in Yemen.” He specifically addresses “Muslim merchants,” saying this is their opportunity “to obtain the honor of preparing an army to protect the Two Holy Mosques.”
Hamza also implores “young Muslims” to join their “mujahidin brothers in Yemen” and “gain the necessary experience from them.”
The younger bin Laden clearly has Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) in mind, as the al Qaeda branch has been leading the Sunni jihadists’ fight against Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen for years. The Islamic State also has a presence in Yemen, but al Qaeda rejects its claim to represent a true caliphate. AQAP has repeatedly sought to undermine Abu Bakr al Baghdadi’s project, though some jihadist figures in Yemen have worked for both organizations.”
A question if I might. Does GHQ deep state still heavily influence what Hamza bin Laden and Zawahiri say and do? If so does this explain why AQ continues to so heavily focus on fighting muslim minorities (in this case Shiites . . . although Sufi, Ahmedi and other minority muslims are mentioned in other AQ PR)?
A serious question for everyone. How can Pakistan as a whole be persuaded to reach out with warmth towards muslim minorities? In my opinion unless this happens there is no chance at muslim nonmuslim reconciliation.
Hamza Bin Laden is not a Pakistani. What makes you think the Pakistani government has any influence over what he says?
What he says is of course terrible, but what would you expect OBL’s son to say?
I wrote a piece on ‘Pakistaniyat’ two years ago, which was my opinion on what the Pakistani Identity currently is. It was originally written in Urdu or I would’ve shared with BP as well but to paraphrase, there are four factors that form the core of Pakistaniyat. 1. Religiosity (which is different from being a practicing religious person. A corollary of that religiosity is self-righteousness in all matters. Another corollary is believing in Pan-Islamism. 2. Patriarchy. 3. Unquestioning love for the military. 4. Pakistani Nationalism which involves loving Pakistan AND hating India, the US, and Israel.
As far as Mr. Fatah and his thesis are concerned, he is too absolutist in certain notions. He refuses to understand that Pakistan is now a country with its own identity, by refusing this notion, he merely alienates anyone from Pakistan who might be sympathetic to his ideas. ‘Punjabi’ is NOT prohibited in Pakistan, I learned it from my friends in Punjab and it is the most popular language in Punjab. He also peddles “Britain’s role in independence to thwart USSR” theory that has no credence in mainstream history.
His technical knowledge about Pakistan’s nukes is conspiracy theories at best. Pakistan doesn’t have the capability to hit Belgium or the US (Tel Aviv, maybe). His argument about tactical nukes is absurd too. There are other countries with tactical nuclear weapons (The US considered using them in Vietnam). The theory of hitting your own people with nukes is quite true though (sadly, GHQ has an abundance of low IQ people). Also, AQ Khan is a thief, yes.
You can love Pakistan without hating India.
In my experience, most people I meet don’t think that much about India. They don’t like how Muslims are treated under the current Hindutva administration. Most Pakistanis deeply feel for our brothers and sisters in India-held Kashmir (there has been a domestic uprising in South Kashmir for the past week). At the same time, they are very into the latest Bollywood songs and movies.
Our identity is Pakistani and Muslim. We are not “Indian Muslims”. But the ideal is that India should be just like any other country to us–one with which we share a culture and a history, but which we neither particularly like nor dislike.
By South Kashmir – do you mean the Srinagir part?
India can never just be another country to Pakistan; after all it occupies a vague and indeterminate role between sister & mother to Pakistan..
By South Kashmir, I mean specifically Shopian District, which is where the fighting has been most intense since April 1. But there are now clashes all over the Valley.
I think it will be most healthy for Pakistan when we can treat India as just another neighbor–a neighbor with whom we share a lot of background (at least with North India). Just as hardcore Indian nationalists need to get over Bharat mata being “vivisected” we need to get over our obsession with being the “not-India”.
On a side note, we should treat Iran as just another neighbor too. But since Iran is Shia and we are Sunni, that is not going to happen.
Iran-Pak relations are an order of magnitude better than Indo-Pak relations.
As you say Iran has no interest in an independent Baluchistan..
Iran has no interest in an independent Balochistan, that is true.
But Pakistan is clearly on the Saudi side in the Saudi vs. Iran battle. We are a majority Sunni country (though some say close to 20% of Pakistani Muslims are Shia). Saudi thinks that the Pakistani nuclear bomb is the Saudi bomb. Our ex-Army Chief, Raheel Sharif, is currently leading some kind of coalition in Saudi (not sure exactly what he is doing).
If it had been up to me, I would have picked Iran. Persians are much more sophisticated than Arabs generally. Though extremist Shias are not much better than extremist Sunnis and the Iran vs. Saudi proxy war has not been good for Pakistan.
This interview is a good description of Pakistani Psychosis:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y084CSTlA0M
What are everyone’s thoughts?
Husain Haqqani on Pakistani Psychosis:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0gYgk30YKQ
7 minutes in:
India has a problem. Children go to school but don’t learn anything.
Pakistan has a double problem. Children don’t go to school and don’t learn anything.
If this doesn’t summarize pan Arya dysfunction (Afghans, Iranians, Bangladeshis, Sri Lankans, Nepalis share the same dysfunction), nothing does.
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