Some time ago, I was engaged in a small discussion with a Lebanese man while sitting in Makkah waiting for prayers. Upon telling him I was a Pakistani, he proclaimed,
‘Oh! You mean Indian! Their women wear sarees and nose pins and your women do the same. Both of you speak Urdu, share the same music and have similar cultural dances. It’s the same thing’. An Arab, Moroccan and an American Muslim sitting nearby whole-heartedly agreed.
No… it’s not the same thing – the only same thing here is a severe case of historical deprivation!
The Real Pakistani is not an Indian, not in 2011. Sure, the majority of us might love Indians with all our hearts please don’t get me wrong. Have you ever seen the rush at the first showing of any Bollywood movie in Karachi cinemas? We appreciate their talent! But calling Barrack Obama Bill Clinton is a grave error. So is calling a Pakistani an Indian; or for that matter stereotyping Pakistanis with any untrue myths about them.
So the following is my compilation of 5 absolutely untrue myths about Pakistanis that I’m sick and tired of hearing!:
- Time-Tales: Or ‘time-talers’ – which we aren’t. We do stick to commitments and we do respect timelines. Have you ever seen us celebrate 14th August on the 15th? You must have heard about the way we plan our weddings months ahead of the actual date. Jewelry, dresses, shoes… even the tiniest little details of our women’s make-up are taken care of weeks earlier.
- Non-fluency: The myth about us not being able to speak English is untrue, despite the fact that the vast majority of us don’t know it from birth! Our mother tongue is Urdu after all. Most of our youth – from the metros to other key cities of Pakistan – speak English fairly well. And that gives them an added bonus of knowing two languages. By the way, who decided that speaking English is synonymous with being educated anyway? Lots of our PHDs and engineers have studied in Urdu-medium backgrounds, speak very little English, but are absolutely brilliant at their work. So, the next time Shahid Afridi chooses to give the closing speech of his match in Urdu, it doesn’t mean he isn’t fluent in language – he is fluent in the one he should be fluent in!
- Conformists: Our women are believed to be conservative and our men puppets. Neither seems capable of taking revolutionary moves. Observe again. Some elements within our country have left no opportunity to destroy lives and futures. But the average Pakistani takes a deep breath and faces life courageously every day. In less than 3 months in 2011, SMEDA reports 1000 plus new online businesses in the country. We are not conformists. We are taking charge of changing our individual futures, if not that of the whole country. Had we been conformists we wouldn’t have been alive – nearly half of the country being in darkness, without safe drinking water, in the 21st century, is a enough to kill anyone. But we are surviving.
- Cheats: Most of us have valid driving licenses when we don’t even know where the official license office is located! We don’t know our emergency police number, because we don’t trust them. We will look for shortcuts where possible – at work and in life. But we are not cheats. No more than any other nation anyway. Things like these happen in all countries. Mugging, theft, ‘references’, bribery and corruption are everywhere. How come we get blamed for all the wrong happening in the world?
- We are all the Same: It’s true that a country’s leaders reflect the nation’s mindset. This is untrue and highly unfair in our case though. An average Pakistani doesn’t care who rules the government. A real Pakistani is a true patriot who loves his country and will go to any lengths to save it. He/she is an honest hardworking citizen who wants security and happiness for all his/her fellow men. Deep in his/her heart they fear God, and are a good friend who sticks to their commitments. Just because a few rotten eggs spoil our scenery, it certainly doesn’t speak for our national character. The real Pakistani is very different to what the media portrays.
We are not responsible for all the corruption in the world. We don’t want Afghanistan to be bombed and neither do we want the Iraqis to die. We want peace and happiness in our lives as much as you want it. We are not extremists and not all of us will always break our promises. But you’ll only know this if you have the courage to go beyond the myths and seek out the true Pakistani.
At the end of discussion I want to say that we are failed to be one nation. We are sindhi, Balochi, Punjabi, Pashtu, siraiki… Not Pakistani, Thats why we are suffering this. So stop Blamming external elements. ¡
Who is Osama and who is mullah Omar?
Are they Pakistani? Can u explain me the definition of terrorism? Can a person kill his own brother? Pakistan is not a terrorism country, Pakistan is a country which is suffering from terrorism…it’s the external elements who playing this game in our country.
A Muslim never do bomb blast in mosque…but here ,,its happening ,,so what is the conclusion, who is doing this, how many people we killed out side our land ,if we are terroriest And how many killed in our own country…more then 40000…
So can the people of a country kill his own 40000 people? Who attack on Afghanistan and who support these refuges? Who established Taliban and who is now the biggest enemy of Taliban,,,
Muslim Hindus live more than 1300 years together…we rule India from 12th century to 18th century..If we were terrorsiam then this much period is more then enough to finish non Muslim when you have power in your hand, but we did not do this..as we are not terrorist…
THE REAL PAKISTANI IS THAT WHO LOVE ISLAM.WE GOT PAKISTAN FOR THIS PURPOSE THAT WE CONDUCT OUR LIVES ABOUT ISLAM NOR FOR JOIN INDIAN CULTURE .WE HAD FORGOTTEN IDIALOGY OF PAKISTAN.
Mr. Tufail,
If Pakistan means Islam let me tell u in last 20 to 30 years the way Pakistan has defamed Islam and made it the synonym of terrorism. I believe neither of the country has done. Osama bin Laden and all the fanatic groups are in pakistan the world look at Pakistan as house of terroris.Thats y u fought for Pakistan to struggle when entire Sindh provine is sinking in flood.millions n millions are loosind life n house ur goverment is dependent on foreigon support y coz all ur money goz to make weapon n spend on Army.
Why u r nt able to make Pakistan country of peace culture another makka madina n Taj mahal.Still u have siya n sunni issue in d name of Jihad u don evnleave Masjid n madrsa.y don u think the bullet of terrorism nvr see u r Hindu or Muslim. Just want blood. is that u want n u call Islam means Pakistan. Our Muslim brthrs n sistrs r getting doubtfull coz of terrorism. But let me tell u our believe is stronger n Islam means Love help n prosperity n if u wana see real Islam Lets see the India
Mr. Summit
Who is Osama and who is mullah Omar?
Are they Pakistani? Can u explain me the definition of terrorism? Can a person kill his own brother? Pakistan is not a terrorism country, Pakistan is a country which is suffering from terrorism…it’s the external elements who playing this game in our country.
A Muslim never do bomb blast in mosque…but here ,,its happening ,,so what is the conclusion, who is doing this, how many people we killed out side our land ,if we are terroriest And how many killed in our own country…more then 40000…
So can the people of a country kill his own 40000 people? Who attack on Afghanistan and who support these refuges? Who established Taliban and who is now the biggest enemy of Taliban,,,
Muslim Hindus live more than 1300 years together…we rule India from 12th century to 18th century..If we were terrorsiam then this much period is more then enough to finish non Muslim when you have power in your hand, but we did not do this..as we are not terrorist…
Reply
Pakistan is not the one who is defamin Islam and those who even think of killin someone, just the thought of killing kicks u out of Islam and it means no harm.
Time- Talers: You can go to any event two hours later than the designated time and still be one of the first to arrive. And then the really, really awkward moment when you get to a Pakistani wedding before the hosts do :\
Non-Fluency: Fake accents are pretty common around here too x] But Urdu isn’t really the mother language of the majority. Regional languages are more common. And hence most of us know THREE languages! :D With differing levels of proficiency though.
Conformists: Ditto :]
Cheats: The license bit is so true! And calling the police is pretty much useless anyway. You’ll first get an automated, long warning about how you should put the phone down if you are trying to play a prank. And they will *deliberately* come hours later so there’s no encounter and hence less work to do. And in case it’s a burglary charge, they’ll add insult to injury by telling you to get a watchdog. PS. Is the number 15? :$
We are all the same: THAT’S SO TRUE!
Kudos on the last bit :]
I have no idea why I keep reading the the first line as “engaged in a discussion with a *small* Lebanese man” :\
Hi, I am an Indian n let me tell u there is no difference between a pakistani n Indian.We speak same language wanna see the same bollywood movies like same cricketrs like Tendulkar and Shoaib Akhtar. Just same so where is the diiference the Wagha border which divides us yes religion which tells pakistanis are only Muslim what about Muslims in India.Terrorism which says Jihad wants blood. But no this is all misconception. We indian have same heart with same blood n we wana lov all the Pakistan wana hug them and tell them. just forget we are Hindu or Muslim 1st we are human beigns than whatever……..
like it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
but let me tel you some difference.
1.you have difference way of slam then us.i.e pakistani says Aslam-o-Alaikum but you say namasty {including muslims of your country}
2.you have different you of remembering greatness of God i.e we say God is one or God is biggest you say jay mata di {including muslims of your country}
3.you ply holy but we dont do that{including some muslims.
so sir if you start counting the differences we will be tired soon so we are comletely changed than you……….
Right Mr. Abbas that iz only the difference u keep counting the differnce, discriminate us bt let me tell u here a my true Muslim frnds say aslam walikum if they like n being Hindu or Christian by courtsey we say walikum salam though we dont knw d meaning bt we respect there culture we invite them in Holy n dey invite us in Id u call Indian Muslim as Muhazir bt we see thm as 1 of our brothers.
And ur fanatic behaviour defame Islam n we n entire world misunderstand Muslim means terrorist n Pakistan means Al Quida n Osama house of terrorism. At least India n Indian Muslims are tring to reform the Image of Islam by thier love grace n help. By putting girls out of burka n call them Saniya Mirza. Thats d India so yes u r right there is a difference……..n u btr knw what still we Indian love u
I think it is people’s ignorance that they can’t tell the difference between Indian and Pakistani.. although there are many similarities but than there are many diffferences too!!
i agree with you bro…