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Politics : Idea Of The Day
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To: IQBAL LATIF who wrote ()8/14/2003 6:55:47 PM
From: IQBAL LATIF  Read Replies (1) of 50167
 
On geopolitics it's good to know Indo-Pak relations are at a high point and all thanks to that brilliant man Laloo Prasad, low-caste chief minster of Bihar. I get the distinct feeling that Indians don't appreciate his earthy and rustic approach to us Pakistanis as opposed to the dignified high-caste mannerisms of Vajpayee but I've got to say that Laloo has accurately taken the pulse of the Pakistani nation. Rather than harp on about nationalism he's directly talking about the relevant and daily issues of life that directly affects millions of Indians and Paksitanis (such as the price of onions) and he's Hindustani quips go down very well in Pakistan. He represents the straight talking and hilarious self-deprecating South Asian with whom we Pakistanis can instinctively identify with as opposed to the stern admonishment of Advani and Vajpayee, who still can't seem to get over Partition. Laloo should be made the Indian ambassador to Pakistan especially now that normalisation seems inevitable with the successful conclusion of the Indian MP visit (Pakistani senators are going down to Lahore).

Hopefully with Indo-Pak relations normalised Pakistan's Hindu community will be able to repair the dilapidating temples and hopefully their human rights condition will improve to a greater extent. Our minorities reflect our national state and unless we fully integrate them Pakistan can never be able to claim her future.

When Pakistanis discriminate against Hindus in a way we are discriminate against ourselves because all people of the Sub-continent could be said to belong to the cultural fabric of Hinduism. The designation Hindu is Persian for "those who live by the Indus" and that applies particularly to Pakistanis. Indeed in Italy Hinduism is seen more as a cultural heritage that one is born into rather than a religion per so. I haven't taught it through but I don't think it would be contradictory for Pakistanis to accept being an Islamic state rooted in a Hindu cultural framework. In a world of increasingly complex identities we can't straitjacket our national roots to one confined by a particular identity but rather accept that it is a multi-layered fabric stitched with diverse patterns. We were created on an ethno-cultural basis, for the idealisation of Perso-Islamic Mughal culture, and to that ideal we remain committed to (and always will remain so thus preserving our sovereignty and uniqueness as a people& a nation) but at the same time we should expand on the territorial and historical definition on what it is to be a Pakistani.
Zachary Latif 22:04

latif.blogspot.com
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