Assignment On

Pakistani cultural studies and pitfall of identitiy

Submitted To

Sir Afzal Khan Janjua

Submitted By

Sobia Rani

Roll.no 47034

BS English Literature

Semester 8th

Content
Abstract

Cultural studies

Pakistani Cultural studies

The pitfalls of Pakistani identity

Conclusion

Reference

Abstract
Work in cultural studies has consistently addressed itself to the interrogation of society’s
structures of domination. It has focused most particularly on the experience of the working class
and, more recently, on that of women as locations where the action of oppressive power relations
can be examined. Pakistani society is largely multilingual, multi-ethnic and multicultural.
Pakistan faces an interesting challenge of identities which conflict and cooperate simultaneously.
To understand the interplay of conflicting identities in Pakistan, it is necessary to explore
relations between “identity” and “self. Contending identities have their own peculiar problems
and the issue of accepting them as parts that form the plural Pakistani state level identity is not
simply a question of recognition. Challenges arise in convincing the world that it sees us in the
same way as we perceive ourselves. There are a number of issues that need to be resolved
between these identities. However, ignoring them or suppressing them has not been and is likely
not to be the way to go about it.

Cultural studies
The term cultural studiesis now well known as the title for an important set of theories and
practices within the humanities and social sciences. As its international journal, Cultural Studies,
puts it,

‘’The field is dedicated to the notion that the study of cultural processes, and especially of
popular culture, is important, complex and both theoretically and politically rewarding. ‘’

While the field has now achieved recognition, it is not a discrete or homogeneous formation, nor
is it easy to define. ‘’Cultural studies’’ is an interdisciplinary field where certain concerns and
methods have converged; the usefulness of this convergence is that it has enabled us to
understand phenomena and relationships that were not accessible through the existing
disciplines. British cultural studies, like the Frankfurt school insists that culture must be studied
within the social relations and system through which culture is produced and consumed, and that
thus study of culture is intimately bound up with the study of society, politics, and economics.
Cultural studies contain common elements: principles, motivations, preoccupations and
theoretical categories.

Pakistani Cultural Studies

Pakistani Cultural Studies is a comprehensive introduction to the Pakistani tradition of cultural

studies. Pakistan’ is derived from the word ‘Pak’ – a Persian word denoting pure or clean and
‘Istan’ – a  Hindi word which refers to place.  As such, Pakistan means the ‘Pure Place’ or ‘Pure
Land’. The modern history of Pakistan was shaped by the British who arrived as traders with the
British East India Company in the 18th century. This period of imperialism was a time of great
violence and gave way to Indian Uprisings against the British oppressors. Demands were made
for both independence and the creation of a Muslim state, to which Britain acceded prior to their
withdrawal in 1947. 

Culture of Pakistan is very diverse it stems it is due to the actual fact that what is now Pakistan
has before been invaded and occupied by many people like as the white Huns, Persians, Arabs,
Turks, Mongols, and different others communities. There will vary in culture of Pakistan. It's
among the various ethnic teams in issues in their dress food and religion and also pre Islamic
customs differ from Islamic methods. Pakistan is the first region of south Asia to receive the
entire impact of Islam and developed Islamic personal information. Pakistan geography is the
combination of southern Asia, central Asia and western world Asia therefore the culture of
Pakistan is exclusive then the break of countries, it's a mixture of Islamic, regional, English and
global influences, Increasing globalization has advanced the pressure of American culture and
Pakistan culture. They may be easy access to European products, culture and foods.

Pakistani culture is actually a part of the contemporary Islamic civilization which draws its value
and traditions from Islam and rich Islamic history. Majority of population comprises of Muslims
and follows teachings of Islam, i-e., belief in one Allah, Prophethood of Hazrat Muhammad
P.B.U.H, brotherhood, equality and social justice etc. Islam is religion of peace and patience.
Pakistani society is very cooperative. National calendar is marked by religious days which are
observed with great devotion.

Pakistan is a large country which comprises of four provinces, the Federally Administered Tribal
Areas (FATA) and Federally Administered Northern Areas (FANA). All of these component
parts have their own regional languages. As such Punjabi, Pashtu, Sindhi, Balochi, Barohi and
Kashmiri are regional languages. However, Urdu is the national language which is spoken and
understood in all parts of the country.

Practically speaking Pakistani culture is a beautiful blend of the Punjabi, Sindhi, Pathan, Balochi,
Barohi, Seraiki and Kashmiri cultures. In addition, the presence of Hindu community in Sindh
gives touches of dance and music in the Sindhi region. The Hindus sing Bhejas but Pakistani
culture has adopted Qawwali which is a praise of the Holy Propher P.B.U.H.

Pakistani culture is rich in the literatures of Urdu, Punjabi, Sindhi, Pashtu, Baruhi, Baluchi and
Kashmiri languages. Urdu literature boasts of the masterpieces of Maulana Azad, Iqbal, Shibli,
Hali, Ghalib, Agha Hashar, Manto and Faiz whereas the Punjabi literature stands out with great
names like Waris Shah, Sultan Bahu, Ghulam Farid, Bulhay Shah and Shah Hussain etc.
Similarly, Sindhi literature glitters with the masterpieces of Shah Abdul Latif, Sachal Sarmast,
Shah Qadir Bakhsh, and Faqir Nabi Bakhsh. The Pushto literature also boasts of names like
Sheikh Saleh, Raghoon Khan, Akhund dardeeza, Khushal Khan Khattak and Rahman Baba. The
Baluchi literature comprises of masterpieces of Jam Durk, Muhammad Ali, Zahoor Shah
Hashmi, Ghani Parvez, Hasrat Baluch, Abbas Ali Zemi and Aziz Bugti etc.
Dresses Pakistani culture is rich in variety of dresses: The people of Punjab, the Pathans of
NWFP, the Baluchipeople, the people of Gilgit Baltistan and the Sindhis wear their own distinct
dresses. These dresses are very colourful and prominent and give attractive look during national
fairs and festivals. Culture which includes religion, literature art, architecture, dresses, music,
manners and customs has its roots in the Islamic culture. Islam has described the rights and
duties of every individual. Even in drinking, eating and dressing, we have to observe certain
rules prescribed by Islam. So it may be said that Pakistani culture represents the true picture of
Islamic culture.

The pitfall of Pakistani identity

Human beings carry multiple identities simultaneously. People need and want their identity in
the context of their linkage to a group or groups of their own choice. Challenges arise in
convincing the world that it sees us in the same way as we perceive ourselves. Whenever there is
an effort to reduce identity related engagements, the result is confrontation. Singular identity is
an illusion and those who cultivate violence promote the single identity concept and exploit it by
ignoring connectivity and affinity which might allow the other identities to coexist.

Pakistan faces an interesting challenge of conflicting identities, self righteousness, stereo typing
and negative tagging. These have mixed to make an unenviable mosaic. To understand the
interplay of conflicting identities in Pakistan, it is necessary to explore relations between
“identity” and “self. This concept of self is a necessary supplement to the concept of culture in
anthropology. In case of Pakistan some of the identities are universal, most others are trans-
national, national and sub-national. And then there is the core political identity of being
Pakistani. Pakistani identity complements its association with Islam in the political sense as well
as in the religious context.

Pakistan is certainly a state of contending identities. These contentions are operational both at
vertical and horizontal levels. At vertical level is the contention emerging from the religious
basis of its creation. This religion-based identity cuts across all other identity related domains.

A democratic progressive Pakistan is tied with a Pakistani identity based on the facts of plurality
of its being. Conversely, a centrist Pakistan is obliged to rely solely on the religious or secular
identity. There is a direct connection and overlapping of interests between democratic
governance and ethnic based plural identity in Pakistan. These centrist identities are, in turn,
challenged by regional/provincial and ethnic identities, that include Pushtun, Baluch, Sindhi,
Punjabi and since the 1980s the Muhajir (Refugees who came from Bangladesh to Pakistan after
1971, earlier they had migrated from India to East Pakistan in 1947). Alongside, there are other
identities contending for recognition. They include: Saraiki in Punjab, Makranis, Hazaras and
Barohis in Baluchistan and Chitralis, Gilgitis and Hazarawals in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK)
and Gilgit-Baltistan.

In urban Sindh the Mohajir community is struggling to cope with the identity issue. At times,
their sensitivity to ethnic related identity touches the boundary of cult-hood, while at the same
time they often go overboard to associate themselves with Sindh and Sindhis. Punjabi identity
presents an interesting case. Like other ethnic identities of Pakistan, Punjabi is also a
transnational identity, with almost half the folks in India, who are Sikh by religion. At the time of
partition, there were large scale riots between Muslim and Sikh Punjabis, which resulted in mass
migrations – Muslim of East Punjab moved over to Western part of Punjab, and Sikh Punjabis
residing in Western Punjab moved over to East Punjab. The division of Punjab came about due
to the Sikhs’ option of joining India. The Punjabi sense of identity is different from other ethnic
identities. Other ethnicities identify themselves with their trans-border brethren, Punjabis do not
do so. Other ethnic groups jokey between sub-national and trans-national identities, Punjabis
seldom differentiate between ethnic and national identities; they take it as the two sides of the
same coin.

Pakistanis blamed for the so-called propagated terrorism and the aftermaths of 9/11, which by
manoeuvred means has dragged this nation into the menace of terrorism. Sadanand Dhume notes
that Pakistan has produced a disproportionate high number of terrorists that have either attacked
or attempted to attack the West.

“From the start, the new country was touched by the messianic zeal of pan-Islamism,” he
notes. “The country’s name means “Land of the Pure.” The capital city is Islamabad. The
national flag carries the Islamic crescent and star. The cricket team wears green.” He proposes
that the goal for reforming Pakistan should be to “replace its political and cultural DNA: Pan-
Islamism has to give way to old-fashioned nationalism”.
Specifying the Pakistani stance,

“A foreigner in Pakistan is respected but a Pakistani in foreign is not!” 

Though we stand at the crossroads of Indus, Persian and Arabian civilization, yet we Pakistanis
need to have a defined identity of our own, which should be a mere Pakistani identity, all other
historic, cultural, lingual identities then completing the national identity. This conceptual
phenomenon does prevail in the cognitive domains but is least practically identifiable.

The Pakistani state has a distinctive nature, a unique identity matrix where various sub-identities
interact in a fascinating way and mainstream into Pakistani identity; at times these appear at
cross-purposes with the political identity of Pakistan whereas at some other times these sub or
supra national identities reinforce the political face of Pakistan. Pakistani nationalism has been
just as much a part of the country’s experience as Islam. This is because the country’s founding
is rooted not merely in religion, but also in political economics. Quaid-i-Azam believed that,
under a united India, Muslims would never be able to wield enough political power to balance
the Hindu-majority. In the same stride, economic well being of the Indian Muslims living in
Muslim majority zones of India was all along a declared objective for the creation of Pakistan.

Thus the problem in Pakistan is not a dichotomy between Islamism, nationalism and sub-
nationalism but rather a matter of cohabitating these identities rather than generating a crisis of
identity through repulsive mindsets. The creation of Bangladesh is often cited as justification for
inadequacy of the ideology of Pakistan—the two nations theory. This setback gave a temporary
boost to ethnicity based identities.

A democratic progressive Pakistan is inextricably linked with a Pakistani identity based on the
ground reality of its plurality of identities15. The centrist school of thought in Pakistan, solely
relying on religious justification for finding its identity related moorings, is blamed for pushing
the society towards extremism and, as a reaction, strengthening the other sub-national
aspirations. However, Islam is not an issue of dispute. This matter was settled with the creation
of Pakistan through a set of democratic processes. While Islam provides an overarching identity
related leaning, it does not and it should not become obstructive in the way of rightful growth of
other identities. The Holy Quran says,
“O people! We have created you from a male and a female and made you into nations and
tribes that you may know one another. Indeed, the most honourable of you with Allah is
that [one] who fears Allah. Indeed, Allah is Omniscient, All-Aware”

A common language is a facilitator, but not essentially an identity giver. However, soon after
independence it became a point of contention. Insistence on Urdu as the only language became
the first casus belli for the battle cry of various ethnic identities that made up the state of
Pakistan. Bengalis rose up against the proclamation of Urdu as the only national language of
Pakistan in 1948. This movement gradually led to an alienation process. The Bengali Language
Movement resulted in the declaration of Bengali as a national language along with Urdu 35. The
Bengali language gradually became a rallying point for Bengali nationalism, replicating pre-
partition Urdu-Hindi controversy that became a relaying point for the Pakistan movement. In
1972 the Sindh province adopted Sindhi as a provincial language.

Literature can be a powerful tool to heal Pakistan’s identity crisis, said renowned Pakistani
author Bina Shah. According to her, it was a powerful tool, which she called “reverse
colonisation”, for owning local identities and telling the countless stories present in the
postcolonial time. She mentioned a number of writers who use the technique to portray local
cultural nuances. Intizar Hussain is dare asking a question that why this "identity" becomes
controversial immediately after the birth of Pakistan. Quaid e Azam, while living in a common
culture worked for a separate identity but Faiz has pointed out that nobody cared to raise a
question about this common culture. We indefinitely inter locked in hate-love relation with
Hindus. We fought many battles and we lived together for centuries.

D. Asghar in his article “The Identity Crisis of Pakistan” says,

“We have divided and subdivided ourselves into so many class and categories ranging from
religious, economic, geographic and linguistic lines that it will require a complete overhaul
to bring us remotely close to the ideals of Quaid.”

Mohsin Hamid’s The Reluctant Fundamentalist, Kamila Shamsie’s Burnt shadows, Hanif
Kureishi’s My Son the Fanatic and Sara Suleri’s Meatless Days deals with identity issues.
Pakistan is confronting internal and external dynamics leaving their imprint on its identity,
impacting both state and society and their mutual relations. It is essential to look at these issues
from an ethno-nationalist point. An Islamic democratic Pakistan may only be possible by
embracing a multi ethnic identity, whereby a federal structure should undertake to safeguard the
rights and identity of all sub-national ethnicities that make the society of Pakistan.

Conclusion
Much has been said and much more can be said in this context but it can affirmly say that
Culture is a complex whole which includes knowledge, beliefs, art, morals, customs and all other
capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of a society. Every great nation enjoys its
own culture. Similarly, Pakistani culture is very distinct due to its Islamic nature and rich
historical background. The common perception of Pakistan is more similar to its neighbor in the
west (Afghanistan) than the one in the east (India), the country with which it shares its history.
This is a direct result of how Pakistan’s “establishment”, its military and political elite, has
defined its identity. This definition emphasizes Islam above all else, and pitches Pakistan as
completely different from India. It must teach its complete history, which includes Hindu
empires and Muslim rulers. It must celebrate all of the ethnicities living within its borders, and
the richness of its South Asian culture. Imposing an identity that does away with this history and
diversity has done Pakistan enough harm.

Reference
Sen, Amartya. (2006). Identity and Violence: The Illusion of Destiny. New York: W.W. Norton
& Company, i-xxii.

Ahmad, Aijaz. (1973). “The National Question in Baluchistan”, Pakistan Forum, Vol. 3, No.
8/9,

Rehman, Tariq. (1996). Language and Politics in Pakistan. Karachi: Oxford, Pakistan
Paperbacks Edition, 19-25.

Johnson, Richard (1986/87) "What is Cultural Studies Anyway?" Social Text. 16: 38-80.

Iqbal, M. (2013). The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam. Standford: Standford

University Press.