--- On Tue, 5/5/09, ashok _ <[email protected]> wrote:
> From: ashok _ <[email protected]>
> Subject: Re: [silk] In UP, Brahmins do tactical voting, not Muslims
> To: [email protected]
> Date: Tuesday, 5 May, 2009, 12:57 PM
> On Mon, May 4, 2009 at 11:27
> AM, <[email protected]>
> wrote:
> >> > Muslims do not vote en
> >> > masse. Like Hindus they are also divided into
> castes.
> >> It would be far better to refer to Muslims by
> caste. I
> > You may well be right, but I advise extreme caution.
> In
> >the case of contemporary Pakistanis, it is certainly
> not
> >true that they are undifferentiated, or that they
> consider
> >themselves undifferentiated. There are sections that
> keep
> >insisting, like stuck records, that they are one Qaum,
> >there are other sections that protest hotly that this
> is a
> >distortion of reality.
> >
> > This that I have written is about Pakistan and
> Pakistanis. It may or
> >may not apply to Indian Muslims. I am hesitant to say
> anything without
> >having made a serious effort to go through available
> information. One
> >of the difficulties in coming to a reasonable
> evaluation of the situation
> >is that a knowledge of Urdu and access to the Urdu
> press and media
> >of both nations is vital, and I lack both.
> >
>
>
> Perhaps the bigger differentiator for muslims in Pakistan
> is language (
> I don't think language is such a big divisive factor among
> muslims in
> india...but i may be wrong)
>
> If you recall one of the main factors for the east pakistan
> / bangladesh
> split was the imposition of urdu. They have a history of
> language riots,
> and a lot of the resentment in the provinces against the
> central government
> is because of the imposition of "urdu culture".
>
> At the time of partition about 5% of the population (mostly
> immigrants) spoke
> urdu... and it had little in common with sindhi / baluchi /
> punjabi spoken in
> the provinces of pakistan -- yet it was settled upon as the
> national language.
> This put everyone who wasnt a native speaker of urdu at a
> major disadvantage.
>
> On the other hand it can be suggested that the widespread
> imposition of urdu
> has made pakistan more absorbent to indian pop culture
> (hindi
> satellite channels /
> indian cinema...).
A reasonable summary, but do exercise caution. Just on first reading, the
following comments (not contradictory, more clarificatory).
1. Perhaps the bigger differentiator for Muslims in Pakistan is language.
True, but this is by no means all.
They have so many confessional refinements among themselves that it becomes
quite an enquiry by itself that we are blind to these differences.
2. Regarding Bangladesh and Urdu, quite so. The initial, very tone-deaf ukase
on this issue was to state bluntly that Urdu would be the sole language.
This totally untenable position was soon attacked, and soon lost. Bengali found
its way on to the notes issued by the central bankers. However, the rude shock
of being told that their being the single largest ethnic majority in the land
counted for nothing.
However, there were other signifiers which people held to be relevant and
useful.
3. It appears on superficial examination that the question of ethnicity is
also of enormous importance in this discussion. I am deliberately not going
into detail on this.
Regards.
>
>
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