Bengal and Punjab: Nations Divided

[Yankee-stani]

@Indus Pakistan @Desert Fox @Pan-Islamic-Pakistan @Ahmet Pasha

 

[AUz]

Muslim Punjabis are a unique nation of their own now.

We wish Sikh Punjabis best of luck, but we have no desire to be "united" with india again. Thanks but no thanks.

Over years, Muslim Punjabis have found our homeland in Punjab, with our own religious values, culture, food, and ethnic traditions. I don't know whats the point of posting this video??

Regards,
A Muslim Punjabi

 

[Yankee-stani]

Muslim Punjabis are a unique nation of their own now.

We wish Sikh Punjabis best of luck, but we have no desire to be "united" with india again. Thanks but no thanks.

Over years, Muslim Punjabis have found our homeland in Punjab, with our own religious values, culture, food, and ethnic traditions. I don't know whats the point of posting this video??

Regards,
A Muslim Punjabi

Same but I posted the link to spark a discussion about Punjabis in general

 

[AUz]

Same but I posted the link to spark a discussion about Punjabis in general

There is not much discussion to be had.

Muslim Punjabis have become a nation within a broader nation (Punjabis). While Sikh Punjabis might share genetic similarity to us, culturally---Muslim Punjabis have become very different compared to Sikh Punjabis in many ways. Just to give you one example: In Indian Punjab, overwhelming majority of population is vegetarian You know Pakistan Punjab and Muslim Punjabis----can you imagine Muslim Punjabis surviving on Indian Punjab vegetarian cuisine? There would be riots in the streets!

That's just one example. There are many other examples as well. I have met Sikhs in U.S. American Sikhs are very friendly to Pakistanis and Muslims for the most part. We get along fine, however---there is a clear distinction between us in terms of values, lifestyle, food, culture, religious worldview, clothing, and so much more. So much so that it is very easy for my mom to look at a Punjabi woman from afar, and tell which side of border she is from (and my mom has been correct like 99.999% of the time and I still don't know how? Lol)

 

[Indus Pakistan]

Same but I posted the link to spark a discussion about Punjabis in general

I know this is treading on soft ground but there is some currency in this argumant. When they say 'partition' of India there are two wrongs in that statement.

• It was British Raj, a colonial construct that was dissolved into two successor states in 1947.
• It was Bengal and Punjab that were partitioned in 1905 and 1947.

However there is nothing significant in this. There are many other 'partitions' that make even less sense then Bengal/Punjab. At least there is religious divide. But we have Kurdistan divided into four slivers amongst Turkey, Iran, Iraq, Syria and they don't even have religious divide. Then there is Tajiks partitioned by Russians into Tajikistan and Afghanistan. Then we have Arabian peninsula divided into six partitions with most have lines drawn straight with a ruler. Dividing Muslim Arab from another Muslim Arab. Somebody please tell me what is the "Matlab" behind UAE, Bahrain etc

But my gold medal for the most perverse partition goes to USA and Canada. Children of the same mother divided by a artificial line straight as a laser line.

 

[Goenitz]

Two most fertile lands, got divided.

 

[waz]

Erm Kashmir is partitioned.

Muslim Punjabis are a unique nation of their own now.

We wish Sikh Punjabis best of luck, but we have no desire to be "united" with india again. Thanks but no thanks.

Over years, Muslim Punjabis have found our homeland in Punjab, with our own religious values, culture, food, and ethnic traditions. I don't know whats the point of posting this video??

Regards,
A Muslim Punjabi

Good post.
Water under the bridge, way too much time has gone by and culture isn't enough to unite people. Pakistanis are bound by faith and cultural synergy.
To want unification would be to spit on the very idea of Pakistan.

 

[jetray]

I know this is treading on soft ground but there is some currency in this argumant. When they say 'partition' of India there are two wrongs in that statement.

• It was British Raj, a colonial construct that was dissolved into two successor states in 1947.
• It was Bengal and Punjab that were partitioned in 1905 and 1947.

However there is nothing significant in this. There are many other 'partitions' that make even less sense then Bengal/Punjab. At least there is religious divide. But we have Kurdistan divided into four slivers amongst Turkey, Iran, Iraq, Syria and they don't even have religious divide. Then there is Tajiks partitioned by Russians into Tajikistan and Afghanistan. Then we have Arabian peninsula divided into six partitions with most have lines drawn straight with a ruler. Dividing Muslim Arab from another Muslim Arab. Somebody please tell me what is the "Matlab" behind UAE, Bahrain etc

But my gold medal for the most perverse partition goes to USA and Canada. Children of the same mother divided by a artificial line straight as a laser line.

There are legendary stories about how british went on to create/divide kingdoms.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winston's_Hiccup

 

[Pan-Islamic-Pakistan]

There is not much discussion to be had.

Muslim Punjabis have become a nation within a broader nation (Punjabis). While Sikh Punjabis might share genetic similarity to us, culturally---Muslim Punjabis have become very different compared to Sikh Punjabis in many ways. Just to give you one example: In Indian Punjab, overwhelming majority of population is vegetarian You know Pakistan Punjab and Muslim Punjabis----can you imagine Muslim Punjabis surviving on Indian Punjab vegetarian cuisine? There would be riots in the streets!

That's just one example. There are many other examples as well. I have met Sikhs in U.S. American Sikhs are very friendly to Pakistanis and Muslims for the most part. We get along fine, however---there is a clear distinction between us in terms of values, lifestyle, food, culture, religious worldview, clothing, and so much more. So much so that it is very easy for my mom to look at a Punjabi woman from afar, and tell which side of border she is from (and my mom has been correct like 99.999% of the time and I still don't know how? Lol)

Exactly. I know many of us Pakistanis get along great with Sikhs, but the dividing lines come as Sikhs generally are heavy on drinking, gambling, clubbing. This is a pretty against Pakistani culture and identity.

What we view as immoral faults, they view as an inherent part of their culture.

Another Muslim will always have more culturally in common with a Pakistani than a Sikh or Hindu Indian. This is why in the West most Pakistanis usually hang out with Arabs or Black Muslims. We are naturally drawn to each other because of our faith and community.

 

[AUz]

Exactly. I know many of us Pakistanis get along great with Sikhs, but the dividing lines come as Sikhs generally are heavy on drinking, gambling, clubbing. This is a pretty against Pakistani culture and identity.

What we view as immoral faults, they view as an inherent part of their culture.

Another Muslim will always have more culturally in common with a Pakistani than a Sikh or Hindu Indian. This is why in the West most Pakistanis usually hang out with Arabs or Black Muslims. We are naturally drawn to each other because of our faith and community.

Exactly.

It is normal part of Sikh Punjabi culture to drink alcohol on the regular. They even pride themselves in being heavy drinkers. I have personally seen daughters drinking alcohol with their fathers on weddings and dancing like crazy. It’s all good and fine, and no judgement from me. However, this is just unimaginable in Pakistani Punjab and Muslim Punjabi culture. In that respect, we have more in common with other Muslim communities and their social culture than Indians/Sikhs.

 

[Rusty]

Honestly we have been differnt nations sharing the same land/name for the last 400 years.

Our DNA started to diverge back when we became muslim and they were still hindus, we stopped marrying each other, we stopped eating the same food, and even writing in the same way.

We are differnt nations and the only thing that is linking us to each other is the word "Punjab"

 

[Desert Fox]

@Indus Pakistan @Desert Fox @Pan-Islamic-Pakistan @Ahmet Pasha

Interesting topic and video. Thanks for the tag.

For what it's worth I will give my two cents here. Although I'm not ethnically punjabi (as in caste/clan/baradri or whatever else term is used to describe this), half of my family does come from Punjab.

I havent had much interactions with Indians in real life, whether Sikhs or Hindus, to make a comparison of our Punjabis with Indian punjabis, but from what I have deduced from the posts of others above who have had interactions with Indian Punjabis I can say that certainly religion is a major differentiation between Pakistani Punjabis and Indian Punjabis to the extent that the former adhere to their religious teachings and aren't just superficial Muslims, otherwise even on our side of the Punjab drinking, gambling and mujras do occur, especially in weddings and other celebrations.

 

[Jackdaws]

Punjabis have a natural affinity with each other. Abroad I've seen Punjabis from either side bonding quite easily and well with each other. It is obvious that a guy from Amritsar will be more at ease in Lahore than he will be in Chennai or Bangalore in terms of language and food. But at the end of the day, both sides are patriotic about their sense of nationhood as well. What's done is done.