by Amna Asad
Formation of Pakistan
Pakistan is one of the newest countries in Asia since it came into existence on the August 14, 1947. Pakistan was created in the name of Islam. Muslims of British India desired a country where they could practice their religion with freedom and in accordance with the guidelines set by the Islamic religion. Muhammad Ali Jinnah, who is known as the "Father of the Nation", played a dynamic role in the creation of Pakistan; and is known as the Founder of Pakistan.
Pakistan is the 36th largest nation in the world, (Where is Pakistan, 2015). According to Amin, (2016) Pakistan has the second largest Muslim population as compared to its scarce resources. According to the Pakistani census, (2012) the population of Pakistan was 190,291,129 .(Dr.Shahid Mehmood, 2012).
Talking on the cultural grounds, Pakistan is considered to be a very diverse country. There are 4 big provinces in Pakistan: Punjab, Sindh, Baluchistan and N.W.F.P. Even though, most of the population resides in the major provinces of Punjab and Sindh, which influence their traditional and cultural values due to their unique location; Baluchistan and N.W.F.P are also home to strong ethnic groups.
Cultural, Religious and Social Perspective.
Talking about different Ethnicities, The largest ethnic group observed in Pakistan are Punjabis (the people living in Punjab). Fazal (2016) explains that Punjabis makes almost half of Pakistan’s population. The second largest ethnic group in Pakistan after the Punjabi’s are the Pashtuns. They belong to the eastern Iranian ethnic group. Sindhis are the third largest group in Pakistan. In addition to the above mentioned ethnic groups there are a lot of other ethnicities present in Pakistan including the Saraiki, Bahaaai, Memon and Muhajirs. Pakistan’s official language is Urdu, However English along with Urdu has also given the official status and is a medium of communication in the educational institution and the professional institutions including the government organisations. Besides Urdu, Punjabi, Sindhi, Balochi and Memoni are also spoken in many ethnic groups.
The Official religion of Pakistan is ‘Islam”. It is followed by all the Muslim ethnic groups regardless of any difference between language and traditions.The majority of the Pakistani population consists of Muslims. Islam, governs their personal, political, economic and legal lives (commisceo global,2016). The culture is not totally trimmed according to the rules of "Islam Shariat", but it closely follows the shariat rules. Shariat can be defined as a set of rules for life, religion and relationships including guidelines for day to day routines set by Islam for its followers.
Besides Muslims, Pakistan is home to several minority groups such as: Hindu, Sikh, Christian and Baha'i populations. Pakistan has granted equal rights to all the other religions to practice their faith and teachings freely; However some extremists groups are creating disturbances for the minority groups. The Pakistani government strongly condemns their actions and cooperates completely with the minority groups.
Friday is considered to be the holy day in Pakistan. It is declared as the national holidays instead of Sunday. (Minority Group of Pakistan,N.A.)
Pakistan culture is considered to be strictly conservative and religious. Pakistan came into existence to provide its people a system of life based on Islam. The people, in spite of some language differences, customs and traditions, commonly follow one religion. Islam is practiced by all Pakistanis. (Ronaq,2014)
Poetry and Literature both hold an important place in Pakistani culture. The culture is rich in poetry and literature. Some famous and internationally renowned poets of Pakistan have won fame and popularity both nationally and internationally due to their beautiful and expressive poetry in Urdu and Farsi. However the Punjabi poetry by Baba Bulleh Shah is considered as a masterpiece. He is known as one of the best sufi poets of the subcontinent and is highly recognized. Some of the other famous poets of Pakistan are Faiz, Iqbal, Hali, Shibli and Ghalib (Khan,2013)
Due to its strong cultural and traditional background, Pakistan is rich into religious and cultural festivities.People enjoy to be a part of the festivals and fairs.The Festival of lights, Annual urs (death and birth anniversaries) of great saints is celebrated greatly and joyfully all over Pakistan. The Horse and Cattle festival is another festival at the start of winter which is followed by the Polo festival in March every year. The festivals Basant, Shab-e-Barat, Eid-ul-Fitr, Eid-ul-Azha, Independence day, Death Anniversary of Quaid-e-Azam, Birthday of Allama Mohammad Iqbal, and the National Industrial Exhibition are some of the other famous religious and cultural festivals of Pakistan, including the birth and death anniversaries of the founders of the Pakistani nation.These festivals are celebrated widely and extensively in each and every city of Pakistan, however Punjab is the eminent province where most of these festivals are celebrated whole-heartedly and with full devotion keeping in mind the spirit of the festival.
Sports and games are considered a very important part of Pakistani culture. The national game of Pakistan is hockey. Pakistan has gained international fame in hockey, however cricket is yet another more commonly viewed and played sport in Pakistan. The famous Pakistani player Imran Khan has gained international fame in cricket all over the world. Pakistan is well-known for its squash players Jam Sher Khan and Jahangir Khan. The other games which are a part of Pakistani culture are wrestling, athletics, football, boxing, badminton, lawn tennis, and table tennis.
Pakistani food holds an important place when talking about Pakistani culture.The traditional food such as Karahi, biryani, naan, chapati, Kabab and curry dishes are liked all over the world. The rich and flavorful dishes are healthy and flavorful. Pakistani culture is rich in hospitality and welcoming guests. Serving meals to a guest is considered to be an essential norm in a Pakistani household. Meat, is an essential part of Pakistani food culture. Beef and mutton are commonly used in everyday cooking. Halal meat is sold and served very commonly, and has a large target market.
Music and Dance are also important parts of Pakistani culture.The famous Qawwali ,which is traditional folk music, is widely known all over the world. Ghazal is another famous form of music in Pakistan. Talking on the religious grounds, singing is prohibited in Islam, but Pakistani people have a strong passion for music. There are also certain rich cultural dance and moves practised in Pakistan including Bhangra –, Luddi , a folk dance of the Pashtuns tribes of Pakistan, including the unique styles of Quetta and Waziristan ,Khattak Dance and many more. (Khan, 2013)
Talking widely in terms of social and family culture and civilisation, Pakistan has a purely male-dominated society where there is little to no recognition granted to the female segment of the society. Pakistani culture consists of the tribal groups which set the standards for its members. The Pakistani society is run by norms and traditions set by men. All the major decisions are made by the men. Women are mostly restricted to decision making in the household. Sometimes men even take charge of that in some situations. Talking on the religious grounds, the religion of Islam also provides enormous powers to the men and all decisions about women’s involvement in the society (e.g. education, marriage, work, travel etc.) are made by their male family members. Due to this conservative philosophy women are considered less knowledgeable then men. Major decisions are made by men. In Pakistani culture men set boundaries for women and don’t discuss their women publicly. Women are considered as a symbol of respect for tribes.
Pakistani education is totally influenced by the Islamic religion. It is the vital and most important part of education in Pakistan. Pakistani culture promotes education and vocational training. Islamic studies are a must subject in all the public and private institutions in Pakistan.
Pakistan still follows the class system to an extent. There is a huge difference in public and private educational institutions. The public institutions are free of cost and open for all the citizens, however, the private schools are restricted only to the middle and upper classes, due to their heavy fee structures and additional spending on the extra curricular activities (Fazal,2016). According to the growing cultural trend in Pakistan, people from lower and middle classes are also taking measures to enrol their children in private schools, considering the higher quality of education they provide. There are a few reputable universities in Pakistan which are known internationally for their quality education such as LUMS (Lahore University for Management Sciences) and GIKI (Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute for Engineering), but sadly all of them come from the private sector. Public sector or government owned universities are also doing pretty well. The graduates of public universities are still not well paid as compared to the graduates from the private sector universities.
Keeping in mind the cultural values of Pakistan, women are emphasised more to choose professions in teaching or medicine. However from last few years women are seen in engineering and management positions. The changing trend has open many opportunities for women. However men are still seen on the top level management positions. Female harassment in the work place is also very common in the Pakistani culture.
Teaching is considered to be the most respectable profession however it is the most low paid profession.Teachers are the most respected people in Pakistani society after religious scholars, but sadly they are not well-paid. Most of the teachers are under privileged and hand to mouth. However several private institutions in Pakistan have tried to eliminate this culture and have started to provide many increments and facilities for their teaching staff.
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