Pakistanis are performative momins” – Why?
Answer: A wounded psyche. When an alien custom is imposed & one morning you turn from Hari Lal Sharma to Hakimullah Qureshi, you have to go against every fibre of your body and pretend to be a better momin than any bedouin.
This conflict in identity and fragmented self-esteem explains why Bedouin states have strong & strategic relationship with Hindu majority India, they prioritize investment in India and as well migration from India, while Pakistan perpetuates animosity.
A bedouin is comfortable in his skin and has no need to prove his relation with Islam but subcontinental Muslims of every generation have to prove their loyalty to Islam by hating on Hindus, native culture, language, as though internally their DNA screams “but you aren’t really Muslim” – this is a product of trauma and clash between millenia of local identity imprint in our DNA vs forced foreign identity & custom.
Now in order to hide the guilt of “imposed alien custom” and to resolve the psychological conflict of identity, people ascribed themselves their favorite class hierarchy – Syed’s, Qureshi’s or Khan’s or Kiyani’s, etc. And invented their lineage to Bin Qasim’s khota.
As I keep saying, there are more Syeds & Qureshi’s in Lucknow or Karachi or Lahore than entire Middle East. Good example: This arab guy derisively rebuts claim by a Pakistani to be “Mahdi”, not by validating his divinity credentials (?) rather by race
Numerous genome studies prove Muslim expansion was cultural change than genetic flow, cuz Y chromosomes of subcontinent Muslims is genetically similar to Hindus. Study: A Shared Y-chromosomal Heritage between Muslims and Hindus in India (Human Genetics 120(4):543-51).
With fake ancestry and a mindset of invader (no matter how fake) drilled in by family, society, mullah, education, and state – how do you expect people to own their homeland and pride associated to regions history and culture?
Imagine the delusion, that a 3rd generation convert baniya Jinnah pretended to be an alien among his own people merely cuz of faith. And based on outright lie of two nation theory, he became a cause for partition, millions of deaths and perpetual strife in this region.
This dichotomy & delusion explains why most Paks especially elite – be it in media, army, judiciary, politicians & bureaucrat play performative Islam & Pakistani card only to migrate “na-Pak” (impure/infidel) lands, while claiming to be “Pak patriots” on social media.
Reality has its own power – you can turn your back on it, but it will find you in the end, and your inability to cope with it will be your ruin. Pakistan’s (and subcontinental Muslims) inability to face its insecurities of self-esteem and identity, translating in Hindu-India hate despite homogeneity in DNA, culture, food, language, etc., the othering of its motherland by imagined foreign lineage, rooted in stories of controversial & power-hungry heroes, influenced by totalitarian theology, resting on comforting lies has, in my opinion, destroyed the psyche of Pakistanis, made them weak and in the process hollowed societal culture & values – so essential for family & nation building.
Much like how Bengali Muslims were forced to confront their “delusion of two nation theory”, Pakistan’s implosion maybe catalyst that breaks this mould of hate, delusion and lies. Pray the human toll is minimum. Shalom.
(This article has been compiled from the tweet thread posted by @JungjooGernail on December 29, 2023, with minor edits to improve readability and conform to HinduPost style guide)
