Pakistani Values

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- SOCIO CULTURAL ELEMENTS :

- LANGUAGE :

Pakistan’s national language is Urdu. The other major reagional languages

are Punjabi,Pashto,Sindhi,Balochi,Siraiki,Kashmiri,Brahui,Balti,khowar and Burushaski. Although the national language is Urdu yet the spread of English as international language has enforced English as second language. In Pakistan, the demand of learning English and the consequent opening of thousands of ‘English medium schools’ indicates a change in the needs of people to adopt English as a second official language. Only about 8% of Pakistanis speak it as their first language, it is spoken and understood as a second language by almost all Pakistanis. Its introduction as the lingua franca was encouraged by the British upon the capitulation and annexation of Sindh (1843) and Punjab (1849) with the subsequent ban on the use of Persian. The decision to make the language change was to institute a universal language throughout the then British Raj in South Asia as well as minimize the influence of Persia, the Ottoman Empire, Afghanistan and Central Asia on this transitional region. Urdu is a relatively new language in the contemporary sense but has undergone considerable modifications and development borrowing heavily on the traditions of older languages like Persian, Arabic, Turkish etc.

- ETHNICITY :

The major ethnic groups of Pakistan in numerical size include: Punjabis, Pashtuns, Sindhis, Saraikis, Muhajirs, Balochis,Hindkowans, Chitralis, Gujarati and other smaller groups. Smaller ethnic groups, such as Kashmiris, Hindkowans, Kalash, Burusho,Brahui, Khowar, Shina, Balti and Turwalis are mainly found in the northern parts of the country.Pakistan's census does not include the registered 1.7 million Afghan refugees from neighbouring Afghanistan .

Different ethnic groups have some stereotypes associated with them as beharis are intelligent, pathans are fair and brave, memons are miser etc. The negative stereotyping about a group often hurts and angers the person belonging to that group.

Pakistan is a highly ethnocentric country with a lot of ethnic groups in the country. The ethnic groups within the country are divided on the basis of language, caste and religion .Ethnocentrism is deeply rooted in Pakistani society and its effects can be seen as all the provinces are formed such as to group people speaking one language together and those language speakers who haven’t got their seperate province they too are striving for it. Another such example is marriage. Due to ethnocentric beliefs people normally avoid marrying out of their sect or group. The drastic effects of ethnocentrism are evident by clashes between shia & sunnis, muhajirs & pathans etc.

- CLOTHING :

The national dress of Pakistan is shalwar kameez and is worn by majority of men and women all over the country. Although most of the people wear shalwar kameez yet each province has its own additions to it such as sindhi men prefer to wear a cloth called ajrak over their shirts and wear fancy designed caps (sindhi topi), pathans like to wear shawls and caps , Balochi women wear heavy embroided shalwar kameez and dupatta with the embroidery utilising Shisha work and Punjabis normally love to wear dhoti instead of shalwar. The recent years have brought quite a change in clothing with many people preferring to wear western style clothing. This slow change can be seen in women dressing with introduction of pajamas, pant pajamas, trousers in place of shalwars.

- FOOD :

Pakistani cuisine is a refined blend of various regional cooking traditions of South Asia. Pakistani cuisine is very similar to North Indian cuisine, but incorporates noticeable Central Asian, and Middle Eastern influences and is more meat-oriented.[2][3] The fusion Mughlai cuisine is the most popular cuisine found in most Pakistani restaurants.

Within Pakistan, cuisine varies greatly from region to region, reflecting the country's ethnic and cultural diversity. Food from the eastern provinces of Punjab and Sindh can be highly seasoned and spicy, which is characteristic of the flavors of the South Asian region. Food in other parts of Pakistan, particularly Balochistan, Azad Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas also hold distinct tastes based on various regional influences. International cuisine and fast food are popular in the cities. Blending local and foreign recipes (fusion food), such as Pakistani Chinese cuisine, is common in large urban centres. Furthermore, as a result of lifestyle changes, readymade masala mixes (mixed and ready to use spices) are becoming increasingly popular. However, given the diversity of the people of Pakistan, cuisines generally differ from home to home and may be different from the mainstream Pakistani cuisine.

Food is a very important factor in Pakistani society and people judge many things on the basis of food for e.g. a social function is considered as well managed only if the food was good. Self reference criterion can be seen among people in case of food as most of the people believe that other groups would love their food (for eg Punjabis and muhajirs excpecting pathans and others to love their spicy foods).

CONCLUSION :

It can be concluded that Pakistan