Despite whatever Pakistanis have to say about how well integrated we are, our obsession with the caste system persists. Here are some of the instances when caste system governed and still continues to govern our life in Pakistan.
Also, these do not apply to everyone so I’m not generalizing it to literally ALL of you. These are just some general observations, all based on my personal experiences and of those around me:
1. When someone wants to marry outside their clan to a person of their choice but can’t because ‘apni caste main karni hai bus‘
How does marrying within your own caste guarantees a happy married life?
2. When you don’t let your household help share the same food because woh chooray chamar hain
3. When you couldn’t get a job that you deserved because the interviewer had his own braadri kay bhai behan to take care of
4. When every person who is fond of singing and dancing is looked down upon and called a mirasi, as if it’s a derogatory term
5. When you wonder how a lohar, tarkha, mochi ka beta made it to one of the biggest universities in Pakistan
Yes, that happened. In an actual university I’ve had the honor of studying at. A professor thought it was funny that a student belonging to a middle class could so easily make it to one of the supposed ‘elite’ institutions in the country.
6. When you call your friends who haven’t showered for two days massalis, super casually without realizing your internalized superiority complex
7. When Syeds automatically assume they are the ultimate authority and comes at the top of the hierarchy
I’ve had people tell me that Syedon ko aag hee nai lagti, which implies that they are exempt from bad things happening to them and that they should be respected at all costs.
Respect is earned is all I can say in response.
8. When you justify your obsession with caste system by saying ‘at least we are better than Indians. We don’t have any untouchables here’
Sure, we don’t buddy. Let’s just close our eyes and assume everything is perfect.
Pehlay apne girayban main na jank lain?
9. When your country’s entire political landscape is inundated with gaddi nasheens and whatnot and you keep voting for them every year because, devotion
10. When the changars, chamaars, deendars and the ones belonging to the supposedly lower Hindu castes have to spend their entire lives in bonded labor and nobody bats an eye
11. And when you talk about Hitler discriminating against Jews, slavery in the old America and Trump’s racism without giving a second thought to your household help and drivers who might also need some of your empathy too
Caste system and “classes” are still so much apparent in our society. Wake up!
Cover Image Via:worldwatchmonitor.org