Tracing Punjabi connections in Pakistan

Can Indians and Pakistanis really hate each other? To me, it’s impossible to dislike a Pakistani citizen, whether he’s a Muslim, a Sikh, a Hindu, a Parsi or a Christian. On my visits to the neighbouring country as a research scholar, I befriended many Pakistanis, especially Sikhs. Contrary to general perception in India that all nonMuslims are oppressed in Pakistan, many of them have been living there with no opposition. The moment one lands in Pakistan, one feels the palpable Punjabi culture that pervades the cultural and social milieu.

The most refined Punjabi is spoken in Pakistan, not in India’s Punjab. Even Muslims of Pakistan have a distinct Punjabi accent when they converse in Urdu. Just listen to the way Ghulam Ali renders his ethereal ghazals. A connoisseur of Urdu will immediately detect the overwhelming Punjabi influence on his diction. If you hear cricketer-turned-prime minister Imran Khan speak, it appears as if a Punjabi is speaking. General Pervez Musharraf, Nawaz Sharif, general Ashfaq Kayani, all speak with a heavy Punjabi accent. Even though Ahmad Faraz and Aurangzeb Khan ‘Qateel’ Shifai wrote in Urdu and enriched its poetry, they could never get rid of their Punjabi. In fact, they never made an effort to dispense with Punjabi that was integral to their consciousness.

Allama Iqbal, the greatest Urdu-Persian poet of the subcontinent, proudly spoke Urdu laced with the Punjabi of Sialkot as he hailed from there. If you ever hear anyone in Pakistan speak impeccable Urdu with no influence of Punjabi, rest assured the person must be a muhajir (those who migrated from India during Partition).

Partition may have left an indelible imprint of bad blood on Sikhs and Muslims, but the former have always enjoyed privileges in Pakistan. I was surprised to see a Punjabi restaurant in Pakistan’s Jhelum that displayed in Urdu: Yahaan jhatka gosht milta hai (Here you get jhatka meat) as devout Sikhs eat only jhatka, not halaal.

Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad universities appointed Sikhs to teach Urdu and Persian. Deepender Singh Bhullar was the head of the department of Rekhti (a precursor to Urdu), Urdu and Persian at Lahore University and became professor emeritus. I’ve not heard anyone from the subcontinent speak Persian like a native speaker with absolutely no trace of Punjabi. He would read Guru Granth Sahab in Shahmukhi, a variant of Persian script written from right to left like Urdu, along with Muhammad Rafi whenever they would meet in India.

Rafi’s predominant language wasn’t Urdu either. It was Punjabi and he began his career with Punjabi film Gul Baloch in 1941. Till 1956, Rafi’s Urdu had a perceptible influence of Punjabi as he was born in Amritsar’s Kotla Sultan Singh village. Composer Naushad Ali had to work hard to iron out the punjabiyat from Rafi’s singing.

At Hasan Abdal in Panja Sahib, an hour-long drive from Islamabad, all granthis are at ease in Urdu and Punjabi. Their Punjabi sounds so mellifluous that I wonder why Punjabis in India never spoke like their Pakistani counterparts. However ironic it may sound, to experience that Punjabi and Punjabi culture is still alive and kicking, one must visit Pakistan to see it for oneself.

THE MOST REFINED PUNJABI IS SPOKEN IN PAKISTAN, NOT IN INDIA’S PUNJAB. EVEN MUSLIMS THERE HAVE A DISTINCT PUNJABI ACCENT WHEN THEY CONVERSE IN URDU

sumitmaclean@hotmail.com n The writer is a Punebased research scholar of Semitic languages and civilisations