The Loss and Evolution of Pakistani Identity
Pakistan is the land of diverse. From the beginning of Khunjerab pass all the way to Arabian sea there reside people belonging to different backgrounds, having own native languages, traditions and customs. In the midst of all this cultural diversity the identity of a person remains on a knife’s edge. Now if this much was not enough the world has entered an age of globalization. Borders have only become something used to separate the countries and not the people anymore which in turn have also allowed the people to embrace different cultures of the world.
Recently Pakistan has turned its attention towards tourism and over the last few years the number of foreign tourists has greatly increased. Now this inherently isn't a bad thing as it helps in showing Pakistan globally as a country with a lot to offer and also helps in economic betterment but the main issue is that Pakistan is an Islamic country which has its values based on Islamic principles. The newer generations getting exposed to the western culture is starting to result in the erosion of our eastern identity.
Now things might not seem that bad but the truth is this identity loss would occur at an exponential pace each coming generation. The way to counter this is to mold our culture according to the modern times before the western influence starts to really affect our traditions and customs.
I asked my parents and grandparents about what is the most visible difference they see in recent times compared to back in their youth days to which after some time thinking they replied that it’s the dressing. Back in the days even till the later half of 2000s people would wear clothing like kurta shalwar or shalwar qameez among men and shalwar qameez along with a dupatta for women. Nowadays pants and shirts are the preferred choice compared to before.
This shift in dressing choices is already causing and will cause even more social problems in the Pakistani society. To counter this I propose the founding of a clothing brand which would design modern street wear but would also take into consideration the Pakistani culture, history and traditions. Doing so would help in preserving our core identities while also overcome the gap between eastern and western cultures. I would call it CHAKOR (Chakor being the national bird of Pakistan and can also translate to square which in my mind seems a pretty cool name for a modern street wear brand)
