Pakistan Supreme Court Rules Barat, Mehndi Un-Islamic

nkdatta8839

From:	nkdatta8839
Subject:	Pakistan Supreme Court Rules Barat, Mehndi Un-Islamic
Date:	1 Dec 2004 00:06:42 -0800

http://jang.com.pk/thenews/nov2004-daily/30-11-2004/oped/o6.htm

The News, Karachi, Pakistan
Tuesday November 30, 2004-- Shawal 17, 1425 A.H.

Obsession with Hinduism
By I Hassan

Recently the Supreme Court of Pakistan is said to have held (I have
not seen any authenticated copy of the order), according to a
newspaper report that the marriage customs in this country of "barat"
or "mehndi" are Hindu customs and must be discarded.

It would seem that the honourable court has confused cultural
practices with religious manifestation. On this earth there are
certain vast regions where despite the fact that there are different
nation states, languages and religions, a uniform culture prevails.
Take Europe. For centuries the states of Europe such as Germany and
France fought wars against each other with England joining in on
either side for good measure. There were further wars between
Protestants and Catholics (religion). And yet, despite the fact the
various nations spoke different languages their basic cultural
manifestations were the same. For instance, they enjoyed the same
music whether composed in Germany, Austria, Poland or France. They ate
similar food albeit with variations in the mode of cooking. They ate
with the same implements (forks and knives).

Then there is yet another major cultural region — China. The way they
dress, eat with chopsticks and cook their food is ostensibly Chinese.
It has however no relationship with Buddhism, the main religion.
Eating with chopsticks has no relationship with Buddhism which
originated in India, the next big cultural region like Europe or
China.

One is obliged to use the geographical term "India" to connote the
vast region of which the Indian peninsula is the major part. Its
cultural pattern is as distinctive as that of China or Europe. For
instance whilst people in Europe eat with forks and spoons and the
Chinese with chopsticks, in India from time memorial, even before
Islam was introduced there, people ate with their fingers. Then there
is the type of food which again is a cultural manifestation and has
nothing to do with religion. Nowhere is bread eaten as a flat pancake
cooked on a flat iron, called chappatti. And it is eaten with "dal"
which is not eaten elsewhere. The various types of ‘dal' are very
Indian and eaten by followers of all religions. After all even today
there are more Muslims in India than in Pakistan and they eat the same
food and with their fingers as the others.

Then there are so many customs or modes of doing things that belong to
the geographical region called India. Take the way we sweep things.
The broom used is of a bunch of straws with a short handle which
obliges the sweeper to bend down with one hand placed on the back and
go almost crab like sweeping along. Come what may you cannot get the
people to use a long handle broom as is done in Europe. Muslims in
India are using the same short handle as are the Hindus over there and
as indeed are the Muslims in Pakistan.

And one must not forget that the Indian cultural pattern has not been
confined to the peninsula. Like China and Europe, Indian cultural
imprint extended south into Indonesia, and east as far as the Mekong
river which is the dividing line between Chinese culture and Indian.
Even today people in Thailand greet each other with folded hands and
utter "swadi" which is the equivalent of "namaskkar". In Indonesia to
this day stands the magnificent Borobudur temple (Hindu) in Java. Even
though the whole of the archipelago converted to Islam in about the
eleventh century with the advent of Arab traders, there remain
perceptible signs of Indian cultural influence. It is very apparent in
names of people. Take the name of the last president of Indonesia —
Soekarnoputri — the daughter of Soekarno. Putur we still use in
Punjabi for a son and putri is the feminine of putur!

Then India is renowned for its "hot" food which is eaten by all
people. Now although chillies are not indigenous to India, having been
introduced by the Europeans to India from Mexico, chilli-hot food is
considered very Indian. Consequently "curry" is very Indian — eaten by
Muslims and Hindus and today more so by the English in England where
it has almost become a national dish. It cannot be called a Hindu
custom!

Similarly barat and mehndi are customs that have come down from time
immemorial. After all a barat is a joyful manifestation of a triumphal
process of acquisition. It might interest the people to know that in
the village of Guff in Tehsil Kahuta, district Rawalpindi, there is a
fossilised wedding procession, (Junje) complete with a palanquin and
others accompanying on foot and the bridegroom on a prancing horse. It
is quite a large tableau but not full size. In fact it is miniature.
The last I saw it was sixty years ago. So, if "barats" existed in
antiquity, how is it that they are Hindu? Do Muslims not have
weddings? As far as ‘mehndi' is concerned this custom has gone on from
time immemorial and is confined to India where all regardless of
religious affiliations embellish themselves with mehndi. Even males
colour their beard and hair with mehndi.

We differ from the Hindus in our religious beliefs. Whilst Muslims
believe in one God, Hindus have a plethora of gods although at the end
of the day they do come down to one called "Bhagwan". Other than that
we eat the same food, wear the same clothes, wash our clothes the same
way beating them with a mallet. Let us therefore not confuse religion
with custom and a way of living because if anything we do is declared
to be Hindu then we shall have to give up eating chapattis, having a
shower (ashnan!) or wearing a shalwar or speaking the language we do.
The result already is disastrous. Having cast away the music we had as
being Hindu and replaced it with the "bang, bang" of America, we have
thrown the baby out with the bathwater. If we throw away all custom
and ways of living as Hindu, we shall be bereft of all!