Afghan Pereceptions of Bengalis

[Imzy]

I just wanted to start this thread out of anthropological curiosity.
I wanted to ask the members of Pashtun Forums to candidly state their views of Bengalis, and also what they have heard of Bengalis and what the general view of Bengalis is by Afghans. If its negative, by all means say it, but try and do it in a "reasonable" way? so that it can be discussed.

Inter-ethnic perceptions are interesting.

[emkhan]

A lost tribe of Pakistan...

[tor_khan]

Common Racism not intended - and something that needs to be challenged - historically, Central Asians have tended to view South Asia through the lens of conquerors. The nostalgic, less favourable view is that Indians (Greater India) were people who were easy-resistance and somewhere there-in is your answer.

History, however, isn't without a sense a irony, and now, I think it is fair to say - at least on the intellectual level - that Indians are seen positively for their economic, educational, scientific and technological advances. You might want to add Bangladesh to that.

It matters what we think of each other when of course we are talking about developing trade and alliances.

[Talal]

I'd think it would be something of a "non-perception" I mean no trade, no aid, no interdependence of any sort, no migration between the two countries. Even speaking in terms of ancient empires there was no direct interaction between the people

[Imzy]

Interesting responses, with the lost tribe of pakistan one, I cant really take that seriously because we are quite different from them and noticeably so, but if that is what is seen....
What about in terms of general view of communities say in Britain or the USA in the modern age? How are bengalis seen then?
For example, here in the UK, the general perception of Indians by Bengalis can be:
Smart, Stingy, Untrustworthy, Trustworthy depending on who you talk to etc..

[Zmarak]

I must be honest, I have never really given much thought to Bengali people and to my knowledge no one that I know has any defined perception of them.

[یاسمینه]

@Imzy, to whom is addressed your question? Tille of the thread suggest Afghans (then who is an Afghan for you?) and then you refer your querry to PF members. It's confusing.

[Shahid]

A very stupid question. As an AFghan i must say that such threads are made by those who has vicious agenda coming from Pakistan. open a thread and ask what Afghans think about Pakstan? and to asnwer you honestly we don't recognize Pakistan as an independant state. The so called fake PAkistan should go back to days when it was India and AFghanistan. I think those two nations get alone pretty well. Leave the world in peace PAkistan. Thank you. and by the way Bengalis are seen nothing but a friend to Afghans.

[IamDZJ]

^ it's not a stupid question even IF the thread starter is insincere about his intentions behind the thread. i also don't know much about bengal or it's people. i think this thread is a good opportunity to learn.
yesterday someone asked what the importance of friday was in islam and the thread was deleted. i am not sure if the reason had to do with the member opening the thread or not but i thought there were some really good things that were clarified about friday from which some or most of us could benefit.

[tor_khan]

^I didn't make the deletion, but I just checked.

You were responding to some auto-spam, in fact. There is a way of blocking some spam and the associated IP, but it usually means the threads go down too, since that is how most spam works (i.e. it creates a thread almost each time).

Responding to spam, kind of feeds it.

[Admin Khan]

I just wanted to start this thread out of anthropological curiosity.
I wanted to ask the members of Pashtun Forums to candidly state their views of Bengalis, and also what they have heard of Bengalis and what the general view of Bengalis is by Afghans. If its negative, by all means say it, but try and do it in a "reasonable" way? so that it can be discussed.

Inter-ethnic perceptions are interesting.

As silly as this might sound, well, coming from Afghans, Bengalis are viewed as poor and hard-working people, who mind their business and strive for a better life.

[R3SISTANC3]

To be honest Bangalay and Panjabay are used as derogatory terms in our village. To call someone Bangalay is like an insult. Dont ask me why because I dont know. The perception of Bangalis is very short dark people who do menial jobs.

[IamDZJ]

^and what was the point of being that honest right now??

[R3SISTANC3]

^and what was the point of being that honest right now??

Read the thread starter original post, later part.

[Karachi]

I have met many bengalis in my life, ofcourse in saudi arabia it was mostly the (labour) class. But here in Canada i have met very very rich bengalis, many of them working as doctors or engineers. One of my best friend is a bengali here in Mississauga and both his dad/mom are doctors, he lives in a huge mansion, I go to his house almost every week.