What is up with Southern KPK Pashtuns and Urdu?

[Dost]

Drink some water. You need to cool down.

I'm not sure If you know Urdu, but:

Yeh larki jo he, zehni mareez he. Is se baat karna fazool he. Behtar ke iske saat baat hi na karna, kyun ke apka hi dimagh kharab ho ga.

[Samandri]

Some of you guys are being too extreme here. Most Pashtuns aren't self-loathing and they are proud of their heritage. Most of these impurities will quickly go away after a few years if we unite all Pakistani Pashtuns under one province and make Pashto an official languagethere. Also the use of "ji" especially is due to a cultural difference between KPK Pashtuns(esp Peshawar valley ones) and other Pashtuns and has been around for a long time. In general we are more "polite" than other pashtuns such as those of FATA, North Balochistan, and Afghanistan. If I don't use "ji" with my elders I'll be viewed as disrespectful. As for other terms such as "Bhai Jan" I personally use them as my most people in my family do but I'm not a big fan. As Pashtuns become more urbanized they're going to pick up some of the habits of urban people, our goal should be to make sure Pashto language is preserved for future generations.

The usage of "Ji " is due to our schooling , in schools we have to say "Ji Sir" when talking with teacher......its mark of educated people, illiterate dont say Ji. I use "Ji" and "Ji Sir" a lot when talking with superiors and seniors. At the same i also say "sha (kha) and "sha da". And i can assure you that ones from Quetta also say "Ji" and "Ji Sir" or "Yes Sir" ........

[Samandri]

when they start talking about religion they imedeately switch to Urdu... lol... I never understood that.

Thats due to Tabligh

[Traveller]

I'm not sure If you know Urdu, but:

Yeh larki jo he, zehni mareez he. Is se baat karna fazool he. Behtar ke iske saat baat hi na karna, kyun ke apka hi dimagh kharab ho ga.

I'm not fluent in Urdu but I can mostly understand it. I didn't get every word you said but I understood what you were saying overall.

[Traveller]

The usage of "Ji " is due to our schooling , in schools we have to say "Ji Sir" when talking with teacher......its mark of educated people, illiterate dont say Ji. I use "Ji" and "Ji Sir" a lot when talking with superiors and seniors. At the same i also say "sha (kha) and "sha da". And i can assure you that ones from Quetta also say "Ji" and "Ji Sir" or "Yes Sir" ........

I guess that betrays the ignorance I have due to growing up outside of Pakistan, although I don't think I've ever heard "Ji sir"(I usually say "Aw(ho) ji.) But the being more polite thing is definitely something I've noticed about KPK Pashtuns. مثلاً اپريديان مشر ته " "تاسو" نه وايي

[Charsi Malang]

Thats due to Tabligh

So is all tabligh in Pakistan carried out in Urdu?

[Samandri]

So is all tabligh in Pakistan carried out in Urdu?

The bayans and khutbas in our mosques are in Pashto, translations of Quran and hadith are narrated in Pashto, but the ones you are talking about, who switch to Urdu, have participated in tabligh or have listened to tablighis who speak in Urdu. Those who cant speak Urdu (usually elderly) do Tabligh in Pashto but those who know Urdu even if its very weak, are encouraged to do tabligh in Urdu. Maulana Abdul Wahab even once issued an order that Tabligh must be compulsorily done in Urdu language but he had take it back after criticism. So out of habit, they switch to Urdu due to influence of Tabligh.

[Charsi Malang]

The bayans and khutbas in our mosques are in Pashto, translations of Quran and hadith are narrated in Pashto, but the ones you are talking about, who switch to Urdu, have participated in tabligh or have listened to tablighis who speak in Urdu. Those who cant speak Urdu (usually elderly) do Tabligh in Pashto but those who know Urdu even if its very weak, are encouraged to do tabligh in Urdu. Maulana Abdul Wahab even once issued an order that Tabligh must be compulsorily done in Urdu language but he had take it back after criticism. So out of habit, they switch to Urdu due to influence of Tabligh.

Is it a psychological game plan that tabligh are mostly done in Urdu? Or is it to ensure that everyone understands what is being said? Of course if it's the latter reason then it is flawed as not everyone has a strong command over the Urdu language, as you have mentioned. I just find it extremely annoying that whenever I meet a Pashtun from Pakistan especially the slightly "educated" ones they switch to Urdu when talking about religion. I have noticed this is in women as well.

I heard from my elders that a lot of Pashtuns in the olden days found it very hard to believe that someone who speaks Urdu or Punjabi was even Muslim. Lol.

[Traveller]

I dont know. When you are doing Tabligh in months, you are stepping outside Pakhtunkhwa where your language of communication is Urdu, so may be thats why. Also regularly doing tabligh involves lot of tours to Lahore and Tariq Jamil, preaching in Urdu, is very popular among Pashtuns. This switching to Urdu thing you mentioned, is noticed only among some tablighis otherwise we talk in our own language in our villages when it comes to religion. Urdu is understood by almost every one but speaking it is different matter.



Its because you have grown up in UK. We are used to listening , hearing and reading Urdu content so its not annoying for us at all. My ears are used to hearing a Pashtun talking English in Pakistani/Pashtun accent....when recently i came across few Pashtuns from UK talking in thick British accent , i found it very weird and distracting. Their Pashto accent was normal but when they would say a sentence in English , the British accent would appear.

That might be the case with Pashtuns of remote areas of Afghanistan but people of all the districts along river Indus were not this much ignorant about Punjab.

Most of us Pashtuns who grew up in the west don't know Urdu so we often find it inconvenient when another Pashtun uses Urdu.

[Akbar]

I've noticed the highly educated among Southern KPK(Kohat and beyond) Pashtuns tend to use a lot of Urdu to the point where they even speak Urdu with their kids. I don't have enough data on Marwats but judging from the people I have met online they tend to be proud Pashtuns.
I want to know:
A)Why does this happen?
B)Do people from Waziristan also do this?
C)What threat does this pose to the Pashto language and how can we stop this trend?

just look at some interviews with governement people on khyber watch you will find out 10 to 15 percent pashto the rest english and urdu.
there was this episode about prostitution in pashtun areas including villages and how women because of majbori are getting into it and men are involved in using them.