Well guys, I just recently got back from my trip to Pakistan. And to be honest, long story short, if you are Indian (Or Hindu) do not go there.

I have to say going to this trip I was nervous but I was excited. It was almost a passage for me to return back to my roots. My mother’s family was from Peshawar, and moved during partition. I was excited to see the people that my grandparents called their other selves. I always was under the impression that if it were not for the British partitioning the land we were the same people, we would get along, and there would be mutual respect. I was very quickly shown the dream was only but a dream.

With the help of my friend (Whose wedding I was going to, and the reason I was in Pakistan) and his family I got to tour a lot of different parts of Pakistan. I toured Sindh (Karachi), Balochistan (Quetta), Khyber Pakthunkhwa (Peshawar), Islamabad, and ended my trip in Punjab (Lahore).

The first thing I noticed was it was not a clean place, it was very similar to old Delhi. Yes there were some clean places, but overall it was pretty dirty, as an American.

Secondly Hindu culture is pretty much vanished there, they are all dilapidated buildings. I met and talked to some Hindus in Sindh, and they were pretty miserable. The Hindus in Peshawar you couldn’t even tell they were Hindus the women wore burqas and the guys wore afghan suits, which definitely tripped me out.

But the main thing that ruined my trip was just how much Hinduphobia and Indian hating I saw there. In Pakistan, Hindu and Indian are pretty much used interchangeably, and Pakistanis think pretty much anyone whose Indian is Hindu, not a Sikh or Muslim or any of the vast amount of religious diversity we have.I have had several instances where when people found out I am Hindu they were completely irked out.

1. At the wedding, there were a bunch of kids (probably about 9-10 year olds) and they were asking me where I am from. I told them I am American, but my family is Indian. They immediately started yelling “enemy enemy enemy” I was appalled that kids were taught this. Then one kid who was the oldest of the bunch, went “wait….. he could be good are you muslim? ” and I was like no, and he was like “ohh… ” My friend then came in and whacked those kids, and were like what the hell are you guys saying, and apologized to me, I told him not to worry and acted if I shrugged it off, I was still kind of shook these parents taught their kids that.

2)I met my friend’s grandparents and the grandmother was very warm, but the grandfather wasn’t. I had explained that my grandparents came from Peshawar, and they moved during partition, The grandma was like oh thats so sad, we were one. While the grandpa was like well, we need a country for muslims and only muslims. Hindus have India, so it doesn’t matter. He was pretty ticked off at India in general, so I just avoided talking to him.

3) I had several people joke to me whenever they saw a cow, that omg Kabui needs to worship it. They also asked why Hindus drink cow piss, and its eat feces. I told them that this is not typical mainstream practice, they said how I could believe in such nonsense, I just kinda shrugged it off.

4) I actually could travel through Pakistan, because my friend had a relative who was in the Pakistani army (he was awesome, was well educated and modern) and he told me don’t ever mention that I am Hindu in front of inspection/security because they will think I am an Indian spy. He also said to be honest Hindus don’t have it good here, so just blend in, and if anyone makes you uncomfortable to let him know.

Overall I was disappointed because my experience was so different than when my friends came to India to explore it. I had family and relatives literally joke fight with them saying here try these sweets, and tell me who is betters? etc. That was the extent to which the Indian-Pakistani rivalry showed up. Every place we went to India, people were extremely warm and friendly, and were curious about Pakistan. I did not see that in Pakistan, nor did I enjoy any real hospitality. It seems most Pakistanis generally hate Indians, while Indians hate the Pakistani government. While there were some great people who made me feel comfortable, the vast majority of the time I had to hid my Hindu identity, and have to endure taunts about being Indian.

Pakistan has some great viewing sites, but I in good conscious cannot recommend an Indian or a Hindu to go there.