Issues of Ethnic Diversity and Just Development in Pakistan with a Special Focus on the Seraiki Ethnic Group

Ethnicity implies the sense of belonging together as the cultural group in a given society. It is a complex combination of racial, cultural and historical characteristics by which people differentiate themselves from other groups. This research envisages the genesis and the evolution of ethnicity as a political concept, the problems of ethnicity in a heterogeneous, multicultural state and the phenomenon of ethno-nationalism in its historical and analytical perspective in the federation of Pakistan with special reference to the status of Seraiki ethnic group. In fact ethnic expressions exist in all multicultural states and distinct ethnic groups evaluate themselves through communal prism. The less privileged groups develop abhorrence against the over – privileged groups due to the persistence of socioeconomic injustices. Factors like the gap between core and periphery, asymmetrical modernization and authoritarian trends lead towards ethnic disruption. Same is the case with Pakistan, a multilingual, multiracial and multiethnic state with federating units reflecting various diversities. The analysis of ethno-nationalism in Pakistan highlights factors, like regional cultural identity, relative deprivation among regions, centralized state structure, denial of accepting regional language as national language, and the absence of democratic values as being the root causes of the Bengali separatism. The assimilationist policies of the government do not acknowledge the regional/ethnic aspirations. Denial of pluralistic approach has been thwarting the demand for provincial autonomy. The nature of ethnic consciousness in the Seraiki belt, analyzed in this article, is found to be nurtured by the perceived socio-economic injustice at intra-provincial level—between the regions of South Punjab and Central and Northern Punjab put together

Developing a Meal-Planning Exchange List for Traditional Pakistani Dishes

Pakistani cuisine is culturally diverse as most of the dishes are one-pot combination dishes, the nutritional composition of which are not available in any Food Composition Tables thus the aim of the study was to develop a Meal Planning Exchange List (MPEL) for Traditional Pakistani Dishes (TPDs). Mixed method sequential exploratory research design was used for this purpose. Data was collected from housewives via focus group discussion and 30 TPDs were selected which made the foundation of the study. The TPDs were prepared according to the recipes provided by the participants of focus group and net weight of recipes was recorded. Proximate analysis of the dishes was done following the AOAC procedures. Using theoretical triangulation the 30 selected TPDs were grouped into 9 groups and the serving size was adjusted in such a manner that the macro-nutrient and energy content of each TPD in the amount stated was equal to the other TPD within the group ; one way ANOVA established that there was no statistical difference (p value ≥0.05) within the group, and as such mean of macro-nutrients could be representative of each group. The TPDs were categorized under the Bean & Lentil group; Cereal group; Meat group enlisted both lean and medium fat separately; and Vegetable group presented as Non-starchy and Starchy Vegetables. One-pot combination TPDs were also grouped together as Meat & Meat Substitute (medium fat ) plus nonstarchy vegetables; Meat (medium fat) plus starchy vegetables; and lastly Meat (both lean & medium fat) with cereal group. Thus, the developed MPEL is comparable to any other FEL worldwide and is ready to be used countrywide for meal planning of Pakistani population both at home and overseas. Keywords: Meal Planning Exchange List (MPEL), Traditional Pakistani Dishes (TPDs). The Blessings of Allah (Subhan-o-Tallah) & prayers of my mother has made this possible.