PAKISTAN, CHURCH OF

denomination inaugurated in Pakistan in 1970 and comprising former Anglican, Methodist, Scottish Presbyterian, and Lutheran churches and mission bodies. It is the only church in the world joining Lutherans with Anglicans, Methodists, and Presbyterians and one of three in which Anglicans and Methodists unite, the others being the churches of North and South India. Next to the Roman Catholic church, the Church of Pakistan is the largest Christian body in a country that is 97 percent Muslim. Christian missions in what is now Pakistan originated in the 16th century, proselytizing among Hindus, Sikhs, and Muslims. Until the partition of India in 1947, missionary activities were concentrated on Hindu Punjabis. Members of the church are mostly from lower income levels, often landless farm workers. In addition to initiating development projects, the Church of Pakistan provides teachers, social workers, and medical personnel. Most colleges and schools founded by this denomination have been nationalized. Two theological seminaries, two colleges, and a hospital remain affiliated with the church. Headquarters are in Sialkot, Pak. Cultural life Pakistan shares influences that have shaped the cultures of South Asia. There are thus wider regional similarities extending beyond the national boundaries. On the other hand, the specific regional cultures of Pakistan present a picture of rich diversity. It is difficult, therefore, to speak of a single Pakistani culture. Family organization is strongly patriarchal, as in most agrarian societies, and most people live in large extended families. A woman's place in society is low, and she is restricted to the performance of domestic chores and to fulfilling the role of a dutiful wife and mother. In wealthy peasant and landowner households and in urban middle-class families, women are kept in seclusion (pardah); on the rare occasions on which they set foot outside their houses, they must be veiled. Among poor peasants, women have duties on the farm as well as in the house and do not observe pardah. In the Punjab, cotton picking is exclusively a woman's job, and women keep the money thus earned for their own purposes. Houses of those who practice pardah have a men's section (mardanah) at the front of the house, so that visitors do not disturb the women, who are secluded in the women's section (zananah). Among the very rich, Western education and modes of living have eliminated pardah, but, in general, even among this group, attitudes toward women in society and the family are akin to those of Victorian England. Change is coming most rapidly among the urban middle-income group, inspired by increasing access to the West as well as by the entry of women into the work force. An increasing number of women do not observe pardah, and the education of women has been encouraged. Some women have gained distinction in the professions; some of Pakistan's leading politicians, journalists, and teachers are women. Social organization revolves around kinship rather than caste. Beradari (patrilineage) is the most important social institution. A preferable marriage for a man is with his father's brother's daughter, and among many groups marriages are invariably within the beradari. The lineage elders constitute a council that adjudicates disputes within the lineage and acts on behalf of the lineage with the outside worldfor example, in determining electoral allegiances. Pakistan's cultural heritage dates back more than 5,000 years, to the epoch of the Indus civilization. But the emphasis on Islamic ideology has brought about a strong romantic identification with Islamic culturenot only that of the Indian subcontinent but of the whole of the Islamic world. Qawwali, a form of devotional singing, is very popular. Poetry is also a popular rather than an esoteric art, and public poetry recitations called musha'irahs are organized like musical concerts. Urdu, Sindhi, and Pashto poets are regional and national heroes. Literature is the richest of all Pakistani art forms; music and, especially, dancing are less-developed arts. The visual arts, too, play little part in popular folk culture. Painting and sculpture, however, have made considerable progress as expressions of an increasingly sophisticated urban culture. The cinema is the most popular form of entertainment. Many feature films are produced each year, mostly in Punjabi and Urdu. The songs and music used in the films have a distinctive character and are often reproduced on phonograph records and broadcast on the radio. Government-owned radio and television have been used in an attempt to harness folk cultural traditions (especially in song, music, and drama) for political and nonpolitical propaganda purposes. Newspapers, in particular those published in Urdu, Sindhi, and English, have a wide readership. Hamza A. Alavi Shahid Javed Burki