Heartening to see that so far, Bangladesh has kept its beautiful pre-Islamic traditions and culture alive and resisted the Arabization that has all but wiped out Pakistan's original culture. It is showing the path of moderation for the rest of the Islamic states of the region.

I fully endorse the views expressed by SHUBS above.Further my complements to DAWN for such a wonderful pictorial coverage of the sub continent,without any bias,from Sonar Bangla (Bangladesh) which preserved its cultural heritage.

Bangladesh was ruled by Muslims from the subcontinent and it has preserved its pre islamic culture. Pakistan was conquered and converted by the arabs and other foreigners, so it has lost all its original native culture. Today pakistan is trying to be something which it is not.

What do you mean lost it'soriginal culture?? culture is a constant evolving thing, perhaps not at the same rate in any given place. Why is that people like you are always fixated on Pakistan's pre-islamic culture, which I might add was not only hindu but buddist, animist, pagan etc. Even india had a pre-hindu culture at one point! infact there was even a point in india's history where there was no india. You never see people from Pak asking why modern indians do not retain or celebrate their pre-hindu past. We could even argue that the way indian people go on about their history or religion one would thing that there was no time before the hindu era in in modern india's history! I have seen in various places be it print media or TV/internet where indian people or people of indian origen harping on why Pak people do not share their sense of history or celebrate this and that. To put it simply and crudely, it is non of your business what we cherish or not. Why cannot you simply enjoy watching these photos rather than use this opportunity to score some points?