भारतेन्दु

“It is curious how markedly for evil is the influence which conversion to even the most impure form of Mahomedanism has upon the character of the Panjab villager; how invariably it fills him with false pride and conceit,… and renders him… less well-to-do than his Hindu neighbour…

When we move through a tract inhibited by Hindus and Musalmans belonging to the same tribe, descended from the same ancestor, and living under the same conditions, we can tell the religion of its owner by the greater idleness, poverty, and pretension, which marked the Musalman, it is difficult to suggest any explanation of the fact.

It can hardly be that the Musalman branch of the village enjoyed under the Mahomedan Emperors any such material advantage over their Hindu brethren as could develop habits of pride and extravagance which should survive generations of equality. And yet, whatever the reason, the existence of the difference is beyond a doubt…”