Pakistani Briton
Encyclopedia
British Pakistanis are British
citizens whose ancestral roots lie in Pakistan
. This includes people who were born in the United Kingdom and are of Pakistani descent or Pakistani-born people who migrated to the country. The majority of British Pakistanis are from the Punjab and Kashmir
regions, with a smaller number from the Pashtun
-majority regions (mainly Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) and other parts of the country. The United Kingdom
is home to the largest overseas Pakistani
community. British Pakistanis make up the second largest subgroup of British Asian
s.
Immigration to the U.K. from the region which is now Pakistan began in the mid-seventeenth century, but this was fleeting and minuscule in number. During the British Raj
people from this region served as soldiers in the British Indian Army
and some were deployed in other parts of the British Empire
. However it was following the Second World War
and the break-up of the British Empire, that Pakistani immigration to the United Kingdom increased, especially during the 1950s and 1960s. This was made easier by the fact that Pakistan was a member of the Commonwealth
. Pakistani immigrants helped to resolve labour shortages in the British steel and textile industries. Doctors from Pakistan were recruited by the National Health Service
in the 1960s.
The demographics of British Pakistanis have changed considerably since they first arrived in the UK. The population has grown from about 10,000 in 1951 to roughly 1.2 million today, which makes them the second largest ethnic minority population in the United Kingdom
. The most diverse Pakistani population is in London
which consists of Punjabis
, Pashtuns
, Kashmiris
, Sindhis
, Balochis as well as Urdu-speaking Muhajirs
(mostly from Karachi
), who had initially migrated from India to Pakistan at its independence and others. The majority of British Pakistanis are Muslim
s; around 90 per cent of those living in England and Wales
at the time of the 2001 UK Census stated their religion was Islam
. The majority are Sunni Muslims, with a significant minority of Shia Muslims. The UK also has one of the largest overseas Christian
Pakistani communities; the 2001 census recorded around 8,000 Christian Pakistanis living in England and Wales.
Many British Pakistanis have established highly successful businesses and belong to middle class lifestyles. However, British Pakistanis also have the second highest overall relative poverty rate in Britain, after British Bangladeshis. A large number of British Pakistanis are self-employed, with a significant proportion working in the transport industry or in family-run businesses in the retail sector.
in 1947. Muslim immigrants from Kashmir
and Sindh
arrived in the British Isles
as early as the mid-seventeenth century, typically as lashkars
and sailors in British port cities. These immigrants were often the first Asians to be seen in British port cities and were initially perceived as indolent due to their reliance on Christian
charities. Despite this, most early Pakistani immigrants married local white British
women because there were few South Asian women in Britain at the time. Other early Pakistanis came to the UK as scholars and studied at major British institutions, before later returning to British India.
An example of such a person is Muhammad Ali Jinnah
, the founder of Pakistan. Jinnah came to the UK in 1892 and started an apprenticeship at Graham's Shipping and Trading Company
. After completing his apprenticeship, Jinnah joined Lincoln's Inn
, where he trained as a barrister. At 19, Jinnah became the youngest person from the Indian subcontinent
to be called to the bar
in Britain.
. After the war, most of these early settlers stayed on in the region and took advantage of an increase in the number of jobs.
There were 832,500 Muslim Indian soldiers in 1945; most of these recruits were from what is now Pakistan. These soldiers fought alongside the British Army during the First
and Second World Wars
, particularly in the latter, during the Battle of France
, the North African Campaign
and the Burma Campaign
. Many contributed to the war effort as skilled labourers, including as assembly-line workers in the aircraft factory at Castle Bromwich
, Birmingham, which produced Spitfire fighters. Most returned to the subcontinent after their service, although many of these former soldiers returned to Britain in the 1950s and 1960s to fill labour shortages.
, Pakistani immigration to the United Kingdom increased, especially during the 1950s and 1960s. This was made easier because Pakistan was a member of the Commonwealth of Nations
. Pakistanis were invited by employers to fill labour shortages which arose after the Second World War. As Commonwealth citizens, they were eligible for most British civic rights. They found employment in the textile industries of Lancashire
and Yorkshire
, manufacturing in the West Midlands
, and car production and food processing industries of Luton
and Slough
. It was common for Pakistani employees to work on night shifts and at other less-desirable hours.
Many Kashmiris began emigrating from Pakistan after the completion of Mangla Dam
in Mirpur in the late 1950s led to the destruction of hundreds of villages. Up to 5,000 people from Mirpur (five per cent of the displaced) left for Britain, the displaced Kashmiris being given legal and financial assistance by the British contractor which had built the dam. Those from unaffected areas of Pakistan, such as the Punjab
, also immigrated to Britain to help fill labour shortages. Punjabis began to leave Pakistan in the 1960s. They worked in the foundries of the English Midlands
, and a significant number also settled in Southall
in West London.
During the 1960s, a considerable number of Pakistanis also arrived from urban areas. Many of these people were qualified teachers, doctors, and engineers. They had a predisposition to settle in London due to its greater economic opportunities compared to the Midlands or the North of England
. Most medical staff from Pakistan were recruited in the 1960s and almost all worked for the National Health Service
.
During the 1970s, a large number of East Africa
n Asians, most of whom already held British passports because they were brought to Africa by British colonialists, entered the UK from Kenya
and Uganda
. Idi Amin
chose to expel all Ugandan Asians in 1972 because of the perception that they were responsible for the country's economic stagnation. The Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1962
and Immigration Act 1971
largely restricted any further primary immigration
to the UK, although family members of already-settled immigrants were allowed to join their relatives.
When the UK experienced deindustrialisation in the 1970s, many British Pakistanis became unemployed. The change from the manufacturing sector to the service sector was difficult for ethnic minorities and white Britons alike, especially for those with little academic education. The Midlands and North of England were areas which were heavily reliant on manufacturing industries and the effects of deindustrialisation continue to be felt in these areas. As a result, increasing numbers of British Pakistanis have resorted to self-employment. National statistics from 2004 show that one in seven British Pakistani men work as taxi drivers, cab drivers or chauffeurs.
, the number of people born in Pakistan living in the UK in 2009 was 441,000. The Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis of the Pakistan government estimates that 1.2 million Pakistanis live in the UK, around half of the total number in Europe.
The majority of British Pakistanis are from the Kashmir
and Punjab areas of Pakistan, with Kashmiris making up the largest and Punjabis making up the second largest portion. A high proportion of the members of Pakistani communities in the West Midlands and the North originated in Kashmir. Large Kashmiri communities can be found in Birmingham
, Bradford
, Oldham
, and the surrounding northern towns. Luton and Slough have the largest Kashmiri communities in the south of England, while a large proportion of Punjabis also reside in the south. There is also a small Pakistani Pashtun
population in the UK.
Demographer Ceri Peach
has estimated the number of British Pakistanis in the 1951 to 1991 censuses. He back-projected the ethnic composition of the 2001 census to the estimated minority populations during previous census years. The results are as follows:
area. This population is made up of Punjabi
s, Pathan
s, Balochis, Sindhis
and other Urdu Speakers. This mix makes the British Pakistani community of London more diverse than other communities in the UK, whereas a high proportion of Pakistani communities in the West Midlands and the North came from Kashmir.
The largest concentrations are in the East London communities of Ilford
, Walthamstow
, Leyton
and Barking
Other large communities can be found in Harrow
, Brent, Ealing and Hounslow in West London and Wandsworth and Croydon in South London.
A considerable number of Pakistanis have set up their own businesses, often employing family members. Today, a fifth of Pakistani Londoners are self-employed. Businesses such as grocery stores and newsagents are common, while later arrivers commonly work as taxi drivers or chauffeurs. Well-known British Pakistanis from London include Anwar Pervez
, whose Earl's Court grocery store expanded into the Bestway chain with a turnover of £2 billion, and the playwright and author Hanif Kureishi
.
and Balsall Heath
; there is also a large Bangladesh
i community in some of these areas. Most "Brummie
" Pakistanis can trace their roots to Kashmir and Punjab.
Bradford is famous for its large Pakistani population and is often dubbed "Bradistan". In 2007, it was estimated that 80,000 Pakistanis lived in Bradford, 16.1 per cent of the city's population. The majority of British Pakistanis here can trace their roots to the Mirpur District
of Kashmir. Mirpur is considered to be a rural and conservative area of Pakistan.
In 2001, riots escalated between the city's majority white population and its visible ethnic minorities (mostly Pakistani). The Bradford Riots were estimated to have involved 1,000 youths. More than 300 police officers were hurt. There were 297 arrests in total; 187 people were charged with riot and 45 with violent disorder, resulting in 200 jail sentences totalling 604 years.
, representing nearly one third of the ethnic minority. There are an estimated 20,000 living in Glasgow. There are large Pakistani communities throughout the city, notably in the Pollokshields
area of South Glasgow, where there are said to be some "high standard" Pakistani takeaways and Asian fabric shops. The majority came from the central Punjab part of Pakistan, including Faisalabad
and Lahore
. A survey by the University of Glasgow found that Scottish Pakistanis felt more patriotic than English people, and that their preferred political party was the Scottish National Party
.
in Manchester
, where they made up 3.8 per cent of the city's population in 2001. Large Pakistani populations are also to be found in the Greater Manchester
boroughs of Oldham
and Rochdale
, where they constituted 4.1 and 5.5 per cent of the population respectively. With greater prosperity, a recent trend has seen some of Manchester's Asian community move out of the inner city into more spacious suburbs, though British Pakistanis in Oldham and Rochdale remain less transient due to lower economic opportunities in these towns. A significant number of Manchester-based Pakistani business families have moved down the A34 road
to live in the affluent Heald Green
area. The neighbouring Cheadle Hulme
area is also said to have a growing Muslim community. Academics have associated the suburban movement of Arab and Pakistani origin Muslims in Manchester with the formation of "gilded ghettoes" in the sought-after commuter suburbs of Cheshire
.
. The largest proportion of these belong to the Sunni
branch of Islam, with a significant minority belonging to the Shia branch. Pakistanis account for 42.7 per cent of all Muslims in England. This figure varies from a high of 71 per cent in Yorkshire and The Humber
to a low of 21.5 per cent in Greater London
. In England and Wales
, there are around 8,000 Pakistani Christians
, and slightly fewer Hindus and Sikhs. The overall religious breakdown of British Pakistanis living in England and Wales in 2001 can be seen below:
is understood and spoken by many British Pakistanis, due to its status as an official language in Pakistan. Urdu is offered in madrassas along with Arabic. It is also taught in some secondary schools and colleges for GCSEs
and A Levels. As the majority of Pakistanis in Britain are from Kashmir and Punjab, some common languages spoken amongst Pakistanis in Britain are Pothwari/Pothohari and Hindko, which are dialects of Punjabi. Other Punjabi dialects are also spoken in Britain. The number of speakers of such languages (as a primary language) in the United Kingdom, based on an Ethnologue
report, are shown below. Please note that some of these languages are not only spoken by British Pakistanis, but also by other groups such as British Indian
s and British Afghans; these are indicated by asterisks.
is celebrated on the 14th of August of each year. The celebrations and events usually take place in large Pakistani populated areas of various cities, primarily on Green Street in Newham
, London, and the Curry mile
in Manchester. The colourful celebrations last all day, with various festivals. Pakistani Muslims also observe the month of Ramadan
and mark the Islamic festivals of Eid ul Adha and Eid ul Fitr.
Pakistani and South Asian cuisines are highly popular in Britain and have nurtured a largely successful food industry. The cuisine of Pakistan is strongly related to North Indian cuisine
, coupled with an exotic blend of Arabic
, Afghan, Central Asian
, Persian and Turkish
flavours. The Pakistani language Urdu is also a mixture of Arabic, Persian and Turkish, which shows and reflects the unity between the linguistic and culinary aspects of Pakistani culture. Kashmiri cuisine and Punjabi cuisine
are well represented in Britain, reflecting the ethnic backgrounds of the Pakistanis who live in Britain.
The popular Balti
dish has its roots in Birmingham, where it was believed to have been created by a Pakistani immigrant of Kashmiri origin in 1977. The dish is thought to have borrowed native tastes from the Pakistani region of Baltistan
in Kashmir. In 2009, the Birmingham City Council
attempted to trademark the Balti dish to give the curry Protected Geographical Status
alongside items such as luxury cheese and champagne. The area of Birmingham where the Balti dish was first served is known locally as the "Balti Triangle
" or "Balti Belt".
Chicken tikka masala
has long been amongst the nation's favourite dishes. There has been support for a campaign in Glasgow
to obtain European Union
Protected Designation of Origin status for it.
Pakistanis are well represented in the British food industry. Many self-employed British Pakistanis own takeaways and restaurants. "Indian restaurants" in the North of England are almost entirely Pakistani owned. Kashmiri and Punjabi origin curry sauces are sold in British supermarkets by British Pakistani entrepreneurs such as Manchester-born Nighat Awan. Awan's Asian food business, Shere Khan, has made her one of the richest women in Britain. Mumtaz
is one of the most high profile Pakistani restaurants in the UK. Its flagship establishment is in Bradford, where famous diners have included Prime Minister David Cameron
and Queen Elizabeth II.
The expansion of the British Empire led to cricket
being played overseas. Cricket is a core part of Pakistani sporting culture and is often played by British Pakistanis for leisure and recreation. Sajid Mahmood
, Adil Rashid
and Ajmal Shahzad
currently play cricket for England. There are several other British Pakistanis who play English county cricket
.
Football is also widely followed and played by many young British Pakistanis. Many players in the Pakistan national football team
are British-born Pakistanis who became eligible to represent the country due to their Pakistani heritage. Zesh Rehman is a football defender who briefly played for Fulham F.C.
, becoming the first British Asian to play in the Premier League, before also playing for the English national U-18, U-19 and U-20 football teams until eventually opting for Pakistan.
Hockey
and polo
are commonly played in Pakistan, with the former being a national sport, but these sports are not as popular among British Pakistanis, possibly due to the urban lifestyles which the majority of them embrace. Imran Sherwani
was a hockey player of Pakistani descent who played for the English national field hockey team.
Adam Khan is a race car driver from Bridlington
, Yorkshire. He represents Pakistan in the A1 Grand Prix
series. Khan is currently the demonstration driver for the Renault F1 racing team. Ikram Butt
was the first South Asian to play international rugby for England in 1995. He is the founder of the British Asian Rugby Association and the British Pakistani rugby league team. Amir Khan
is the most famous British Pakistani boxer. He is the current WBA World light welterweight champion and 2004 Summer Olympics
silver medalist.
. In contrast to Punjabis, Mirpuri Kashmiris were less educated and they had little or no experience of urban living in Pakistan. Mirpur is the site of the Mangla Dam
, which was built in the 1960s and eventually flooded the surrounding farmland.
Mirpur is considered to be a conservative district, and life in its rural villages continues to be dominated by rigid hierarchies. Families tend to be close knit and the guiding influence behind everything from marriage to business. These values have clashed with British ones, which tend to be more free thinking
and independent. Kashmiri Pakistanis
live in some of the most segregated areas of Britain, and their children attend the most segregated schools. Their lack of cross-cultural contact has given rise to ghetto
s. The British government has made attempts to improve community cohesion by nurturing a sense of shared or collective national identity. One programme designed to encourage greater social mixing includes the busing of students of Pakistani origin to "white schools" in an attempt to bridge the divide between the British Pakistani and white British
ethnic groups.
Many Kashmiris have named their businesses after the Pakistani region. One of the largest companies incorporating such a name is Kashmir Crown Bakeries
, which is a food making business based in Bradford
. The company is a major local employer and is the largest Asian food manufacturer in Europe. The owner, Mohammed Saleem, claims that combining traditional Kashmiri baking methods with vocational British training has given his baking business a multi-million pound turnover.
make up the second largest sub-group of British Pakistanis, estimated to make up a third of that group. With about an equal number of Punjabis from Indian Punjab, two thirds of British Asians are of Punjabi descent
, resulting in Punjabi being the second most commonly spoken language in the UK after English.
People who came from the Punjab area have integrated much more easily into British society because the Punjab is a mostly prosperous part of Pakistan. Early Punjabi immigrants to Britain tended to have more higher education credentials and found it easier to assimilate because many already had a basic knowledge of the English language (speaking Pakistani English
). Research by Teesside University has found that the British Punjabi community of late has become one of the most highly educated and economically successful ethnic minorities in the UK.
Most Pakistani Punjabis living in the UK can trace their roots to the irrigated farms and urban conurbations of Jhelum
, Gujar Khan
, Bewal
, Sui Cheemian
, Gujrat
, Sialkot
and Gujranwala
while more recent immigrants have also arrived from large cities such as Lahore
and Faisalabad
. British Punjabis are commonly found in the south of England, the Midlands, and the major cities in the north (as opposed to former mill towns in Lancashire and Yorkshire).
in 1988 is said to have been a precursor for the September 11 attacks. The publication of The Satanic Verses, coupled with violence in the Middle East and the wider Muslim world
, helped radicalised Muslim men whose ancestors had come to the UK from Pakistan and elsewhere. Many British Pakistanis considered the book to have blasphemous
references. First published in the UK, it touched off protests in which several British Pakistanis took part. Many of these protests were of a violent nature and often took place in Pakistani-populated areas such as Bradford.
In February 2009, it was reported that the Central Intelligence Agency
believed that a British-born Pakistani extremist entering the US under the Visa Waiver Program
was the most likely source of a major terrorist attack on American soil. Gareth Price, head of the Asia Program at the Royal Institute of International Affairs in London stated that British Pakistanis are more likely to be radicalised as with other Muslim communities in Britain. In response to these concerns, the government has launched a "prevent strategy" which aims to combat radicalisation within British Pakistani communities. The initiative has given grants and financial support to community projects. £53m has been spent on the strategy between 2007 and 2010.
at the age of 20, the average female at 22, giving an average age of 21. 3.2 per cent of Pakistani males report that they have been diagnosed with a sexually transmitted infection
(STI), compared to 3.6 per cent of Pakistani females. Cultural norms regarding issues such as chastity and marriage have resulted in British Pakistanis having a substantially older age for first intercourse, lower number of partners, and lower STI rates than the national average.
or marriages within the same tribe and caste system
are common in some parts of South Asia, including rural areas of Pakistan. A major motivation is to preserve patrilineal tribal identity. The tribes to which British Pakistanis belong include Jats, Gujjars and Rajputs, all of whom are spread throughout Pakistan and India. As a result, there are some common genealogical origins within these tribes. Some Kashmiri British Pakistanis view cousin marriages as a way of preserving this ancient tribal tradition and maintaining a sense of brotherhood.
Contemporary scientific research though suggests that cousin marriages can result in increased birth defects, illness and infant mortality. A BBC
report found that the children of British Pakistanis who marry first cousins are thirteen times more likely to have genetic disorder
s. The report also found that one in ten children of cousin marriages either dies in infancy or develops a serious disability. Thus British Pakistanis, who account for some 3 per cent of all births in the UK, account for just under a third of all British children with genetic illnesses. A study published in 1988 in the Journal of Medical Genetics
, which looked specifically at two hospitals in West Yorkshire
, found that the rate of consanguineous marriage was 55 per cent and rising, compared to a worldwide rate of 29 per cent. However, representatives of constituencies where there are high Pakistani populations say that consanguineous marriages amongst British Pakistanis are now decreasing in number, partly because of public health initiatives.
, as of 2000, more than half the cases of forced marriage
investigated involve families of Pakistani origin, followed by Bangladeshis and Indians. The Home Office estimates that 85 per cent of the victims of forced marriages are women aged 15–24, 90 per cent are Muslim, and 90 per cent are of Pakistani or Bangladeshi heritage. 60 per cent of forced marriages by Pakistani families are linked to the small Kashmiri towns of Bhimber
and Kotli
and the Kashmiri city of Mirpur.
exams. However, British Pakistani rates of attainment have steadily improved since 1999 and are now moving towards the national average. The British Pakistani GCSE pass rates fail to distinguish the differences in achievement around the country; regional GCSE achievements by ethnicity would be useful because Pakistani pupils have greater regional fluctuations than other groups. This is a result of differences in material circumstances, social class, and migration histories of the different communities which make up British Pakistanis.
In 2004, Pakistani pupils from London were achieving above the regional and UK national averages. 50.2 per cent of Pakistani boys and 63.3 per cent of Pakistani girls from London achieved five or more A*-C grades, compared to the national averages of 46.8 per cent for boys and 57 per cent for girls. By 2008, the figure for British Pakistani students passing five or more GCSEs increased to 58.2 per cent, showing an improvement of almost 10 per cent within three years. In 2009, the attainment gap was reduced to 3.4 per cent.
In addition, there are thousands of Pakistani international students
who move to the UK and enroll in British universities and educational institutions each year.
Location has had a great impact on the success of British Pakistanis. The existence of a North-South divide
leaves those in the north of England economically depressed, although there is a small concentration of more highly educated Pakistanis living in the suburbs of Greater Manchester and the West Midlands, as some Pakistani immigrants have taken advantage of the trading opportunities and entrepreneurial environment which exist in major UK cities. But material deprivation and under-performing schools of the inner city have impeded social mobility for the majority of Kashmiris. British Pakistanis based in large cities have found making the transition into the professional middle class easier than those based in peripheral towns. This is due to the fact that cities like Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds, Liverpool, Newcastle, Glasgow and Oxford have provided a more economically encouraging environment than the small towns in Lancashire
and Yorkshire
.
Most of the initial funds for entrepreneurial activities were historically collected by workers in food processing and clothing factories. The funds were often given a boost by wives saving "pin money" and interest-free loans which were exchanged between fellow migrants. By the 1980s, British Pakistanis began dominating the ethnic and halal
food businesses, Indian restaurants, Asian fabric shops, and travel agencies. Other Pakistanis secured ownership of textile manufacturing or wholesale businesses and took advantage of cheap family labour. The once multi-million pound company Joe Bloggs has such an origin. Clothing imports from Southeast Asia began to affect the financial success of these mill-owning Pakistanis in the 1990s. However, some Pakistani families based in the major cities managed to buck this trend by selling or renting out units in their former factories.
In the housing rental market, Pakistani landlords first rented out rooms to incoming migrants, who were mostly Pakistani themselves. As these renters settled in Britain and prospered to the point where they could afford to buy their own homes, non-Asian university students became the main potential customers to these landlords. By 2000, several British Pakistanis had established low-cost rental properties throughout England. Aneel Mussarat
is an example of a property millionaire. His company, MCR Property Group, specialises in renting apartments to university students in Manchester
and Liverpool
.
British Pakistanis are most likely to live in owner-occupied Victorian terraced houses of the inner city. In the increasing suburban movement amongst Pakistanis living in Britain, this trend is most conspicuous among children of Pakistani immigrants. Pakistanis tend to place a strong emphasis on owning their own home and have one of the highest rates of home ownership in the UK at 73 per cent, slightly higher than that of the white British population.
Many first generation British Pakistanis have invested in second homes or holiday homes in Pakistan. They have purchased houses next to their villages and sometimes even in more expensive cities, such as Islamabad
and Lahore
. Upon reaching the retirement age, a small number hand over their houses in Britain to their offspring and settle in their second homes in Pakistan. This relocation multiplies the value of their British state pensions. Investing savings in Pakistan has limited the funding available for investing in their UK businesses. In comparison, other migrant groups, such as Indian refugees from East Africa, have benefited from investing only in Britain.
s, compared to a national average of 15 per cent. A study by Joseph Rowntree Foundation
in 2007 found that Pakistani Britons have the second highest relative poverty rates in Britain, ahead only of Bangladeshis. Their study found the following:
As of 2001, around 3,500 British Pakistanis were in the highest ranking business and professional occupations, compared to 1,000 Bangladeshis and 10,000 Indians. Keeping in mind the lower class resources of Kashmiris, the rates of entry of non-Kashmiri Pakistanis into managerial or professional occupations turns out to be similar to that of British Indians.
Research by the Office for National Statistics
shows that British Pakistanis are far more likely to be self-employed than any other ethnic group. Pakistani men are most likely to work in the transport and logistics industry, most as cab drivers and taxi drivers. In 2004, 69 per cent of working-age British Pakistani women were economically inactive, bettering only British Bangladeshi women, and of those who were economically active, 20 per cent were unemployed. Amongst employed Pakistani women, many work as packers, bottlers, canners, fillers, or sewing machinists.
. According to the 2001 Census, 13.8 per cent of Pakistanis living in Great Britain
were in managerial or professional occupations, 14 per cent in intermediate occupations, and 23.3 in routine or manual occupations. The remainder were long-term unemployed, students, or not classified due to lack of data. Whilst British Pakistanis living in the Midlands and the North are particularly more likely to be unemployed or suffer from social exclusion, some Pakistani communities in London and the south-east are said to be "fairly prosperous". It was estimated that, in 2001, around 45 per cent of British Pakistanis living in both inner and outer London were middle class
.
, which received a BAFTA award nomination, and the popular East is East
. The Infidel
looked at a British Pakistani family living in East London
. The Infidel depicted religious issues and the identity crisis facing a young member of the family. The film Four Lions
also looked at issues of religion and extremism. It followed British Pakistanis living in Sheffield
in the North of England. Indian Bollywood
films are also shown in some British cinemas and are popular with many second generation British Pakistanis and British Asians. The sequel to East is East, called West is West
was released in the UK on 25 February 2011.
showed an evening of programmes under the title "Pakistani, Actually". The programmes offered an insight into the lives of Pakistanis living in Britain and some of the issues faced by the community. The executive producer of the series said, "These documentaries provide just a snapshot of contemporary life among British Pakistanis - a community who are often misunderstood, neglected or stereotyped."
The Pakistani channels of ARY Digital
and GEO TV
are available to watch on subscription. These channels are based in Pakistan and cater to the Pakistani diaspora
, as well as anyone of South Asian origin. They feature news, sports and entertainment, with some channels broadcast in Urdu/Hindi.
Mishal Husain
is a newsreader and presenter for the BBC
of Pakistani descent. Saira Khan
hosts the BBC children's programme Beat the Boss
. Anita Anand
is a Hindu
Pakistani and another BBC presenter and journalist. Martin Bashir
is a Christian
Pakistani who previously worked for ITV
before later moving to work for the American Broadcasting Company
.
is a radio station available across the entire UK and is aimed at Britons of South Asian origin under 35 years of age. Apart from this popular station, there are many other national radio stations for or run by the British Pakistani community, including Sunrise
and Kismat Radio
s of London. Regional British Pakistani stations include Asian Sound
of Manchester
, Radio XL
of Birmingham
and Sunrise Radio Yorkshire
which based in Bradford
. These radio stations generally run programmes in a variety of South Asian languages.
Print
A large proportion of newspaper vendors and newsagents in Britain are run by Indian and Pakistani families. The fact that Pakistanis have traditionally owned newsagents or corner shops is well known in Britain and has led to the term “Paki shop”. This foothold in the retail sector has on one occasion been influential for those of the Muslim faith, as the tabloid newspaper The Daily Star once planned to publish a spoof page that mocked Sharia law. The special feature, which was to include censored "Burka Babes" and "a free beard for every bomber", was eventually pulled from publication partially because staff at the Daily Star discovered that "Many of the newsagents who sell the paper are of Pakistani origin and would have been offended".
The Pakistani newspaper the Daily Jang
is the largest Urdu-language newspaper in the world and is sold at several Pakistani newsagents and grocery stores across the UK. Urdu newspapers, books and other periodical publications are available in libraries which have a dedicated Asian languages service. Examples of British-based newspapers written in English include the Asian News (published by Trinity Mirror
) and the Eastern Eye
. These are free weekly newspapers aimed at all British Asians. British Pakistanis involved in print media include Sarfraz Manzoor
, who is a regular columnist for The Guardian
, one of the largest and most popular newspaper groups in the UK. Anila Baig
is a feature writer at The Sun, the biggest-selling newspaper in the UK. Mehdi Hasan
is a senior politics editor at the New Statesman
, a weekly political magazine.
, compared to just over 60 per cent for the whole country. As of 2007, 257 British Pakistanis were serving as elected councillors
or mayors in Britain. There are also four British Pakistani MPs in the House of Commons, including two ministers.
has traditionally been the natural choice for many British Pakistanis. A 2005 poll carried out by ICM showed that 40 per cent of British Pakistanis intended to vote for Labour, compared to 5 per cent for the Conservative Party
and 21 per cent for the Liberal Democrats
. The Labour Party are also said to be more dependent on votes from British Pakistanis than the Conservative Party. However, support for Labour has fallen in recent times because of party's decision to take part in the Iraq War. High profile British Pakistani politicians within the Labour Party include Shahid Malik
and Lord Nazir Ahmed, who became the first Muslim life peer
in 1998. Sadiq Khan
became the first Muslim cabinet minister in June 2009, after being invited to accept the post by former Prime Minister Gordon Brown
.
opened a new gym aimed at British Pakistanis in Bolton after being invited by Amir Khan
in 2009. Cameron also appointed Lord Ahmed, a Kashmiri-born politician, a life peerage. Multi-millionaire Sir Anwar Pervez, who claims to have been born Conservative, has donated large sums to the party. Sir Anwar's donations have entitled him to become a member of the influential Conservative Leader's Group. Shortly after becoming the Conservative Party leader, Cameron spent two days living with a British Pakistani family in Birmingham. He said that the experience taught him about the challenges of cohesion and integration.
Sajjad Karim
is a Member of the European Parliament
. He represents North West England through the Conservative Party. In 2005, Karim became the founding Chairman of the European Parliament Friends of Pakistan Group. He is also a member of the Friends of India and Friends of Bangladesh groups. Rehman Chishti
became the new Conservative Party MP for Gillingham and Rainham. Sayeeda Warsi
was promoted to Chairman of the Conservative Party
by the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
shortly after the UK General Election, 2010. Warsi was the shadow minister for community cohesion when the Conservatives were in opposition. She is the first Muslim woman to serve in a British cabinet. Both of Warsi's grandfathers served with the British Army in the Second World War.
, Scottish Pakistani voters supported the Scottish National Party
(SNP) more than the average Scottish voter. The SNP is a centre-left
civil nationalist
party that campaigns for the independence of Scotland from the United Kingdom. SNP candidate Bashir Ahmad
was elected to the Scottish Parliament
to represent Glasgow
at the 2007 election
, becoming the first MSP
to be elected with a Scottish Asian
background.
Salma Yaqoob
is the leader of the left wing Respect Party. The small party has seen success in areas such as Sparkbrook in Birmingham and Newham in London, where there are large Pakistani populations. Qassim Afzal is the most senior Liberal Democrat politician of Pakistani origin. He has accompanied the Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
to meetings with Pakistan’s President, Asif Ali Zardari
.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
citizens whose ancestral roots lie in Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
. This includes people who were born in the United Kingdom and are of Pakistani descent or Pakistani-born people who migrated to the country. The majority of British Pakistanis are from the Punjab and Kashmir
Azad Kashmir
Azad Jammu and Kashmir or Azad Kashmir for short, is the southernmost political entity within the Pakistani-administered part of the former princely state of Jammu and Kashmir...
regions, with a smaller number from the Pashtun
Pashtun people
Pashtuns or Pathans , also known as ethnic Afghans , are an Eastern Iranic ethnic group with populations primarily between the Hindu Kush mountains in Afghanistan and the Indus River in Pakistan...
-majority regions (mainly Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) and other parts of the country. The United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
is home to the largest overseas Pakistani
Pakistani diaspora
The Pakistani diaspora, or an overseas Pakistani is a Pakistani citizen who has migrated to another country or a person of Pakistani origin who is born outside Pakistan. There are approximately 7 million Pakistanis living abroad...
community. British Pakistanis make up the second largest subgroup of British Asian
British Asian
British Asian is a term used to describe British citizens who descended from mainly South Asia, also known as South Asians in the United Kingdom...
s.
Immigration to the U.K. from the region which is now Pakistan began in the mid-seventeenth century, but this was fleeting and minuscule in number. During the British Raj
British Raj
British Raj was the British rule in the Indian subcontinent between 1858 and 1947; The term can also refer to the period of dominion...
people from this region served as soldiers in the British Indian Army
British Indian Army
The British Indian Army, officially simply the Indian Army, was the principal army of the British Raj in India before the partition of India in 1947...
and some were deployed in other parts of the British Empire
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
. However it was following the Second World War
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
and the break-up of the British Empire, that Pakistani immigration to the United Kingdom increased, especially during the 1950s and 1960s. This was made easier by the fact that Pakistan was a member of the Commonwealth
Commonwealth of Nations
The Commonwealth of Nations, normally referred to as the Commonwealth and formerly known as the British Commonwealth, is an intergovernmental organisation of fifty-four independent member states...
. Pakistani immigrants helped to resolve labour shortages in the British steel and textile industries. Doctors from Pakistan were recruited by the National Health Service
National Health Service
The National Health Service is the shared name of three of the four publicly funded healthcare systems in the United Kingdom. They provide a comprehensive range of health services, the vast majority of which are free at the point of use to residents of the United Kingdom...
in the 1960s.
The demographics of British Pakistanis have changed considerably since they first arrived in the UK. The population has grown from about 10,000 in 1951 to roughly 1.2 million today, which makes them the second largest ethnic minority population in the United Kingdom
Ethnic groups of the United Kingdom
People from various ethnic groups reside in the United Kingdom. Migration from what are now the Northern European states has been happening for millennia, with other groups such as British Jews also well established...
. The most diverse Pakistani population is in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
which consists of Punjabis
Punjabi people
The Punjabi people , ਪੰਜਾਬੀ ), also Panjabi people, are an Indo-Aryan group from South Asia. They are the second largest of the many ethnic groups in South Asia. They originate in the Punjab region, which has been been the location of some of the oldest civilizations in the world including, the...
, Pashtuns
Pashtun people
Pashtuns or Pathans , also known as ethnic Afghans , are an Eastern Iranic ethnic group with populations primarily between the Hindu Kush mountains in Afghanistan and the Indus River in Pakistan...
, Kashmiris
Kashmiri people
The Kashmiri people are a Dardic linguistic group living in Kashmir Valley in Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir and parts of the Pakistani territory of Azad Kashmir who speak the Kashmiri language...
, Sindhis
Sindhi people
Sindhis are a Sindhi speaking socio-ethnic group of people originating from Sindh, a province Formerly of British India, now in Pakistan. Today Sindhis that live in Pakistan belong to various religious denominations including Islam, Zoroastrianism, Hinduism, Sikhism and Christianity...
, Balochis as well as Urdu-speaking Muhajirs
Muhajir people
Muhajir [literally – migrants] is a term commonly used especially by Pakistanis to describe the Muslim immigrants who chose to settle in Pakistan and shifted their domicile after partition of British India into Pakistan and India. Some had participated in the movement for creation of Pakistan in...
(mostly from Karachi
Karachi
Karachi is the largest city, main seaport and the main financial centre of Pakistan, as well as the capital of the province of Sindh. The city has an estimated population of 13 to 15 million, while the total metropolitan area has a population of over 18 million...
), who had initially migrated from India to Pakistan at its independence and others. The majority of British Pakistanis are Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
s; around 90 per cent of those living in England and Wales
England and Wales
England and Wales is a jurisdiction within the United Kingdom. It consists of England and Wales, two of the four countries of the United Kingdom...
at the time of the 2001 UK Census stated their religion was Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
. The majority are Sunni Muslims, with a significant minority of Shia Muslims. The UK also has one of the largest overseas Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
Pakistani communities; the 2001 census recorded around 8,000 Christian Pakistanis living in England and Wales.
Many British Pakistanis have established highly successful businesses and belong to middle class lifestyles. However, British Pakistanis also have the second highest overall relative poverty rate in Britain, after British Bangladeshis. A large number of British Pakistanis are self-employed, with a significant proportion working in the transport industry or in family-run businesses in the retail sector.
Pre-partition
Immigration from what is now Pakistan to the United Kingdom began long before the Partition of IndiaPartition of India
The Partition of India was the partition of British India on the basis of religious demographics that led to the creation of the sovereign states of the Dominion of Pakistan and the Union of India on 14 and 15...
in 1947. Muslim immigrants from Kashmir
Kashmir
Kashmir is the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term Kashmir geographically denoted only the valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal mountain range...
and Sindh
Sindh
Sindh historically referred to as Ba'ab-ul-Islam , is one of the four provinces of Pakistan and historically is home to the Sindhi people. It is also locally known as the "Mehran". Though Muslims form the largest religious group in Sindh, a good number of Christians, Zoroastrians and Hindus can...
arrived in the British Isles
British Isles
The British Isles are a group of islands off the northwest coast of continental Europe that include the islands of Great Britain and Ireland and over six thousand smaller isles. There are two sovereign states located on the islands: the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and...
as early as the mid-seventeenth century, typically as lashkars
Lascars
See also Lashkar, LaskarA lascar and was a sailor or militiaman from the Indian Subcontinent or other countries east of the Cape of Good Hope, employed on European ships from the 16th century until the beginning of the 20th century...
and sailors in British port cities. These immigrants were often the first Asians to be seen in British port cities and were initially perceived as indolent due to their reliance on Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
charities. Despite this, most early Pakistani immigrants married local white British
White British
White British was an ethnicity classification used in the 2001 United Kingdom Census. As a result of the census, 50,366,497 people in the United Kingdom were classified as White British. In Scotland the classification was broken down into two different categories: White Scottish and Other White...
women because there were few South Asian women in Britain at the time. Other early Pakistanis came to the UK as scholars and studied at major British institutions, before later returning to British India.
An example of such a person is Muhammad Ali Jinnah
Muhammad Ali Jinnah
Muhammad Ali Jinnah was a Muslim lawyer, politician, statesman and the founder of Pakistan. He is popularly and officially known in Pakistan as Quaid-e-Azam and Baba-e-Qaum ....
, the founder of Pakistan. Jinnah came to the UK in 1892 and started an apprenticeship at Graham's Shipping and Trading Company
Graham's Shipping and Trading Company
Graham's Shipping and Trading Company was the company with which the father of Mohammed Ali Jinnah - the founder of Pakistan - did business. Mohammed Ali Jinnah in his youth went to England to work for this company....
. After completing his apprenticeship, Jinnah joined Lincoln's Inn
Lincoln's Inn
The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn. Although Lincoln's Inn is able to trace its official records beyond...
, where he trained as a barrister. At 19, Jinnah became the youngest person from the Indian subcontinent
Indian subcontinent
The Indian subcontinent, also Indian Subcontinent, Indo-Pak Subcontinent or South Asian Subcontinent is a region of the Asian continent on the Indian tectonic plate from the Hindu Kush or Hindu Koh, Himalayas and including the Kuen Lun and Karakoram ranges, forming a land mass which extends...
to be called to the bar
Call to the bar
The Call to the Bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party, and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received a "call to the bar"...
in Britain.
British interwar period
Most early Pakistani settlers and their families moved from port towns to the Midlands, as Britain declared war on Germany in 1939. Many of these Kashmiris and Sindhis worked in the munition factories of BirminghamBirmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
. After the war, most of these early settlers stayed on in the region and took advantage of an increase in the number of jobs.
There were 832,500 Muslim Indian soldiers in 1945; most of these recruits were from what is now Pakistan. These soldiers fought alongside the British Army during the First
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
and Second World Wars
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, particularly in the latter, during the Battle of France
Battle of France
In the Second World War, the Battle of France was the German invasion of France and the Low Countries, beginning on 10 May 1940, which ended the Phoney War. The battle consisted of two main operations. In the first, Fall Gelb , German armoured units pushed through the Ardennes, to cut off and...
, the North African Campaign
North African campaign
During the Second World War, the North African Campaign took place in North Africa from 10 June 1940 to 13 May 1943. It included campaigns fought in the Libyan and Egyptian deserts and in Morocco and Algeria and Tunisia .The campaign was fought between the Allies and Axis powers, many of whom had...
and the Burma Campaign
Burma Campaign
The Burma Campaign in the South-East Asian Theatre of World War II was fought primarily between British Commonwealth, Chinese and United States forces against the forces of the Empire of Japan, Thailand, and the Indian National Army. British Commonwealth land forces were drawn primarily from...
. Many contributed to the war effort as skilled labourers, including as assembly-line workers in the aircraft factory at Castle Bromwich
Castle Bromwich
Castle Bromwich is a suburb situated within the northern part of the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull in the English county of West Midlands. It is bordered by the rest of the borough to the south east, North Warwickshire to the east and north east; also Shard End to the south west, Castle Vale,...
, Birmingham, which produced Spitfire fighters. Most returned to the subcontinent after their service, although many of these former soldiers returned to Britain in the 1950s and 1960s to fill labour shortages.
Post-partition
Following the Second World War and the break-up of the British EmpireBritish Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
, Pakistani immigration to the United Kingdom increased, especially during the 1950s and 1960s. This was made easier because Pakistan was a member of the Commonwealth of Nations
Commonwealth of Nations
The Commonwealth of Nations, normally referred to as the Commonwealth and formerly known as the British Commonwealth, is an intergovernmental organisation of fifty-four independent member states...
. Pakistanis were invited by employers to fill labour shortages which arose after the Second World War. As Commonwealth citizens, they were eligible for most British civic rights. They found employment in the textile industries of Lancashire
Lancashire
Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...
and Yorkshire
Yorkshire
Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...
, manufacturing in the West Midlands
West Midlands (region)
The West Midlands is an official region of England, covering the western half of the area traditionally known as the Midlands. It contains the second most populous British city, Birmingham, and the larger West Midlands conurbation, which includes the city of Wolverhampton and large towns of Dudley,...
, and car production and food processing industries of Luton
Luton
Luton is a large town and unitary authority of Bedfordshire, England, 30 miles north of London. Luton and its near neighbours, Dunstable and Houghton Regis, form the Luton/Dunstable Urban Area with a population of about 250,000....
and Slough
Slough
Slough is a borough and unitary authority within the ceremonial county of Royal Berkshire, England. The town straddles the A4 Bath Road and the Great Western Main Line, west of central London...
. It was common for Pakistani employees to work on night shifts and at other less-desirable hours.
Many Kashmiris began emigrating from Pakistan after the completion of Mangla Dam
Mangla Dam
The Mangla Dam is located on the Jhelum River in the Mirpur District of Azad Kashmir, Pakistan. It is the sixteenth largest dam in the world. It was built from 1961 to 1967 with funding from the World Bank. The project was designed and supervised by Binnie & Partners of London, and it was built...
in Mirpur in the late 1950s led to the destruction of hundreds of villages. Up to 5,000 people from Mirpur (five per cent of the displaced) left for Britain, the displaced Kashmiris being given legal and financial assistance by the British contractor which had built the dam. Those from unaffected areas of Pakistan, such as the Punjab
Punjab (Pakistan)
Punjab is the most populous province of Pakistan, with approximately 45% of the country's total population. Forming most of the Punjab region, the province is bordered by Kashmir to the north-east, the Indian states of Punjab and Rajasthan to the east, the Pakistani province of Sindh to the...
, also immigrated to Britain to help fill labour shortages. Punjabis began to leave Pakistan in the 1960s. They worked in the foundries of the English Midlands
English Midlands
The Midlands, or the English Midlands, is the traditional name for the area comprising central England that broadly corresponds to the early medieval Kingdom of Mercia. It borders Southern England, Northern England, East Anglia and Wales. Its largest city is Birmingham, and it was an important...
, and a significant number also settled in Southall
Southall
Southall is a large suburban district of west London, England, and part of the London Borough of Ealing. It is situated west of Charing Cross. Neighbouring places include Yeading, Hayes, Hanwell, Heston, Hounslow, Greenford and Northolt...
in West London.
During the 1960s, a considerable number of Pakistanis also arrived from urban areas. Many of these people were qualified teachers, doctors, and engineers. They had a predisposition to settle in London due to its greater economic opportunities compared to the Midlands or the North of England
Northern England
Northern England, also known as the North of England, the North or the North Country, is a cultural region of England. It is not an official government region, but rather an informal amalgamation of counties. The southern extent of the region is roughly the River Trent, while the North is bordered...
. Most medical staff from Pakistan were recruited in the 1960s and almost all worked for the National Health Service
National Health Service
The National Health Service is the shared name of three of the four publicly funded healthcare systems in the United Kingdom. They provide a comprehensive range of health services, the vast majority of which are free at the point of use to residents of the United Kingdom...
.
During the 1970s, a large number of East Africa
East Africa
East Africa or Eastern Africa is the easterly region of the African continent, variably defined by geography or geopolitics. In the UN scheme of geographic regions, 19 territories constitute Eastern Africa:...
n Asians, most of whom already held British passports because they were brought to Africa by British colonialists, entered the UK from Kenya
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
and Uganda
Uganda
Uganda , officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. Uganda is also known as the "Pearl of Africa". It is bordered on the east by Kenya, on the north by South Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by...
. Idi Amin
Idi Amin
Idi Amin Dada was a military leader and President of Uganda from 1971 to 1979. Amin joined the British colonial regiment, the King's African Rifles in 1946. Eventually he held the rank of Major General in the post-colonial Ugandan Army and became its Commander before seizing power in the military...
chose to expel all Ugandan Asians in 1972 because of the perception that they were responsible for the country's economic stagnation. The Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1962
Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1962
The Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1962 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.Before the Act was passed, citizens of British commonwealth countries had extensive rights to migrate to the UK...
and Immigration Act 1971
Immigration Act 1971
The Immigration Act 1971 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom concerning immigration.The Act, as with the Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1962, and that of 1968, restricted immigration, especially primary immigration into the UK....
largely restricted any further primary immigration
Primary immigration
Primary immigration is a term which describes the movement of the earner of a family, or a young unattached single man, from one country to another, usually to improve their economic condition...
to the UK, although family members of already-settled immigrants were allowed to join their relatives.
When the UK experienced deindustrialisation in the 1970s, many British Pakistanis became unemployed. The change from the manufacturing sector to the service sector was difficult for ethnic minorities and white Britons alike, especially for those with little academic education. The Midlands and North of England were areas which were heavily reliant on manufacturing industries and the effects of deindustrialisation continue to be felt in these areas. As a result, increasing numbers of British Pakistanis have resorted to self-employment. National statistics from 2004 show that one in seven British Pakistani men work as taxi drivers, cab drivers or chauffeurs.
Demographics
Population
The 2001 UK Census recorded 747,285 residents who described their ethnicity as Pakistani, regardless of their birthplace. Of those Pakistanis living in England, Wales, and Scotland, 55 per cent were born in the UK, 36.9 per cent in Pakistan and 3.5 per cent elsewhere in Asia. According to estimates by the Office for National StatisticsOffice for National Statistics
The Office for National Statistics is the executive office of the UK Statistics Authority, a non-ministerial department which reports directly to the Parliament of the United Kingdom.- Overview :...
, the number of people born in Pakistan living in the UK in 2009 was 441,000. The Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis of the Pakistan government estimates that 1.2 million Pakistanis live in the UK, around half of the total number in Europe.
The majority of British Pakistanis are from the Kashmir
Azad Kashmir
Azad Jammu and Kashmir or Azad Kashmir for short, is the southernmost political entity within the Pakistani-administered part of the former princely state of Jammu and Kashmir...
and Punjab areas of Pakistan, with Kashmiris making up the largest and Punjabis making up the second largest portion. A high proportion of the members of Pakistani communities in the West Midlands and the North originated in Kashmir. Large Kashmiri communities can be found in Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
, Bradford
Bradford
Bradford lies at the heart of the City of Bradford, a metropolitan borough of West Yorkshire, in Northern England. It is situated in the foothills of the Pennines, west of Leeds, and northwest of Wakefield. Bradford became a municipal borough in 1847, and received its charter as a city in 1897...
, Oldham
Oldham
Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies amid the Pennines on elevated ground between the rivers Irk and Medlock, south-southeast of Rochdale, and northeast of the city of Manchester...
, and the surrounding northern towns. Luton and Slough have the largest Kashmiri communities in the south of England, while a large proportion of Punjabis also reside in the south. There is also a small Pakistani Pashtun
Pashtun diaspora
Pashtuns , also called Pathans have many communities around the world. Pukhtuns have long history to conquer and colonizing several regions especially the ancient regions of Sub-continent in duration of past few centuries...
population in the UK.
Demographer Ceri Peach
Ceri Peach
Ceri Peach is a geographer from Bridgend, Wales. He was an undergraduate , graduate student and lecturer at Merton College, Oxford before being appointed to a lectureship in Geography at St Catherine's College, Oxford in 1965 at the age of 26...
has estimated the number of British Pakistanis in the 1951 to 1991 censuses. He back-projected the ethnic composition of the 2001 census to the estimated minority populations during previous census years. The results are as follows:
| Year | Population (rounded to nearest 1,000) |
|---|---|
| 1951 (estimate) | 10,000 |
| 1961 (estimate) | 25,000 |
| 1971 (estimate) | 119,000 |
| 1981 (estimate) | 296,000 |
| 1991 (estimate) | 477,000 |
| 2001 (actual) | 747,000 |
Population distribution
At the time of the 2001 UK Census, the distribution of people describing their ethnicity as Pakistani was as follows:| Region | Percentage of total British Pakistani population | British Pakistanis as percentage of region's population |
|---|---|---|
| North East England North East England North East England is one of the nine official regions of England. It covers Northumberland, County Durham, Tyne and Wear, and Teesside . The only cities in the region are Durham, Newcastle upon Tyne and Sunderland... |
1.88% | 0.56% |
| North West England North West England North West England, informally known as The North West, is one of the nine official regions of England.North West England had a 2006 estimated population of 6,853,201 the third most populated region after London and the South East... |
15.65% | 1.74% |
| Yorkshire and the Humber Yorkshire and the Humber Yorkshire and the Humber is one of the nine regions of England and formally one of the government office regions. It covers most of the historic county of Yorkshire, along with the part of northern Lincolnshire that was, from 1974 to 1996, within the former shire county of Humberside. The... |
19.58% | 2.95% |
| East Midlands East Midlands The East Midlands is one of the regions of England, consisting of most of the eastern half of the traditional region of the Midlands. It encompasses the combined area of Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Rutland, Northamptonshire and most of Lincolnshire... |
3.72% | 0.67% |
| West Midlands West Midlands (region) The West Midlands is an official region of England, covering the western half of the area traditionally known as the Midlands. It contains the second most populous British city, Birmingham, and the larger West Midlands conurbation, which includes the city of Wolverhampton and large towns of Dudley,... |
20.68% | 2.93% |
| East of England East of England The East of England is one of the nine official regions of England. It was created in 1994 and was adopted for statistics from 1999. It includes the ceremonial counties of Essex, Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Suffolk. Essex has the highest population in the region.Its... |
5.19% | 0.72% |
| London Greater London Greater London is the top-level administrative division of England covering London. It was created in 1965 and spans the City of London, including Middle Temple and Inner Temple, and the 32 London boroughs. This territory is coterminate with the London Government Office Region and the London... |
19.10% | 1.99% |
| South East England South East England South East England is one of the nine official regions of England, designated in 1994 and adopted for statistical purposes in 1999. It consists of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, East Sussex, Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Kent, Oxfordshire, Surrey and West Sussex... |
7.83% | 0.73% |
| South West England South West England South West England is one of the regions of England defined by the Government of the United Kingdom for statistical and other purposes. It is the largest such region in area, covering and comprising Bristol, Gloucestershire, Somerset, Dorset, Wiltshire, Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. ... |
0.90% | 0.14% |
| Wales Wales Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²... |
1.11% | 0.29% |
| Scotland Scotland Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the... |
4.25% | 0.63% |
| Northern Ireland Northern Ireland Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west... |
0.09% | 0.04 |
| Total UK | 100% | 1.27% |
London
The 2001 census recorded 142,749 British Pakistanis living in the Greater LondonGreater London
Greater London is the top-level administrative division of England covering London. It was created in 1965 and spans the City of London, including Middle Temple and Inner Temple, and the 32 London boroughs. This territory is coterminate with the London Government Office Region and the London...
area. This population is made up of Punjabi
Punjabi people
The Punjabi people , ਪੰਜਾਬੀ ), also Panjabi people, are an Indo-Aryan group from South Asia. They are the second largest of the many ethnic groups in South Asia. They originate in the Punjab region, which has been been the location of some of the oldest civilizations in the world including, the...
s, Pathan
Pashtun people
Pashtuns or Pathans , also known as ethnic Afghans , are an Eastern Iranic ethnic group with populations primarily between the Hindu Kush mountains in Afghanistan and the Indus River in Pakistan...
s, Balochis, Sindhis
Sindhi people
Sindhis are a Sindhi speaking socio-ethnic group of people originating from Sindh, a province Formerly of British India, now in Pakistan. Today Sindhis that live in Pakistan belong to various religious denominations including Islam, Zoroastrianism, Hinduism, Sikhism and Christianity...
and other Urdu Speakers. This mix makes the British Pakistani community of London more diverse than other communities in the UK, whereas a high proportion of Pakistani communities in the West Midlands and the North came from Kashmir.
The largest concentrations are in the East London communities of Ilford
Ilford
Ilford is a large cosmopolitan town in East London, England and the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Redbridge. It is located northeast of Charing Cross and is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan. It forms a significant commercial and retail...
, Walthamstow
Walthamstow
Walthamstow is a district of northeast London, England, located in the London Borough of Waltham Forest. It is situated north-east of Charing Cross...
, Leyton
Leyton
Leyton is an area of north-east London and part of the London Borough of Waltham Forest, located north east of Charing Cross. It borders Walthamstow and Leytonstone; Stratford in Newham; and Homerton and Lower Clapton in the London Borough of Hackney....
and Barking
Barking
Barking is a suburban town in the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham, in East London, England. A retail and commercial centre situated in the west of the borough, it lies east of Charing Cross. Barking was in the historic county of Essex until it was absorbed by Greater London. The area is...
Other large communities can be found in Harrow
Harrow, London
Harrow is an area in the London Borough of Harrow, northwest London, United Kingdom. It is a suburban area and is situated 12.2 miles northwest of Charing Cross...
, Brent, Ealing and Hounslow in West London and Wandsworth and Croydon in South London.
A considerable number of Pakistanis have set up their own businesses, often employing family members. Today, a fifth of Pakistani Londoners are self-employed. Businesses such as grocery stores and newsagents are common, while later arrivers commonly work as taxi drivers or chauffeurs. Well-known British Pakistanis from London include Anwar Pervez
Anwar Pervez
Sir Anwar Pervez , OBE, Hilal-i-Pakistan, is a businessman in the United Kingdom. He is the founder and Chairman of Bestway Group.-Career:...
, whose Earl's Court grocery store expanded into the Bestway chain with a turnover of £2 billion, and the playwright and author Hanif Kureishi
Hanif Kureishi
Hanif Kureishi CBE is an English playwright, screenwriter and filmmaker, novelist and short story writer. The themes of his work have touched on topics of race, nationalism, immigration, and sexuality...
.
Birmingham
Birmingham has one of the largest Pakistani communities globally (113,000 Pakistanis made up 11.2 per cent of the city's population in 2007). The largest concentrations are in inner city Birmingham and areas such as Alum RockAlum Rock, Birmingham
Alum Rock is an inner-city suburb of Birmingham, England, located roughly 2 miles east of Birmingham city centre...
and Balsall Heath
Balsall Heath
Balsall Heath is a working class, inner-city area of Birmingham, England. It is home to a diverse cultural mix of people and the location of the Balti Triangle.-History:...
; there is also a large Bangladesh
Bangladesh
Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...
i community in some of these areas. Most "Brummie
Brummie
Brummie is a colloquial term for the inhabitants, accent and dialect of Birmingham, England, as well as being a general adjective used to denote a connection with the city, locally called Brum...
" Pakistanis can trace their roots to Kashmir and Punjab.
Bradford
Mirpur District
Mirpur District is a district in the disputed and divided state of [Jammu and Kashmir]. The district is named after the main city, Mirpur. The District of Mirpur has a population of 371,000 and covers an area of . The district is mainly mountainous with some plains...
of Kashmir. Mirpur is considered to be a rural and conservative area of Pakistan.
In 2001, riots escalated between the city's majority white population and its visible ethnic minorities (mostly Pakistani). The Bradford Riots were estimated to have involved 1,000 youths. More than 300 police officers were hurt. There were 297 arrests in total; 187 people were charged with riot and 45 with violent disorder, resulting in 200 jail sentences totalling 604 years.
Glasgow
Pakistanis make up the largest ethnic minority in ScotlandScotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, representing nearly one third of the ethnic minority. There are an estimated 20,000 living in Glasgow. There are large Pakistani communities throughout the city, notably in the Pollokshields
Pollokshields
Pollokshields is a district in the Southside of Glasgow, Scotland. It is a conservation area which was developed in Victorian times according to a plan promoted by the original landowners, the Stirling-Maxwells of Pollok, whose association with the area goes as far back as...
area of South Glasgow, where there are said to be some "high standard" Pakistani takeaways and Asian fabric shops. The majority came from the central Punjab part of Pakistan, including Faisalabad
Faisalabad
Faisalabad , formerly known as Lyallpur, is the third largest metropolis in Pakistan, the second largest in the province of Punjab after Lahore, and a major industrial center in the heart of Pakistan. Before the foundation of the city in 1880, the area was very thinly populated. The population has...
and Lahore
Lahore
Lahore is the capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab and the second largest city in the country. With a rich and fabulous history dating back to over a thousand years ago, Lahore is no doubt Pakistan's cultural capital. One of the most densely populated cities in the world, Lahore remains a...
. A survey by the University of Glasgow found that Scottish Pakistanis felt more patriotic than English people, and that their preferred political party was the Scottish National Party
Scottish National Party
The Scottish National Party is a social-democratic political party in Scotland which campaigns for Scottish independence from the United Kingdom....
.
Manchester
Pakistanis are the largest visible minorityVisible minority
A visible minority is a person who is visibly not one of the majority race in a given population.The term is used as a demographic category by Statistics Canada in connection with that country's Employment Equity policies. The qualifier "visible" is important in the Canadian context where...
in Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
, where they made up 3.8 per cent of the city's population in 2001. Large Pakistani populations are also to be found in the Greater Manchester
Greater Manchester
Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county in North West England, with a population of 2.6 million. It encompasses one of the largest metropolitan areas in the United Kingdom and comprises ten metropolitan boroughs: Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford, Wigan, and the...
boroughs of Oldham
Oldham
Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies amid the Pennines on elevated ground between the rivers Irk and Medlock, south-southeast of Rochdale, and northeast of the city of Manchester...
and Rochdale
Rochdale
Rochdale is a large market town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies amongst the foothills of the Pennines on the River Roch, north-northwest of Oldham, and north-northeast of the city of Manchester. Rochdale is surrounded by several smaller settlements which together form the Metropolitan...
, where they constituted 4.1 and 5.5 per cent of the population respectively. With greater prosperity, a recent trend has seen some of Manchester's Asian community move out of the inner city into more spacious suburbs, though British Pakistanis in Oldham and Rochdale remain less transient due to lower economic opportunities in these towns. A significant number of Manchester-based Pakistani business families have moved down the A34 road
A34 road
The A34 is a major road in England. It runs from the A6042 in Salford to Winchester in Hampshire. It forms a large part of the major trunk route from Southampton, via Oxford, to Birmingham, The Potteries and Manchester...
to live in the affluent Heald Green
Heald Green
Heald Green is a suburb of Stockport, Greater Manchester, England. It is situated in the south-west of the borough and is bordered by Gatley and Cheadle to the north, Cheadle Hulme to the east, Handforth and Styal to the south and Wythenshawe to the west...
area. The neighbouring Cheadle Hulme
Cheadle Hulme
Cheadle Hulme is an area of the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport, in Greater Manchester, England. It is southwest of Stockport and southeast of the city of Manchester. It lies in the Ladybrook Valley on the Cheshire Plain, and the drift consists mostly of boulder clay, sands and gravels...
area is also said to have a growing Muslim community. Academics have associated the suburban movement of Arab and Pakistani origin Muslims in Manchester with the formation of "gilded ghettoes" in the sought-after commuter suburbs of Cheshire
Golden Triangle (Cheshire)
The Golden Triangle is an area of affluent, leafy towns and villages in Cheshire such as Knutsford and Mottram St. Andrew. The three points of the triangle are Alderley Edge, Prestbury and Wilmslow. The area is noted for its expensive houses, pleasant countryside, celebrities and...
.
Religion
The majority of Pakistanis in the UK are MuslimsIslam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
. The largest proportion of these belong to the Sunni
Sunni Islam
Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam. Sunni Muslims are referred to in Arabic as ʾAhl ūs-Sunnah wa āl-Ǧamāʿah or ʾAhl ūs-Sunnah for short; in English, they are known as Sunni Muslims, Sunnis or Sunnites....
branch of Islam, with a significant minority belonging to the Shia branch. Pakistanis account for 42.7 per cent of all Muslims in England. This figure varies from a high of 71 per cent in Yorkshire and The Humber
Yorkshire and the Humber
Yorkshire and the Humber is one of the nine regions of England and formally one of the government office regions. It covers most of the historic county of Yorkshire, along with the part of northern Lincolnshire that was, from 1974 to 1996, within the former shire county of Humberside. The...
to a low of 21.5 per cent in Greater London
Greater London
Greater London is the top-level administrative division of England covering London. It was created in 1965 and spans the City of London, including Middle Temple and Inner Temple, and the 32 London boroughs. This territory is coterminate with the London Government Office Region and the London...
. In England and Wales
England and Wales
England and Wales is a jurisdiction within the United Kingdom. It consists of England and Wales, two of the four countries of the United Kingdom...
, there are around 8,000 Pakistani Christians
Christianity in Pakistan
Christianity is the largest religious minority in Pakistan. The total number of Christians in Pakistan is approximately 2,800,000 in 2008, or 1.6% of the population. Of these, approximately half are Roman Catholic and half Protestant...
, and slightly fewer Hindus and Sikhs. The overall religious breakdown of British Pakistanis living in England and Wales in 2001 can be seen below:
| Religion | Percentage of British Pakistani population in England and Wales |
|---|---|
 IslamIslam Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~... |
92.01% |
| Not stated | 6.16% |
 ChristianityChristianity Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings... |
1.09% |
| Agnostic Agnosticism Agnosticism is the view that the truth value of certain claims—especially claims about the existence or non-existence of any deity, but also other religious and metaphysical claims—is unknown or unknowable.... |
0.50% |
 HinduismHinduism Hinduism is the predominant and indigenous religious tradition of the Indian Subcontinent. Hinduism is known to its followers as , amongst many other expressions... |
0.08% |
 JudaismJudaism Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people... |
0.05% |
 SikhismSikhism Sikhism is a monotheistic religion founded during the 15th century in the Punjab region, by Guru Nanak Dev and continued to progress with ten successive Sikh Gurus . It is the fifth-largest organized religion in the world and one of the fastest-growing... |
0.05% |
| Other religion | 0.04% |
 BuddhismBuddhism Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th... |
0.03% |
| Total | 100% |
Languages
Most British Pakistanis speak English, and those who were born in the UK would consider English to be their first language. UrduUrdu
Urdu is a register of the Hindustani language that is identified with Muslims in South Asia. It belongs to the Indo-European family. Urdu is the national language and lingua franca of Pakistan. It is also widely spoken in some regions of India, where it is one of the 22 scheduled languages and an...
is understood and spoken by many British Pakistanis, due to its status as an official language in Pakistan. Urdu is offered in madrassas along with Arabic. It is also taught in some secondary schools and colleges for GCSEs
General Certificate of Secondary Education
The General Certificate of Secondary Education is an academic qualification awarded in a specified subject, generally taken in a number of subjects by students aged 14–16 in secondary education in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and is equivalent to a Level 2 and Level 1 in Key Skills...
and A Levels. As the majority of Pakistanis in Britain are from Kashmir and Punjab, some common languages spoken amongst Pakistanis in Britain are Pothwari/Pothohari and Hindko, which are dialects of Punjabi. Other Punjabi dialects are also spoken in Britain. The number of speakers of such languages (as a primary language) in the United Kingdom, based on an Ethnologue
Ethnologue
Ethnologue: Languages of the World is a web and print publication of SIL International , a Christian linguistic service organization, which studies lesser-known languages, to provide the speakers with Bibles in their native language and support their efforts in language development.The Ethnologue...
report, are shown below. Please note that some of these languages are not only spoken by British Pakistanis, but also by other groups such as British Indian
British Indian
The term British Indian refers to citizens of the United Kingdom whose ancestral roots lie in India. This includes people born in the UK who are of Indian descent, and Indian-born people who have migrated to the UK...
s and British Afghans; these are indicated by asterisks.
| Primary language | Speakers | Additional comments |
|---|---|---|
| Eastern Panjabi Punjabi language Punjabi is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by inhabitants of the historical Punjab region . For Sikhs, the Punjabi language stands as the official language in which all ceremonies take place. In Pakistan, Punjabi is the most widely spoken language... * |
471,000 | Also spoken in India. |
| Urdu* | 400,000 | Also spoken in India. |
| Gujarati Gujarati language Gujarati is an Indo-Aryan language, and part of the greater Indo-European language family. It is derived from a language called Old Gujarati which is the ancestor language of the modern Gujarati and Rajasthani languages... * |
140,000 | Also spoken in India. |
| Kashmiri Kashmiri language Kashmiri is a language from the Dardic sub-group and it is spoken primarily in the Kashmir Valley, in Jammu and Kashmir. There are approximately 5,554,496 speakers in Jammu and Kashmir, according to the Census of 2001. Most of the 105,000 speakers or so in Pakistan are émigrés from the Kashmir... * |
115,000 | Also spoken in India. |
| Western Punjabi Punjabi language Punjabi is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by inhabitants of the historical Punjab region . For Sikhs, the Punjabi language stands as the official language in which all ceremonies take place. In Pakistan, Punjabi is the most widely spoken language... |
102,500 | |
| Southern Pashto Pashto language Pashto , known as Afghani in Persian and Pathani in Punjabi , is the native language of the indigenous Pashtun people or Afghan people who are found primarily between an area south of the Amu Darya in Afghanistan and... * |
87,000 | Also spoken in Afghanistan. |
| Northern Pashto* | 75,000 | Also spoken in Afghanistan. |
| Saraiki Saraiki language Saraiki , transliterated as Sirāikī and sometimes spelled Seraiki and Saraiki, is a standardized written language of Pakistan belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages. It is a language spoken in the heart of Pakistan... |
30,000 | |
| Mirpur Punjabi Mirpur Punjabi Potwari , also known as Potohari ), is a rich north Indian sub-continent dialect spoken in the Pothohar Plateau around Rawalpindi, Kahuta, Gujar Khan, Jehlum, up to Gujrat in the south and Chakwal in the West, Hazara in the north, Azad Kashmir in the east and also by Sikhs from the Pothohar... |
20,000 |
Culture
Pakistan's Independence DayIndependence Day (Pakistan)
Pakistan's independence day is observed on 14 August, the day before Pakistan was made an independent country based on border lines created by the British during the end of their rule of India. Pakistan became an independent country in 1947. The day is a national holiday in Pakistan...
is celebrated on the 14th of August of each year. The celebrations and events usually take place in large Pakistani populated areas of various cities, primarily on Green Street in Newham
London Borough of Newham
The London Borough of Newham is a London borough formed from the towns of West Ham and East Ham, within East London.It is situated east of the City of London, and is north of the River Thames. According to 2006 estimates, Newham has one of the highest ethnic minority populations of all the...
, London, and the Curry mile
Curry Mile
The Curry Mile is a nickname for the part of Wilmslow Road running through the centre of Rusholme in south Manchester, England. The name is earned from the large number of restaurants, take-aways and kebab houses specialising in the cuisines of South Asia and the Middle East, thought to be the...
in Manchester. The colourful celebrations last all day, with various festivals. Pakistani Muslims also observe the month of Ramadan
Ramadan
Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, which lasts 29 or 30 days. It is the Islamic month of fasting, in which participating Muslims refrain from eating, drinking, smoking and sex during daylight hours and is intended to teach Muslims about patience, spirituality, humility and...
and mark the Islamic festivals of Eid ul Adha and Eid ul Fitr.
Cuisine
North Indian cuisine
North Indian cuisine , part of Indian cuisine, is a term used to refer to the cuisines found in Northern India which includes the Indian states: Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand and West-Central Uttar Pradesh...
, coupled with an exotic blend of Arabic
Arab cuisine
Arab cuisine is defined as the various regional cuisines spanning the Arab World, from Morocco and Tunisia to Saudi Arabia, and incorporating Levantine, Egyptian .-History:...
, Afghan, Central Asian
Central Asian cuisine
The Central Asian cuisines include:* Afghan cuisine* Iranian cuisine* Mongolian cuisine* Cuisine of Kashmir* Kazakh cuisine* Kashmiri cuisine* Kyrgyz cuisine* Pakistani cuisine * Tajik cuisine* Tibetan cuisine* Turkmen cuisine...
, Persian and Turkish
Turkish cuisine
Turkish cuisine is largely the heritage of Ottoman cuisine, which can be described as a fusion and refinement of Central Asian, Middle Eastern and Balkan cuisines. Turkish cuisine has in turn influenced those and other neighbouring cuisines, including that of western Europe...
flavours. The Pakistani language Urdu is also a mixture of Arabic, Persian and Turkish, which shows and reflects the unity between the linguistic and culinary aspects of Pakistani culture. Kashmiri cuisine and Punjabi cuisine
Punjabi cuisine
Punjabi cuisine is food from the Punjab region of northwestern India and eastern Pakistan. It can be non-vegetarian or completely vegetarian. One of the main features of Punjabi cuisine is its diverse range of dishes...
are well represented in Britain, reflecting the ethnic backgrounds of the Pakistanis who live in Britain.
The popular Balti
Balti (food)
A Balti is a British-style type of curry cooked and served up in a thin, pressed steel wok-like pan. It is served in many restaurants in the United Kingdom...
dish has its roots in Birmingham, where it was believed to have been created by a Pakistani immigrant of Kashmiri origin in 1977. The dish is thought to have borrowed native tastes from the Pakistani region of Baltistan
Baltistan
Baltistan , also known as بلتیول བལིུལ་ in the Balti language, is a region in northern Pakistan which forms Gilgit-Baltistan, bordering the Xinjiang Autonomous Region of China. In addition, a part of Baltistan also falls into Jammu and Kashmir of India. It is situated in the Karakoram mountains...
in Kashmir. In 2009, the Birmingham City Council
Birmingham City Council
The Birmingham City Council is the body responsible for the governance of the City of Birmingham in England, which has been a metropolitan district since 1974. It is the most populated local authority in the United Kingdom with, following a reorganisation of boundaries in June 2004, 120 Birmingham...
attempted to trademark the Balti dish to give the curry Protected Geographical Status
Protected Geographical Status
Protected Geographical Status is a legal framework defined in European Union law to protect the names of regional foods. Protected Designation of Origin , Protected Geographical Indication and Traditional Speciality Guaranteed are distinct regimes of geographical indications within the framework...
alongside items such as luxury cheese and champagne. The area of Birmingham where the Balti dish was first served is known locally as the "Balti Triangle
Balti Triangle
The Balti Triangle is an area of Balti houses clustered along Ladypool Road, Stoney Lane and Stratford Road, to the south of Birmingham city centre. It covers parts of Sparkbrook, Sparkhill and Balsall Heath....
" or "Balti Belt".
Chicken tikka masala
Chicken Tikka Masala
Chicken tikka masala is a curry dish of roasted chicken chunks in a spicy sauce. The sauce is usually creamy, spiced and orange-coloured...
has long been amongst the nation's favourite dishes. There has been support for a campaign in Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
to obtain European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
Protected Designation of Origin status for it.
Pakistanis are well represented in the British food industry. Many self-employed British Pakistanis own takeaways and restaurants. "Indian restaurants" in the North of England are almost entirely Pakistani owned. Kashmiri and Punjabi origin curry sauces are sold in British supermarkets by British Pakistani entrepreneurs such as Manchester-born Nighat Awan. Awan's Asian food business, Shere Khan, has made her one of the richest women in Britain. Mumtaz
Mumtaz Group
Mumtaz is a food group based in the City of Bradford. The group is best known for the "World famous" Mumtaz restaurant, with the original flagship site being sited on Great Horton Road in Bradford...
is one of the most high profile Pakistani restaurants in the UK. Its flagship establishment is in Bradford, where famous diners have included Prime Minister David Cameron
David Cameron
David William Donald Cameron is the current Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service and Leader of the Conservative Party. Cameron represents Witney as its Member of Parliament ....
and Queen Elizabeth II.
Sports
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
being played overseas. Cricket is a core part of Pakistani sporting culture and is often played by British Pakistanis for leisure and recreation. Sajid Mahmood
Sajid Mahmood
Sajid "Saj" Iqbal Mahmood is an English cricketer of Pakistani descent...
, Adil Rashid
Adil Rashid
Adil Usman Rashid is an English cricketer of Pakistani origins, who plays for Yorkshire. Previously a player with England Under-19s, in December 2008, he was called into the full England Test squad, for the Test matches to be played in India...
and Ajmal Shahzad
Ajmal Shahzad
Ajmal Shahzad is an English cricketer who plays for Yorkshire County Cricket Club. A right-handed batsman and right-arm fast-medium bowler, he made his international debut in a Twenty20 International for England in February 2010...
currently play cricket for England. There are several other British Pakistanis who play English county cricket
County cricket
County cricket is the highest level of domestic cricket in England and Wales. For the 2010 season, see 2010 English cricket season.-First-class counties:...
.
Football is also widely followed and played by many young British Pakistanis. Many players in the Pakistan national football team
Pakistan national football team
The Pakistan national football team is controlled by the Pakistan Football Federation and is a member of the Asian Football Confederation . The team has not yet qualified for either the FIFA World Cup or Asian Cup championships. Twice they have finished third in the South Asian Football Federation...
are British-born Pakistanis who became eligible to represent the country due to their Pakistani heritage. Zesh Rehman is a football defender who briefly played for Fulham F.C.
Fulham F.C.
Fulham Football Club is a professional English Premier League club based in southwest London Fulham, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. Founded in 1879, they play in the Premier League, their 11th current season...
, becoming the first British Asian to play in the Premier League, before also playing for the English national U-18, U-19 and U-20 football teams until eventually opting for Pakistan.
Hockey
Hockey
Hockey is a family of sports in which two teams play against each other by trying to maneuver a ball or a puck into the opponent's goal using a hockey stick.-Etymology:...
and polo
Polo
Polo is a team sport played on horseback in which the objective is to score goals against an opposing team. Sometimes called, "The Sport of Kings", it was highly popularized by the British. Players score by driving a small white plastic or wooden ball into the opposing team's goal using a...
are commonly played in Pakistan, with the former being a national sport, but these sports are not as popular among British Pakistanis, possibly due to the urban lifestyles which the majority of them embrace. Imran Sherwani
Imran Sherwani
Imran Sherwani is a former English field hockey player, who was a member of the gold medal winning Great Britain and Northern Ireland squad at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul....
was a hockey player of Pakistani descent who played for the English national field hockey team.
Adam Khan is a race car driver from Bridlington
Bridlington
Bridlington is a seaside resort, minor sea fishing port and civil parish on the Holderness Coast of the North Sea, in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It has a static population of over 33,000, which rises considerably during the tourist season...
, Yorkshire. He represents Pakistan in the A1 Grand Prix
A1 Grand Prix
A1 Grand Prix was a 'single make' open-wheel auto racing series. It was unique in its field in that competitors solely represented their nation as opposed to themselves or a team, the usual format in most formula racing series. As such, it was often promoted as the "World Cup of Motorsport"...
series. Khan is currently the demonstration driver for the Renault F1 racing team. Ikram Butt
Ikram Butt
Ikram Butt is an English former professional rugby league footballer of the 1990s who at representative level has played for England, and at club level for Featherstone Rovers, Leeds Rhinos, Huddersfield Giants, and London Broncos, playing at , i.e. 2 or 5....
was the first South Asian to play international rugby for England in 1995. He is the founder of the British Asian Rugby Association and the British Pakistani rugby league team. Amir Khan
Amir Khan (boxer)
Amir Iqbal Khan , is a British Pakistani professional boxer who is currently the unified WBA & IBF light welterweight champion....
is the most famous British Pakistani boxer. He is the current WBA World light welterweight champion and 2004 Summer Olympics
2004 Summer Olympics
The 2004 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad, was a premier international multi-sport event held in Athens, Greece from August 13 to August 29, 2004 with the motto Welcome Home. 10,625 athletes competed, some 600 more than expected, accompanied by 5,501 team...
silver medalist.
Kashmiris
Around half of British Pakistanis can trace their origins to Mirpur in Azad KashmirAzad Kashmir
Azad Jammu and Kashmir or Azad Kashmir for short, is the southernmost political entity within the Pakistani-administered part of the former princely state of Jammu and Kashmir...
. In contrast to Punjabis, Mirpuri Kashmiris were less educated and they had little or no experience of urban living in Pakistan. Mirpur is the site of the Mangla Dam
Mangla Dam
The Mangla Dam is located on the Jhelum River in the Mirpur District of Azad Kashmir, Pakistan. It is the sixteenth largest dam in the world. It was built from 1961 to 1967 with funding from the World Bank. The project was designed and supervised by Binnie & Partners of London, and it was built...
, which was built in the 1960s and eventually flooded the surrounding farmland.
Mirpur is considered to be a conservative district, and life in its rural villages continues to be dominated by rigid hierarchies. Families tend to be close knit and the guiding influence behind everything from marriage to business. These values have clashed with British ones, which tend to be more free thinking
Freethought
Freethought is a philosophical viewpoint that holds that opinions should be formed on the basis of science, logic, and reason, and should not be influenced by authority, tradition, or other dogmas...
and independent. Kashmiri Pakistanis
Kashmiri diaspora
The Kashmiri diaspora refers to Kashmiri people who have migrated out of the Kashmir region, consisting of Pakistan-administered Kashmir , the Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir as well as the Chinese administered territory of Aksai Chin, into other areas and countries and their...
live in some of the most segregated areas of Britain, and their children attend the most segregated schools. Their lack of cross-cultural contact has given rise to ghetto
Ghetto
A ghetto is a section of a city predominantly occupied by a group who live there, especially because of social, economic, or legal issues.The term was originally used in Venice to describe the area where Jews were compelled to live. The term now refers to an overcrowded urban area often associated...
s. The British government has made attempts to improve community cohesion by nurturing a sense of shared or collective national identity. One programme designed to encourage greater social mixing includes the busing of students of Pakistani origin to "white schools" in an attempt to bridge the divide between the British Pakistani and white British
White British
White British was an ethnicity classification used in the 2001 United Kingdom Census. As a result of the census, 50,366,497 people in the United Kingdom were classified as White British. In Scotland the classification was broken down into two different categories: White Scottish and Other White...
ethnic groups.
Many Kashmiris have named their businesses after the Pakistani region. One of the largest companies incorporating such a name is Kashmir Crown Bakeries
Kashmir Crown Bakeries
Kashmir Crown Bakeries is a food making business based in Bradford. The company is a major local employer and claims to be the largest Asian Food Manufacturer in Europe....
, which is a food making business based in Bradford
Bradford
Bradford lies at the heart of the City of Bradford, a metropolitan borough of West Yorkshire, in Northern England. It is situated in the foothills of the Pennines, west of Leeds, and northwest of Wakefield. Bradford became a municipal borough in 1847, and received its charter as a city in 1897...
. The company is a major local employer and is the largest Asian food manufacturer in Europe. The owner, Mohammed Saleem, claims that combining traditional Kashmiri baking methods with vocational British training has given his baking business a multi-million pound turnover.
Punjabis
PunjabisPunjabi people
The Punjabi people , ਪੰਜਾਬੀ ), also Panjabi people, are an Indo-Aryan group from South Asia. They are the second largest of the many ethnic groups in South Asia. They originate in the Punjab region, which has been been the location of some of the oldest civilizations in the world including, the...
make up the second largest sub-group of British Pakistanis, estimated to make up a third of that group. With about an equal number of Punjabis from Indian Punjab, two thirds of British Asians are of Punjabi descent
Punjabi diaspora
The Punjabi diaspora refers to the descendants of ethnic Punjabis who emigrated out of the Punjab region to the rest of world. Punjabis are one of the largest ethnic groups in both the Pakistani and Indian diasporas...
, resulting in Punjabi being the second most commonly spoken language in the UK after English.
People who came from the Punjab area have integrated much more easily into British society because the Punjab is a mostly prosperous part of Pakistan. Early Punjabi immigrants to Britain tended to have more higher education credentials and found it easier to assimilate because many already had a basic knowledge of the English language (speaking Pakistani English
Pakistani English
Pakistani English is the term used to describe the English language as spoken in Pakistan. Pakistani English is slightly different in respect to accent and spellings of some words.-History:...
). Research by Teesside University has found that the British Punjabi community of late has become one of the most highly educated and economically successful ethnic minorities in the UK.
Most Pakistani Punjabis living in the UK can trace their roots to the irrigated farms and urban conurbations of Jhelum
Jhelum
Jhelum or Jehlum may refer to:* Jhelum, a city in Pakistan on the banks of the Jhelum River* Jhelum District, an administrative division in Punjab, Pakistan surrounding the city of Jhelum...
, Gujar Khan
Gujar Khan
Gujar Khan is a city in Rawalpindi District, Punjab, Pakistan. It is the headquarters of Gujar Khan Tehsil, the largest tehsil of Punjab. It is approximately 55 kilometres southeast of Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan and 220 km to the north west of Lahore, capital of Punjab...
, Bewal
Bewal
Bewal is a town and Union Council in the eastern part of Gujar Khan Tehsil and to south east from Rawalpindi and Islamabad, Pakistan. Bewal along with Sui Cheemian is today probably the most wealthy place anywhere in rural Pakistan, with a large proportion of its population being settled in...
, Sui Cheemian
Sui Cheemian
Sui Cheemian, also spelt Sui Chimian, and less commonly as Sui Cheema is a Cheema village in Punjab, Pakistan. It is a Union council of Gujar Khan Tehsil . Sui Cheemian gets its name from the Cheema tribe of Jats, who make up the majority of the population...
, Gujrat
Gujrat
Gujrat is a city in Pakistan. It is the capital of Gujrat District and the Gujrat Tehsil subdivision in the Punjab Province. People living in Gujrat refer to themselves as Gujratis, which sometimes leads to confusion with people from the Indian state of Gujarat which adjoins Pakistan...
, Sialkot
Sialkot
Sialkot is a city in Pakistan situated in the north-east of the Punjab province at the foothills of snow-covered peaks of Kashmir near the Chenab river. It is the capital of Sialkot District. The city is about north-west of Lahore and only a few kilometers from Indian-controlled Jammu.The...
and Gujranwala
Gujranwala
Gujranwala is a industrial city in the north-east of the Punjab province. It is the sixth largest city in Pakistan with a population of approximately 2,661,360 as on 24 June 2011...
while more recent immigrants have also arrived from large cities such as Lahore
Lahore
Lahore is the capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab and the second largest city in the country. With a rich and fabulous history dating back to over a thousand years ago, Lahore is no doubt Pakistan's cultural capital. One of the most densely populated cities in the world, Lahore remains a...
and Faisalabad
Faisalabad
Faisalabad , formerly known as Lyallpur, is the third largest metropolis in Pakistan, the second largest in the province of Punjab after Lahore, and a major industrial center in the heart of Pakistan. Before the foundation of the city in 1880, the area was very thinly populated. The population has...
. British Punjabis are commonly found in the south of England, the Midlands, and the major cities in the north (as opposed to former mill towns in Lancashire and Yorkshire).
Allegations of extremism
There has been ubiquitous media coverage since the War on Terror, both factual and satirical, focusing on British Pakistanis and the topic of extremism. However, such individuals represent only a radicalised minority who exist among several notable British Pakistanis. The publication of Salman Rushdie's The Satanic VersesThe Satanic Verses
The Satanic Verses is Salman Rushdie's fourth novel, first published in 1988 and inspired in part by the life of Prophet Muhammad. As with his previous books, Rushdie used magical realism and relied on contemporary events and people to create his characters...
in 1988 is said to have been a precursor for the September 11 attacks. The publication of The Satanic Verses, coupled with violence in the Middle East and the wider Muslim world
Muslim world
The term Muslim world has several meanings. In a religious sense, it refers to those who adhere to the teachings of Islam, referred to as Muslims. In a cultural sense, it refers to Islamic civilization, inclusive of non-Muslims living in that civilization...
, helped radicalised Muslim men whose ancestors had come to the UK from Pakistan and elsewhere. Many British Pakistanis considered the book to have blasphemous
Blasphemy
Blasphemy is irreverence towards religious or holy persons or things. Some countries have laws to punish blasphemy, while others have laws to give recourse to those who are offended by blasphemy...
references. First published in the UK, it touched off protests in which several British Pakistanis took part. Many of these protests were of a violent nature and often took place in Pakistani-populated areas such as Bradford.
In February 2009, it was reported that the Central Intelligence Agency
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...
believed that a British-born Pakistani extremist entering the US under the Visa Waiver Program
Visa Waiver Program
The Visa Waiver Program is a program of the United States Government which allows citizens of specific countries to travel to the United States for tourism or business for up to 90 days without having to obtain a visa. The program applies to the 50 U.S. states as well as the U.S...
was the most likely source of a major terrorist attack on American soil. Gareth Price, head of the Asia Program at the Royal Institute of International Affairs in London stated that British Pakistanis are more likely to be radicalised as with other Muslim communities in Britain. In response to these concerns, the government has launched a "prevent strategy" which aims to combat radicalisation within British Pakistani communities. The initiative has given grants and financial support to community projects. £53m has been spent on the strategy between 2007 and 2010.
Discrimination
British Pakistanis were eight times more likely to be victims of a racist attack than white people in 1996. The chances of a Pakistani being racially attacked in a year is more than 4 per cent - the highest rate in the country, along with British Bangladeshis - though this has come down from 8 per cent a year in 1996. The term "Paki" is often used as a racist slur to describe Pakistanis and can also be directed towards non-Pakistani South Asians. There have been some attempts by the youngest generation of British Pakistanis to reclaim the word and use it in a non-offensive way to refer to themselves, though this remains controversial.Health and social issues
British Pakistanis, male and female, on average claim to have had only one sexual partner. The average British Pakistani male claims to have lost his virginityVirginity
Virginity refers to the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. There are cultural and religious traditions which place special value and significance on this state, especially in the case of unmarried females, associated with notions of personal purity, honor and worth...
at the age of 20, the average female at 22, giving an average age of 21. 3.2 per cent of Pakistani males report that they have been diagnosed with a sexually transmitted infection
Sexually transmitted disease
Sexually transmitted disease , also known as a sexually transmitted infection or venereal disease , is an illness that has a significant probability of transmission between humans by means of human sexual behavior, including vaginal intercourse, oral sex, and anal sex...
(STI), compared to 3.6 per cent of Pakistani females. Cultural norms regarding issues such as chastity and marriage have resulted in British Pakistanis having a substantially older age for first intercourse, lower number of partners, and lower STI rates than the national average.
Endogamy and kinship
Cousin marriagesEndogamy
Endogamy is the practice of marrying within a specific ethnic group, class, or social group, rejecting others on such basis as being unsuitable for marriage or other close personal relationships. A Greek Orthodox Christian endogamist, for example, would require that a marriage be only with another...
or marriages within the same tribe and caste system
Caste system among South Asian Muslims
Caste system among South Asian Muslims refers to units of social stratification that have developed among Muslims in South Asia.Religious, historical and socio-cultural factors have helped define the bounds of endogamous groups for Muslims in South Asia...
are common in some parts of South Asia, including rural areas of Pakistan. A major motivation is to preserve patrilineal tribal identity. The tribes to which British Pakistanis belong include Jats, Gujjars and Rajputs, all of whom are spread throughout Pakistan and India. As a result, there are some common genealogical origins within these tribes. Some Kashmiri British Pakistanis view cousin marriages as a way of preserving this ancient tribal tradition and maintaining a sense of brotherhood.
Contemporary scientific research though suggests that cousin marriages can result in increased birth defects, illness and infant mortality. A BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
report found that the children of British Pakistanis who marry first cousins are thirteen times more likely to have genetic disorder
Genetic disorder
A genetic disorder is an illness caused by abnormalities in genes or chromosomes, especially a condition that is present from before birth. Most genetic disorders are quite rare and affect one person in every several thousands or millions....
s. The report also found that one in ten children of cousin marriages either dies in infancy or develops a serious disability. Thus British Pakistanis, who account for some 3 per cent of all births in the UK, account for just under a third of all British children with genetic illnesses. A study published in 1988 in the Journal of Medical Genetics
Journal of Medical Genetics
The Journal of Medical Genetics is a peer-reviewed medical journal focusing on human genetics. It has been published since September 1964 by the British Medical Association. The most citing journals in 2008 were American Journal of Human Genetics, Nature Genetics, Human Molecular Genetics, Human...
, which looked specifically at two hospitals in West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire is a metropolitan county within the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England with a population of 2.2 million. West Yorkshire came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972....
, found that the rate of consanguineous marriage was 55 per cent and rising, compared to a worldwide rate of 29 per cent. However, representatives of constituencies where there are high Pakistani populations say that consanguineous marriages amongst British Pakistanis are now decreasing in number, partly because of public health initiatives.
Forced marriage
According to the British Home OfficeHome Office
The Home Office is the United Kingdom government department responsible for immigration control, security, and order. As such it is responsible for the police, UK Border Agency, and the Security Service . It is also in charge of government policy on security-related issues such as drugs,...
, as of 2000, more than half the cases of forced marriage
Forced marriage
Forced marriage is a term used to describe a marriage in which one or both of the parties is married without his or her consent or against his or her will...
investigated involve families of Pakistani origin, followed by Bangladeshis and Indians. The Home Office estimates that 85 per cent of the victims of forced marriages are women aged 15–24, 90 per cent are Muslim, and 90 per cent are of Pakistani or Bangladeshi heritage. 60 per cent of forced marriages by Pakistani families are linked to the small Kashmiri towns of Bhimber
Bhimber
Bhimber is the chief town of Bhimber District, Azad Kashmir. The town is situated on the border between Azad Kashmir and Pakistan at a distance of about 50 km from Mirpur, about 48 km from Gujrat and about 166 km from Islamabad.-History:...
and Kotli
Kotli
Kotli is the chief town of Kotli District, in the Pakistani-administered Azad Jammu and Kashmir. Kotli is linked with Mirpur by two metalled roads, one via Rajdhani, and the other via Charhoi...
and the Kashmiri city of Mirpur.
General Certificate of Secondary Education
British Pakistani students statistically achieve below the national average in GCSEGeneral Certificate of Secondary Education
The General Certificate of Secondary Education is an academic qualification awarded in a specified subject, generally taken in a number of subjects by students aged 14–16 in secondary education in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and is equivalent to a Level 2 and Level 1 in Key Skills...
exams. However, British Pakistani rates of attainment have steadily improved since 1999 and are now moving towards the national average. The British Pakistani GCSE pass rates fail to distinguish the differences in achievement around the country; regional GCSE achievements by ethnicity would be useful because Pakistani pupils have greater regional fluctuations than other groups. This is a result of differences in material circumstances, social class, and migration histories of the different communities which make up British Pakistanis.
In 2004, Pakistani pupils from London were achieving above the regional and UK national averages. 50.2 per cent of Pakistani boys and 63.3 per cent of Pakistani girls from London achieved five or more A*-C grades, compared to the national averages of 46.8 per cent for boys and 57 per cent for girls. By 2008, the figure for British Pakistani students passing five or more GCSEs increased to 58.2 per cent, showing an improvement of almost 10 per cent within three years. In 2009, the attainment gap was reduced to 3.4 per cent.
| Year | Pakistani pupils | All pupils | Attainment gap | References |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | 26% | 37% | -11% | |
| 1993 | 24% | 42% | -18% | |
| 1995 | 23% | 44% | -21% | |
| 1997 | 29% | 46% | -17% | |
| 1999 | 30% | 49% | -19% | |
| 2001 | 40% | 51% | - 11% | |
| 2003 | 41.5% | 52% | - 10.5% | |
| 2005 | 48.4% | 54.9% | - 6.5% | |
| 2007 | 53% | 59.3% | - 6.3% | |
| 2008 | 58.2% (boys: 52.7%) (girls: 64%) |
63.5% | - 5.3% | |
| 2009 | 66.4% (boys: 61.2%) (girls: 72%) |
69.8% (boys: 65.8%) (girls: 73.9%) |
- 3.4% (boys: - 4.6%) (girls: - 1.9%) |
University
British Pakistani students constitute 1.7 per cent of the 18-year-olds in the country, but make up 2.4 per cent of first year university students. University applicants from regions of predominantly non-Kashmiri settlement, such as Greater London and the South East, are over represented, Greater London by 7.5 per cent and the South East by 4.6 per cent. In contrast, they are under represented by 4.9 per cent in the West Midlands, by 4.4 per cent in the East of England and by 4.3 per cent in Yorkshire and Humber. There is a slight over representation in other regions of between 0.2 per cent to 0.6 per cent. 33 per cent of British Pakistani boys choose to continue their studies at the university level. This rate is the third highest rate in the country, after Chinese and Indian boys, and is higher than the rate for white (23 per cent), black African (30 per cent), Bangladeshi (29 per cent), and black Caribbean (16 per cent) boys and those falling into the other black category (20 per cent). Science and mathematics are the most popular subjects at A level and degree level with the youngest generation of British Pakistanis, as they begin to establish themselves within the field.In addition, there are thousands of Pakistani international students
Pakistani students abroad
There are hundreds and thousands of Pakistani students who travel abroad each year in order to attain higher education. Countries which have large Pakistani international student populations include those in Europe, North America, China and Australasia...
who move to the UK and enroll in British universities and educational institutions each year.
Urdu
Urdu language courses are available in the UK and can be studied at GCSE and A level. Several British universities are hoping to offer degrees in Urdu, open to established speakers as well as beginners, in the future.Economics
North-South divide in the United Kingdom
In England, the term North–South divide refers to the economic and cultural differences between Southern England and Northern England...
leaves those in the north of England economically depressed, although there is a small concentration of more highly educated Pakistanis living in the suburbs of Greater Manchester and the West Midlands, as some Pakistani immigrants have taken advantage of the trading opportunities and entrepreneurial environment which exist in major UK cities. But material deprivation and under-performing schools of the inner city have impeded social mobility for the majority of Kashmiris. British Pakistanis based in large cities have found making the transition into the professional middle class easier than those based in peripheral towns. This is due to the fact that cities like Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds, Liverpool, Newcastle, Glasgow and Oxford have provided a more economically encouraging environment than the small towns in Lancashire
Lancashire
Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...
and Yorkshire
Yorkshire
Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...
.
Most of the initial funds for entrepreneurial activities were historically collected by workers in food processing and clothing factories. The funds were often given a boost by wives saving "pin money" and interest-free loans which were exchanged between fellow migrants. By the 1980s, British Pakistanis began dominating the ethnic and halal
Halal
Halal is a term designating any object or an action which is permissible to use or engage in, according to Islamic law. The term is used to designate food seen as permissible according to Islamic law...
food businesses, Indian restaurants, Asian fabric shops, and travel agencies. Other Pakistanis secured ownership of textile manufacturing or wholesale businesses and took advantage of cheap family labour. The once multi-million pound company Joe Bloggs has such an origin. Clothing imports from Southeast Asia began to affect the financial success of these mill-owning Pakistanis in the 1990s. However, some Pakistani families based in the major cities managed to buck this trend by selling or renting out units in their former factories.
In the housing rental market, Pakistani landlords first rented out rooms to incoming migrants, who were mostly Pakistani themselves. As these renters settled in Britain and prospered to the point where they could afford to buy their own homes, non-Asian university students became the main potential customers to these landlords. By 2000, several British Pakistanis had established low-cost rental properties throughout England. Aneel Mussarat
Aneel Mussarat
Aneel Mussarat was born in Manchester in 1970 to Pakistani parents settled in Manchester from Faisalabad city. Aneel was ranked the 466th richest person in the United Kingdom and 21st richest Asian in the UK in 2007 by the Sunday Times...
is an example of a property millionaire. His company, MCR Property Group, specialises in renting apartments to university students in Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
and Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
.
British Pakistanis are most likely to live in owner-occupied Victorian terraced houses of the inner city. In the increasing suburban movement amongst Pakistanis living in Britain, this trend is most conspicuous among children of Pakistani immigrants. Pakistanis tend to place a strong emphasis on owning their own home and have one of the highest rates of home ownership in the UK at 73 per cent, slightly higher than that of the white British population.
Many first generation British Pakistanis have invested in second homes or holiday homes in Pakistan. They have purchased houses next to their villages and sometimes even in more expensive cities, such as Islamabad
Islamabad
Islamabad is the capital of Pakistan and the tenth largest city in the country. Located within the Islamabad Capital Territory , the population of the city has grown from 100,000 in 1951 to 1.7 million in 2011...
and Lahore
Lahore
Lahore is the capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab and the second largest city in the country. With a rich and fabulous history dating back to over a thousand years ago, Lahore is no doubt Pakistan's cultural capital. One of the most densely populated cities in the world, Lahore remains a...
. Upon reaching the retirement age, a small number hand over their houses in Britain to their offspring and settle in their second homes in Pakistan. This relocation multiplies the value of their British state pensions. Investing savings in Pakistan has limited the funding available for investing in their UK businesses. In comparison, other migrant groups, such as Indian refugees from East Africa, have benefited from investing only in Britain.
Poverty
Statistics from the 2001 census show that Pakistani communities in England, particularly in the North and the Midlands, are severely affected by poverty, unemployment and social exclusion, and that they are much less likely to be employed in managerial and professional occupations. Conversely, there were around 100 British Pakistani millionaires in 2001, representing a variety of industries. Statistics compiled by the Department for Education and Skills show that almost 40 per cent of Pakistani students in secondary schools are eligible for free school mealFree school meal
A Free School Meal, provided to a child or young person during a school break, is paid for by Government. For a child to qualify for a Free School Meal, their parent or carer must be receiving particular qualifying benefits as stated by Government...
s, compared to a national average of 15 per cent. A study by Joseph Rowntree Foundation
Joseph Rowntree Foundation
The Joseph Rowntree Foundation is a British social policy research and development charity, that funds a UK-wide research and development programme. It seeks to understand the root causes of social problems, to identify ways of overcoming them, and to show how social needs can be met in practice...
in 2007 found that Pakistani Britons have the second highest relative poverty rates in Britain, ahead only of Bangladeshis. Their study found the following:
| Ethnic group | Percentage in poverty |
|---|---|
| Bangladeshi | 65% |
| Pakistani | 55% |
| Black African | 45% |
| Black Caribbean | 30% |
| Indian | 25% |
| White Other | 25% |
| White British | 20% |
Employment
Research by the Office for National Statistics
Office for National Statistics
The Office for National Statistics is the executive office of the UK Statistics Authority, a non-ministerial department which reports directly to the Parliament of the United Kingdom.- Overview :...
shows that British Pakistanis are far more likely to be self-employed than any other ethnic group. Pakistani men are most likely to work in the transport and logistics industry, most as cab drivers and taxi drivers. In 2004, 69 per cent of working-age British Pakistani women were economically inactive, bettering only British Bangladeshi women, and of those who were economically active, 20 per cent were unemployed. Amongst employed Pakistani women, many work as packers, bottlers, canners, fillers, or sewing machinists.
Social class
The majority of British Pakistanis are considered to be working classWorking class
Working class is a term used in the social sciences and in ordinary conversation to describe those employed in lower tier jobs , often extending to those in unemployment or otherwise possessing below-average incomes...
. According to the 2001 Census, 13.8 per cent of Pakistanis living in Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
were in managerial or professional occupations, 14 per cent in intermediate occupations, and 23.3 in routine or manual occupations. The remainder were long-term unemployed, students, or not classified due to lack of data. Whilst British Pakistanis living in the Midlands and the North are particularly more likely to be unemployed or suffer from social exclusion, some Pakistani communities in London and the south-east are said to be "fairly prosperous". It was estimated that, in 2001, around 45 per cent of British Pakistanis living in both inner and outer London were middle class
Middle class
The middle class is any class of people in the middle of a societal hierarchy. In Weberian socio-economic terms, the middle class is the broad group of people in contemporary society who fall socio-economically between the working class and upper class....
.
Cinema
Notable films that depict the lives of British Pakistanis include My Beautiful LaundretteMy Beautiful Laundrette
My Beautiful Laundrette is a 1985 British comedy-drama film directed by Stephen Frears from a screenplay by Hanif Kureishi. The story is set in London during the period when Margaret Thatcher was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, as shown through the complex—and often comical—relationships...
, which received a BAFTA award nomination, and the popular East is East
East is East (film)
East Is East is a 1999 British black comedy/drama film, written by Ayub Khan-Din and directed by Damien O'Donnell. It is set in a British household of mixed-ethnicity, with a British Pakistani father and an English mother in Salford, Lancashire, in 1971...
. The Infidel
The Infidel (2010 film)
The Infidel is a 2010 British comedy film directed by Josh Appignanesi and written by David Baddiel. The film stars Omid Djalili, Richard Schiff, Yigal Naor and Matt Lucas and revolves around a British Muslim who goes through an identity crisis when he discovers he was adopted as a child and born...
looked at a British Pakistani family living in East London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. The Infidel depicted religious issues and the identity crisis facing a young member of the family. The film Four Lions
Four Lions
Four Lions is a 2010 British satirical comedy film. It is the debut feature from director Chris Morris, written by Morris, Sam Bain and Jesse Armstrong. The film is a jihad satire following a group of homegrown Islamist terrorist jihadis from Sheffield, England.-Plot:A group of young Muslim men...
also looked at issues of religion and extremism. It followed British Pakistanis living in Sheffield
Sheffield
Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...
in the North of England. Indian Bollywood
Bollywood
Bollywood is the informal term popularly used for the Hindi-language film industry based in Mumbai , Maharashtra, India. The term is often incorrectly used to refer to the whole of Indian cinema; it is only a part of the total Indian film industry, which includes other production centers producing...
films are also shown in some British cinemas and are popular with many second generation British Pakistanis and British Asians. The sequel to East is East, called West is West
West Is West (2010 film)
West Is West is a 2011 British comedy-drama film, which is a sequel to the 1999 comedy East Is East. It stars Aqib Khan, Om Puri, Linda Bassett, Ila Arun and Jimi Mistry, is written by Ayub Khan-Din, directed by Andy DeEmmony, and produced by Leslee Udwin for Assassin Films and BBC Films.The film...
was released in the UK on 25 February 2011.
Television
In 2005, the BBCBBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
showed an evening of programmes under the title "Pakistani, Actually". The programmes offered an insight into the lives of Pakistanis living in Britain and some of the issues faced by the community. The executive producer of the series said, "These documentaries provide just a snapshot of contemporary life among British Pakistanis - a community who are often misunderstood, neglected or stereotyped."
The Pakistani channels of ARY Digital
ARY Digital
ARY Digital, a subsidiary of the ARY Group, is a popular Pakistani television network available in Pakistan, the Middle East, North America and Europe. The ARY Group of companies is a Dubai-based holding company founded by a Pakistani businessman, Abdul Razzak Yaqoob . The network caters to the...
and GEO TV
Geo TV
Geo TV or Geo Television is a Pakistani television network, founded by Mr. Mir Shakil ur Rehman in May 2002 and owned by Independent Media Corporation. The channel began test transmission on 14 August 2002, with regular transmission beginning 1 October 2002...
are available to watch on subscription. These channels are based in Pakistan and cater to the Pakistani diaspora
Pakistani diaspora
The Pakistani diaspora, or an overseas Pakistani is a Pakistani citizen who has migrated to another country or a person of Pakistani origin who is born outside Pakistan. There are approximately 7 million Pakistanis living abroad...
, as well as anyone of South Asian origin. They feature news, sports and entertainment, with some channels broadcast in Urdu/Hindi.
Mishal Husain
Mishal Husain
Mishal Husain is a television news presenter for the BBC's international news channel, BBC World News, presenting Impact between 1400 and 1600 GMT every Monday to Thursday as well as presenting the Sunday evening editions of the BBC Weekend News on BBC One...
is a newsreader and presenter for the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
of Pakistani descent. Saira Khan
Saira Khan
Saira Khan is a British television personality and was the runner-up on the first UK series of reality TV show The Apprentice in 2005.-Television career:...
hosts the BBC children's programme Beat the Boss
Beat the Boss
Beat the Boss is a BBC TV programme in the UK, presented by Cameron Johnson and previously Saira Khan.Two teams, one kids team named "The Bright Sparks", and one adult team named "The Big Shots", have to create a product that will appeal to the kid's market...
. Anita Anand
Anita Anand
-Early life:Anand was born in London, England to Pakistani Hindu parents from the North West Frontier, bordering on Afghanistan.-Education:Anand was educated at Bancroft's School, a co-educational independent school in the town of Woodford Green, in the suburb of Woodford in North East London,...
is a Hindu
Hindu
Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...
Pakistani and another BBC presenter and journalist. Martin Bashir
Martin Bashir
Martin Bashir is a British journalist and media personality, currently with NBC News as a contributor for its Dateline program, and an afternoon anchor for MSNBC, hosting Martin Bashir...
is a Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
Pakistani who previously worked for ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
before later moving to work for the American Broadcasting Company
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
.
Radio
The BBC Asian NetworkBBC Asian Network
BBC Asian Network is a British radio station serving those originating from and around the Indian subcontinent. The music and news comes out of the main urban areas where there are significant communities with these backgrounds. The station has production centres in Birmingham, Leicester and London...
is a radio station available across the entire UK and is aimed at Britons of South Asian origin under 35 years of age. Apart from this popular station, there are many other national radio stations for or run by the British Pakistani community, including Sunrise
Sunrise Radio
Sunrise Radio is the United Kingdom's first Independent Local Radio station to cater specifically for the Asian community. Dr Avtar Lit is the chairman and chief executive of this media group which also operates kismat radio,buzz asia,punjabi radio as well as sunrise tv-Transmission:It initially...
and Kismat Radio
Kismat Radio
Kismat Radio is a radio station broadcasting from the Crystal Palace Transmitter in south-east London.- Background :The target audience is British Asians and South Asian expats aged 30+, with programme formats comprising Asian Talk and music....
s of London. Regional British Pakistani stations include Asian Sound
Asian Sound
Asian Sound Radio is a radio station based in Broadcast House, Southall Street in Manchester. It is the only 24-hour radio station in the North West dedicated to the Asian community, broadcasting across the whole region from Preston in the North to Stockport in the South...
of Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
, Radio XL
Radio XL
Radio XL is the first 24 hour Asian radio station to broadcast to Birmingham, England. However the station can be heard across the whole West Midlands. With its wide reach Radio XL is available to a potential Asian audience in excess of 250,000 people from the 15+ age group.Radio XL is aimed...
of Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
and Sunrise Radio Yorkshire
Sunrise Radio (Yorkshire)
Sunrise Radio Yorkshire is an Asian radio station in Bradford, West Yorkshire in the United Kingdom.-Availability:The station broadcasts 24 hours a day on 103.2 FM and on DAB to Bradford, Huddersfield and Keighley. A feed is also available world wide via the stations website...
which based in Bradford
Bradford
Bradford lies at the heart of the City of Bradford, a metropolitan borough of West Yorkshire, in Northern England. It is situated in the foothills of the Pennines, west of Leeds, and northwest of Wakefield. Bradford became a municipal borough in 1847, and received its charter as a city in 1897...
. These radio stations generally run programmes in a variety of South Asian languages.
The Pakistani newspaper the Daily Jang
Daily Jang
The Daily Jang is an Urdu newspaper based in Pakistan. It is the oldest newspaper of Pakistan in continuous publication since its foundation in 1939. Its current Group Chief Executive & Editor-in-Chief is Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman....
is the largest Urdu-language newspaper in the world and is sold at several Pakistani newsagents and grocery stores across the UK. Urdu newspapers, books and other periodical publications are available in libraries which have a dedicated Asian languages service. Examples of British-based newspapers written in English include the Asian News (published by Trinity Mirror
Trinity Mirror
Trinity Mirror plc is a large British newspaper and magazine publisher. It is Britain's biggest newspaper group, publishing 240 regional papers as well as the national Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror and People, and the Scottish Sunday Mail and Daily Record. Its headquarters are at Canary Wharf in...
) and the Eastern Eye
Eastern Eye (newspaper)
Eastern Eye is a British weekly newspaper. It was created in 1989 and was first published by The Guardian, before becoming a standalone newspaper.The company behind Eastern Eye changed several times since its foundation by Sarwar Ahmed...
. These are free weekly newspapers aimed at all British Asians. British Pakistanis involved in print media include Sarfraz Manzoor
Sarfraz Manzoor
Sarfraz Manzoor is a journalist, documentary maker, and broadcaster. He is a regularly contributor to The Guardian, presenter of documentaries on BBC Radio 4, and a cultural commentator who appears on programmes such as Newsnight Review and Saturday Review. His first book, Greetings from Bury Park...
, who is a regular columnist for The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
, one of the largest and most popular newspaper groups in the UK. Anila Baig
Anila Baig
Anila Baig is a British Pakistani Muslim Feature Writer at The Sun.Anila Baig, originally a Pakistani, was born and raised in the city of Bradford. Anila Baig had her first column published in the local newspaper at the age of 16. She then went on to study English at the university and trained as...
is a feature writer at The Sun, the biggest-selling newspaper in the UK. Mehdi Hasan
Mehdi Hasan
Mehdi Hasan is a British journalist who has worked in television current affairs and the national press. He was appointed senior editor at the New Statesman In the late spring of 2009.-Television career:...
is a senior politics editor at the New Statesman
New Statesman
New Statesman is a British centre-left political and cultural magazine published weekly in London. Founded in 1913, and connected with leading members of the Fabian Society, the magazine reached a circulation peak in the late 1960s....
, a weekly political magazine.
Politics
British Pakistanis make up a sizable proportion of British voters and are known to make a difference in elections, both local and national. They are much more active in the voting process, with 67 per cent voting in the last general elections of 2005United Kingdom general election, 2005
The United Kingdom general election of 2005 was held on Thursday, 5 May 2005 to elect 646 members to the British House of Commons. The Labour Party under Tony Blair won its third consecutive victory, but with a majority of 66, reduced from 160....
, compared to just over 60 per cent for the whole country. As of 2007, 257 British Pakistanis were serving as elected councillors
Councillor
A councillor or councilor is a member of a local government council, such as a city council.Often in the United States, the title is councilman or councilwoman.-United Kingdom:...
or mayors in Britain. There are also four British Pakistani MPs in the House of Commons, including two ministers.
Labour Party
The Labour PartyLabour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
has traditionally been the natural choice for many British Pakistanis. A 2005 poll carried out by ICM showed that 40 per cent of British Pakistanis intended to vote for Labour, compared to 5 per cent for the Conservative Party
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
and 21 per cent for the Liberal Democrats
Liberal Democrats
The Liberal Democrats are a social liberal political party in the United Kingdom which supports constitutional and electoral reform, progressive taxation, wealth taxation, human rights laws, cultural liberalism, banking reform and civil liberties .The party was formed in 1988 by a merger of the...
. The Labour Party are also said to be more dependent on votes from British Pakistanis than the Conservative Party. However, support for Labour has fallen in recent times because of party's decision to take part in the Iraq War. High profile British Pakistani politicians within the Labour Party include Shahid Malik
Shahid Malik
Shahid Rafique Malik is a British Labour Party politician who became the Member of Parliament for Dewsbury in 2005 after defeating Conservative Sayeeda Warsi, now Conservative Chair Baroness Warsi and remained so till 2010 when Conservative candidate Simon Reevell won Dewsbury...
and Lord Nazir Ahmed, who became the first Muslim life peer
Life peer
In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the Peerage whose titles cannot be inherited. Nowadays life peerages, always of baronial rank, are created under the Life Peerages Act 1958 and entitle the holders to seats in the House of Lords, presuming they meet qualifications such as...
in 1998. Sadiq Khan
Sadiq Khan
Sadiq Aman Khan is a British Labour Party politician, who has been the Member of Parliament for Tooting since 2005, succeeding Tom Cox as the Labour MP for the seat...
became the first Muslim cabinet minister in June 2009, after being invited to accept the post by former Prime Minister Gordon Brown
Gordon Brown
James Gordon Brown is a British Labour Party politician who was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 until 2010. He previously served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Labour Government from 1997 to 2007...
.
Conservative Party
The Conservative Party have become increasingly popular with many affluent British Pakistanis. David CameronDavid Cameron
David William Donald Cameron is the current Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service and Leader of the Conservative Party. Cameron represents Witney as its Member of Parliament ....
opened a new gym aimed at British Pakistanis in Bolton after being invited by Amir Khan
Amir Khan (boxer)
Amir Iqbal Khan , is a British Pakistani professional boxer who is currently the unified WBA & IBF light welterweight champion....
in 2009. Cameron also appointed Lord Ahmed, a Kashmiri-born politician, a life peerage. Multi-millionaire Sir Anwar Pervez, who claims to have been born Conservative, has donated large sums to the party. Sir Anwar's donations have entitled him to become a member of the influential Conservative Leader's Group. Shortly after becoming the Conservative Party leader, Cameron spent two days living with a British Pakistani family in Birmingham. He said that the experience taught him about the challenges of cohesion and integration.
Sajjad Karim
Sajjad Karim
Sajjad Haider Karim also known as Saj is a Member of the European Parliament for North West England.Karim was the first British Muslim elected to the European Parliament on 4 June 2004. He was re-elected in June 2009.-Early life:...
is a Member of the European Parliament
Member of the European Parliament
A Member of the European Parliament is a person who has been elected to the European Parliament. The name of MEPs differ in different languages, with terms such as europarliamentarian or eurodeputy being common in Romance language-speaking areas.When the European Parliament was first established,...
. He represents North West England through the Conservative Party. In 2005, Karim became the founding Chairman of the European Parliament Friends of Pakistan Group. He is also a member of the Friends of India and Friends of Bangladesh groups. Rehman Chishti
Rehman Chishti
Atta-Ur-Rehman Chishti known as Rehman Chishti is a British Conservative politician who was elected MP for Gillingham and Rainham in the 2010 general election....
became the new Conservative Party MP for Gillingham and Rainham. Sayeeda Warsi
Sayeeda Warsi
Sayeeda Hussain Warsi, Baroness Warsi is a British lawyer and politician. She is the co-Chairman of the Conservative Party ....
was promoted to Chairman of the Conservative Party
Chairman of the Conservative Party
In the United Kingdom, the Chairman of the Conservative Party is responsible for running the party machine, overseeing Conservative Central Office. When the Conservatives are in power, the Chairman is usually a member of the Cabinet being given a sinecure position such as Minister without Portfolio...
by the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the Head of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Parliament, to their political party and...
shortly after the UK General Election, 2010. Warsi was the shadow minister for community cohesion when the Conservatives were in opposition. She is the first Muslim woman to serve in a British cabinet. Both of Warsi's grandfathers served with the British Army in the Second World War.
Others
In the 2003 Scottish Parliament electionsScottish Parliament election, 2003
The Scottish Parliament election, 2003, was the second general election of the Scottish Parliament. It was held on 1 May 2003 and it brought no change in terms of control of the Scottish Executive...
, Scottish Pakistani voters supported the Scottish National Party
Scottish National Party
The Scottish National Party is a social-democratic political party in Scotland which campaigns for Scottish independence from the United Kingdom....
(SNP) more than the average Scottish voter. The SNP is a centre-left
Centre-left
Centre-left is a political term that describes individuals, political parties or organisations such as think tanks whose ideology lies between the centre and the left on the left-right spectrum...
civil nationalist
Civic nationalism
Liberal Nationalism is a kind of nationalism identified by political philosophers who believe in a non-xenophobic form of nationalism compatible with liberal values of freedom, tolerance, equality, and individual rights. Ernest Renan and John Stuart Mill are often thought to be early liberal...
party that campaigns for the independence of Scotland from the United Kingdom. SNP candidate Bashir Ahmad
Bashir Ahmad (politician)
Bashir Ahmad was a Scottish National Party politician. He was elected to the Scottish Parliament to represent the Glasgow region at the 2007 election, and was the first MSP to be elected from an Asian-Scots or Muslim background. Ahmed was a prominent and well respected figure in Parliament and in...
was elected to the Scottish Parliament
Scottish Parliament
The Scottish Parliament is the devolved national, unicameral legislature of Scotland, located in the Holyrood area of the capital, Edinburgh. The Parliament, informally referred to as "Holyrood", is a democratically elected body comprising 129 members known as Members of the Scottish Parliament...
to represent Glasgow
Glasgow (Scottish Parliament electoral region)
Glasgow is one of the eight electoral regions of the Scottish Parliament , which were created in 1999. Nine of the parliament's 73 first past the post constituencies are sub-divisions of the region and it elects seven of the 56 additional-member Members of the Scottish Parliament...
at the 2007 election
Scottish Parliament election, 2007
The 2007 Scottish Parliament election was held on Thursday 3 May 2007 to elect members to the Scottish Parliament. It was the third general election to the devolved Scottish Parliament since it was created in 1999...
, becoming the first MSP
Member of the Scottish Parliament
Member of the Scottish Parliament is the title given to any one of the 129 individuals elected to serve in the Scottish Parliament.-Methods of Election:MSPs are elected in one of two ways:...
to be elected with a Scottish Asian
Asian-Scots
Asian-Scots or Scottish Asians is a term used for people of South Asian ancestry who were born in Scotland, or for South Asian immigrants....
background.
Salma Yaqoob
Salma Yaqoob
Salma Yaqoob is the leader, and former vice-chair, of the Respect Party and a former Birmingham City Councillor. She is also the head of the Birmingham Stop the War Coalition and a spokesperson for Birmingham Central Mosque....
is the leader of the left wing Respect Party. The small party has seen success in areas such as Sparkbrook in Birmingham and Newham in London, where there are large Pakistani populations. Qassim Afzal is the most senior Liberal Democrat politician of Pakistani origin. He has accompanied the Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
The Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a senior member of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom. The office of the Deputy Prime Minister is not a permanent position, existing only at the discretion of the Prime Minister, who may appoint to other offices...
to meetings with Pakistan’s President, Asif Ali Zardari
Asif Ali Zardari
Asif Ali Zardari is the 11th and current President of Pakistan and the Co-Chairman of the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party . He is also the widower of Benazir Bhutto, who served two nonconsecutive terms as Prime Minister....
.
Related groups
- British AsianBritish AsianBritish Asian is a term used to describe British citizens who descended from mainly South Asia, also known as South Asians in the United Kingdom...
- British BangladeshiBritish BangladeshiA British Bangladeshi is a person of Bangladeshi origin who resides in the United Kingdom having emigrated to the UK and attained citizenship through naturalisation or whose parents did so; they are also known as British Bengalis...
- British IndianBritish IndianThe term British Indian refers to citizens of the United Kingdom whose ancestral roots lie in India. This includes people born in the UK who are of Indian descent, and Indian-born people who have migrated to the UK...
- British Bangladeshi
- Afghans in the United Kingdom
- Iranians in the United Kingdom
Other
- Pakistan – United Kingdom relations
- Islam in the United KingdomIslam in the United KingdomIslam has been present in the United Kingdom since its formation in 1707, though it was not legally recognised until the Trinitarian Act in 1812. Today it is the second largest religion in the country with estimates suggesting that by 2010 the total Muslim population had reached 2.869 million.The...
- Britons in PakistanBritons in PakistanBritons in Pakistan consist of British people and their descendants who emigrated from the United Kingdom. A sizeable number of Britons in Pakistan are British Pakistanis, descendants of Pakistani immigrants to the UK prior to their return...
Further reading
- Ali N, Ellis P and Khan Z (1996) "A Time to Separate British Punjabi and British Kashmiri Identity", in Singh and Talbot (eds.) New Delhi: Manohar Publishers
- Amin, A (2002) "Ethnicity and the multicultural city: living with diversity" Environment and Planning A, 34
- Amin, A (2003) "Unruly strangers? The 2001 urban riots" International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 27(2)
- Anwar, M (1996) "British Pakistanis: demographic, social and economic position". University of Warwick. ISBN 0-948303-59-X
- Brown, J (2006) "Global South Asians: introducing the modern diaspora" Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-84456-8
- Dahya, B (1974) "The nature of Pakistani ethnicity in industrial cities in Britain" Tavistock Press. ISBN 0-415329825
- Kalra, V (2000) "From textile mills to taxi ranks" Ashgate Publishing. ISBN 9781840148657
- Jamal, A (1998). Food consumption among ethnic minorities: the case of British-Pakistanis in Bradford, UK. Emerald Group Publishing Limited. ISSN 0007070X
- Jamal, A (1998). "Cultural diversity and its impact on businesses," in Navigation Difference: Cultural Diversity and Audience Development, Arts Council England. ISBN 0-7287-1077-3
- Kundnani, A (2001) "From Oldham to Bradford: the violence of the violated Race and Class" 43(2)
- Sandercock, L (2003) "Cosmopolis II: mongrel cities in the twenty-first century". Continuum. ISBN 0-8264-7045-9
- Shaw, A. (1988) "A Pakistani community in Britain"" Blackwell. ISBN 0-631152288
- Werbner, P. (2002) "The migration process: Capital, gifts and offerings among British Pakistanis" Berg Publishers. ISBN 1859736645
- Yilmaz, Ihsan. (2005) "Muslim Laws, Politics and Society in Modern Nation States: Dynamic Legal Pluralisms in England, Turkey, and Pakistan" Ashgate Publishing. ISBN 9780754643890