British Pakistani community is the second largest community in UK after Indians. According to 2001 census, almost 747,285 Pakistani immigrants were living there, while unofficial sources claim that the number has now reached to one million. Divided on regional, ethnic, personal, and political basis, these Pakistani immigrants are 1.3 per cent of Britain’s actual population1.

Social Evolution

Britain was just like a new world for those Pakistani Immigrants, who were from backward areas of rural Pakistan where they even didn’t have the basic amenities of life2. In Britain these people preferred those areas to reside where they could easily get connected with their own community, relatives and friends3. Among these Pakistani immigrants, majority had their roots back in Azad Kashmir and the Pothohar regions of Pakistan. (Usually in Pakistan, people from these areas are called “Pahari”). In some cities such as Bradford and Birmingham up to 90% of the Pakistanis have their roots in Mirpur4.
Large number of Pakistanis came to Britain between 1962 and 1966.5 Their first priority was to opt for the financial stability and prosperity. Initially they took shelter at places of their friends or relatives, and managed to get community support in a new society. For Pakistani immigrants, buying a new house in any locality was like inviting other Pakistani friends and relatives to form a new community. This practice increased population of Pakistani migrants in the cities of Great Britain. Pakistanis already living there, proved to be very helpful for the new comers; more so their fraternity was exemplary that they provided food, shelter and other necessities to the later6. Even today many well off Pakistanis settled in Britain are always ready to help new immigrants. This mutual contribution hoists the score from one to ten then hundreds leading to thousands and now millions. Thus for the sake of economic, social and religious survival in a strange and multicultural British society, formation of community system was inevitable.

Cultural Evolution

Having their roots mostly in rural towns of Pakistan, these British-Pakistani have been trying to adapt themselves to the British culture (with some psychological resistance obviously that varies from individual to individual). The pioneer generations of the immigrants to the Britain tried hard to safeguard and propagate their cultural traditions but their new generations that were brought up in the British society are fed up of their ancestral traditions deep rooted in their native country7.
Chaudhary Parvez Akhtar 8 while narrating the history of socio-cultural evolution of British-Pakistani community during his interview with PIPS said, “With the passage of time things kept on changing which added to the social problems. Poverty and unemployment was the basic problem. Much of our time was spent in upbringing our families and retaining our tradition and culture, while other people, focused on setting up industries, became a better nation.
As we were new to the country, my father advised me to wear western clothes while going out and ask help from English men in case of being lost. Now we have lost our status. Hypocrisy, fraud and lie are quite common. These double standards have driven new generation to be detracted from their homes. The inner cities system of Britain is good but neither we gained anything from it nor we accepted it and remained backward.” He demanded residence for the councilors in interior areas like Birmingham. Muhammad Amir9 claimed, “The British culture is entirely different from our culture. Our new generation has adopted the western culture to some extent but old generation has successfully retained their eastern tradition. Majority of our people is not way from religion therefore they are not ready to accept the British culture.” Haji Hukm Daad10 was not in favour of adopting British culture and said, “We have been living here for the last half century and have adopted only those values which are in harmony of our own culture”, adding that British culture was not a cause of nuisance for them. Sufi Muhammad Bashir11 who has his native town in Mirpur, Pakistan said, “We are British citizens therefore their culture is our culture and is acceptable for us except few of the things which are against our religion and Shariahh. We never adopt such things. No dress is un-Islamic and we prefer the attire which is comfortable.”

Domestic Life

Religion plays a major role in the lives of these British-Pakistanis. Most of them are Muslims as shown by the 2001 census, which put the number at 92 per cent12. Most of them regularly offer their prayers 5 times a day. Men go to mosques for praying and Fridays attract huge crowds. Whereas Women perform their religious activities at home and also practice praying early in the morning. The popularity of the name ‘Muhammad’ has spread so rapidly that now it is ranked among the top 20 popular names. There is a high concentration of Pakistanis in Bradford, Glasgow and Birmingham; most of them belong to Ahl-e-Sunnah and Al-Jamat sects. Though official statistics neither confirm nor deny it because none is questioned about sects in the Britain but huge processions on different Muslim festivals and gatherings on holy celebrations are a testament to it13.
Besides religion, these immigrants are also influenced by their clan and Biradari system. The British political parties use this Biradari system for their vested interests but in various contexts this also influences their private lives; Inter-family marriage is one big example. Cousin marriage is common in Pakistani community, which causes higher mortality rates and genetic diseases in newborns. According to a research, 55 per cent of the British-Pakistanis were married to their first cousins14.
In order to maintain their religious identities and to retain a respectable position in their respective Biradaries, the parents even resorted to extreme measures to get their children, especially the girls, married to the boys of their own sects and casts. In the past so many incidences of this sort were exposed in which the parents brought their daughters to Pakistan to get them married forcibly. This practice of forced marriages is not only found in Pakistani families but also seen in the other Asian communities. Therefore in order to avoid such untoward situations, the British government established rescue centers on different airports15. 

Barriers in Social Interaction

The reason why Pakistani immigrants have not yet fully absorbed in British society is that neither had they tried nor did the society let them do so. May be it was the blatant cultural differences between the both societies16. British Pakistanis have involved themselves in all walks of life. All four Muslim members of the Parliament are of Pakistan origin, many major businesses in Britain are owned by British-Pakistanis, there are more than 100 multi-millionaire Pakistanis in Britain but still there are some hurdles which halt them to acquire a high standard of social interaction and to play a comparatively more active role in British Society. Khursheed Ahmed17 suggests more sociability efforts for Muslims to minimize these hurdles: “We should adjust ourselves in the British society without wrangling with the British social structure and their living style”.
Regarding attitude of the British Muslims towards the native Britain and vice versa Dr Thomas Reynold18said, “British Muslims, especially Pakistanis remain aloof from others and do not make any efforts to integrate with the values and customs of British society. British Muslims have set up their own societies. Those Muslims, who have been living in Britain for the last fifty years and above, have yet been unable to get comfortably mixed with the native Britain.”

Language Barrier

Urdu is the main language spoken by Pakistanis. Regional languages are also spoken such as Punjabi, Sindhi, Balochi and Pashto. This is observed that many Pakistani families feel at ease with speaking their mother tongue, instead of national language at their homes in daily routine.
When the first generation migrants brought their families to Britain for availing allowances and financial support from the government, their women too faced the obstacles of illiteracy and Language as their men did. “A very high proportion of the mothers came from Bangladesh and Pakistan, not speaking English when they arrived through arranged marriages,” said Sir Cyril Taylor, the Chairman of the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust19. That was the reason why their social interaction remained limited to the people living in their neighborhood which included Pakistani, Indian and Bengali families.
Bradford is known as “Mini Pakistan”, where a large number of Pakistani inhabitants depict a grim picture of low standard lingo skills of the Pakistani women there. Ann Cryer, the MP for Keighley in West Yorkshire, has been raising the issue since the 2001 riots in Oldham, Burnley and Bradford concerned about Muslim women, who were not aware of English Language. She claimed that many young women who were brought to the Bradford district as wives were deliberately discouraged from learning English language by their in-laws. Children were then starting school with no awareness of English language20.
 
Educational Barrier

Lack of education is also a major barrier in social interaction of British-Pakistanis in Britain. This keeps them confined to their own private business. According to a report released by a British based non-governmental research center21, people living in the Britain with Pakistani background are more inclined towards private businesses as compared to any other Ethnic Group even the Caucasians (the White British Natives). In 2001-2002, almost 22 per cent of the Pakistanis residing in Britain were running their own businesses while most of the others preferred taxi driving or similar jobs and were less inclined towards employment in unconventional fields like medicine, engineering or law. Main reason behind the said lack of interest was the poor educational background of those immigrants who though came abroad for seeking better employment opportunities but majority of them were illiterate. Instead of getting proper education and joining unconventional professions in their own country, those immigrants adopted their ancestral occupations like agriculture at a very young age.
To keep their true Muslim identity intact, these British-Pakistani parents prefer religious studies instead of modern education for their children. It is also confirmed that children of Pakistani immigrants are sent to mosques for Quranic and Islamic education after the usual school timings22. Studying in British Muslim seminaries does make them true believers but they can’t get the desired level of adaptability in respect of other professions. Therefore these Pakistani young men opt for their inherited ways of living for their economic survival.
It is documented that members of the Pakistani community attain the least educational attainment of all the ethnic minority groups. According to LEA statistics only 16.7 per cent pupils in LEA (Local Education Authority) maintained schools were of Pakistani origin23. 

Religious Barriers

Religion remained a barrier in social interaction as well due to the Muslim clerics’ conservative approach that did not let the Muslims to open up and intermingle with British people. On the other hand this impression is getting strong among Muslim community that the British Government wants to control them particularly Pakistanis by harassment and fear. This, in return, is sending wrong signals to the Britains about Muslims who perceive the whole Muslim community as extremist24.   
In British society anti-Muslim prejudice existed for centuries but it became more pervasive and more dangerous after 9/11. Since 9/11, many Pakistanis have faced an increase in racism, especially young men, who are now more likely to be stopped and searched than any other ethnic minority group. They feel that people now view them as terrorists and that the media has become anti-Muslim. In the current political climate, there are more chances for British born Pakistanis to be radicalized than those born in Pakistan25.
It also affects how young British-Pakistani people see themselves and their place in British society and may also affect their employment prospects and social life as well.

Social Trends

Social Problems

What are the social problems being faced by the British-Pakistanis and what is the degree of acceptance in them regarding British socio-cultural norms and values? PIPS research team, during its study, came across the fact that most of the British-Pakistanis like British laws and legislation. They are also aware of the fact that without adopting the British culture they can not grow and prosper in British society26. 
But the young Muslims in Britain continue to be stereotypically associated with a range of social problems. Pakistani male youth has been identified as consistently underperforming in both the education sector and the labour market27. Burlet and Reid28 argue the incidents (1995 public disturbances in Bradford) mark a change in Pakistani male behavior in the public sphere from orderly protest to violence and disorder. Their ‘unacceptable’ behavior is consistently read as an inevitable part of their cultural background and consequent culture clash with the mainstream ‘white’ British society29.
Majority of the British-Pakistanis living in Britain said (during their interviews with PIPS team) that their social problems might not be attributed to the British social norms, and their social constraints had their own reasons mostly arising out of their socio-cultural mind-set and their careful interaction with the Britains. Haji Hukm Daad30 said, “There is no social problem in Britain. Whatever the problems are, we are ourselves to blame for. No doubt, there are problems as far as marriages of the children are concerned but British government is not liable for that”. Chaudhary Saeed Akhtar31 said though the liberal environment had spoilt their children yet they did not have any social problem there.
Now a days the main problem faced by the Muslim women in UK is the veiling issue. Mr Tariq32 while pointing out this problem said, “Problem of veil (Purdah) is at the top among the social problems in U.K. Just as there is freedom of not to cover one’s face so should be the freedom to veil one’s face. The right of women to cover their face, if they desire so, should be recognized but the situation is contrary to it”.

Generation Gap

The first generation of British-Pakistanis to Britain was uneducated thus they were left with no other way out except working in factories33. This generation had deep association with the values of its native land. The third and fourth generations of these British-Pakistanis have now grown up. Their thoughts have been polarized by the two key social paradigms i.e. the British social setup and their ancestral pressures. They see the British people enjoying a luxurious life and other Asians who are well established due to their hard work and conformity with the British social value. This has put the new generation into mental conflict34.
Young British Pakistanis are under many influences and pressures. They navigate their way in the influences of home, school and mosque. As they grow older they are affected (like other young people) by peer culture and youth culture. Further, their search for a sense of personal and cultural identity is influenced by events and trends in British society more generally and by world events35.
For instance, at homes children are told not to look into eyes of their elders while talking to them, whereas at school this practice pays them off with rebuke if they do not look straight into teacher’s eyes during conversation36.
Today in Britain, both, parents and children are growing worried. It’s a good guidance if parents advise their children to study, stay away from bad society etc. But, because children grow up in Britain society therefore they face British cultural reflections all the time.  TV, satellite, and movies drag them towards British culture, whereas their ancestral culture and religion is trying to keep them away from adopting Western culture37. 

Identity Crisis

Who are the Asians? Who are we referring to when we use the term in relation to modern Britain? Do those, who we refer to, describe themselves the same way?38 One thing is for sure: There is no such thing as a single Asian ‘community’ as they belong to different native countries. Then where British-Pakistanis stand among British society? Have they kept their separate entity intact during their socialization process in Britain or have lost it? What is the type and intensity of their identity crisis?
A novel and unprecedented idea of ‘collective identity’ has made its way through British Muslims’ minds with much accelerated pace in the aftermaths of 9/11.39 After going through a similar treatment on the basis of their same religious faith, they have developed a will to get collective identity that is getting stronger and stronger than regional and racial identity. A big majority of the British-Muslims has come very close to their religion and it is coming even closer. They have refuted all those cultural norms that they had accepted and adopted while living in their religious sphere. They have stuck themselves to their religious beliefs firmly, responding negatively to the expectations of this logical world40.   
A study conducted by Yunis Alam and Charles Husband41 gathered insights, experiences and narratives from 25 men aged 16-38 that shed light on being a Bradfordian man of Pakistani and Muslim heritage, and study found that
Islam was an important facet of their spiritual, economic, moral and political life. Although there was some sense of affinity and linkage with Pakistan, it remains the country of heritage, not a present or future homeland. Arranged marriages were not universally viewed as the preferred way of choosing a partner. For many, ways of finding a partner were changing.
A research project titled ‘Employment and Social Change Amongst British Asians’ which began in 2003, seeks to aid the understanding of Britain’s South Asian communities, the variations within it and the nature and diversity of inequality it faces by exploring how labor market positions influence identity formations amongst the different elements making up the grouping. The recognition of internal (community, religious, class, spatial and gender) differences amongst the 'Asian' grouping has grown in importance, as it becomes increasingly obvious that settlers of differing backgrounds are following varied and often sharply contrasting social trajectories42.

Discrimination

Racial discrimination is very sensitive form of the social prejudice. Once it activates, it may reciprocate in the form of diverse social problems like crimes, violence, terrorism and other psychological disorders.
According to Peter Fray, the trend of social seclusion among Muslims is increasing due to the treatment of second rated citizens with them. They are helpless to live in certain specific areas and send their children to their community schools. They are trying to save their identity43.  
In 1999, the likelihood of being subjected to a hate crime (in Britain) on the basis of a different race or color was the highest for Pakistanis and Bengalis at 4.2 per cent.44 According to British Crime Survey45 the total number of hate crimes perpetrated on the basis of difference of race and complexion in England and Wales was 390,000 in the year 1995.
The interviewees, PIPS team came across, were of different views while commenting about the racial discrimination and hate crimes.  Khursheed Ahmed46 is of the view “if our children burn the British flag on the roads of Birmingham or march on roads with Pakistani flags, then it obviously provokes hatred but it is basically because this society contains a lot of racial discrimination and our youngsters are not treated equally; they do not get parallel facilities. When a Muslim and a British become graduates together, Muslim graduate has to appear in five interviews to get a job as compared to British graduate and even then they do not get any job and are asked to do post graduation. There are few chances for them in practical life”. He kept on saying in a plaintive tune, “In such situation, parents compel their sons to drive taxies, our PhD qualified boys are driving cabs on the roads of Bradford and Birmingham”. He also told that when these young males do not get jobs, their younger siblings lose interest in education, such happenings affect psychology of youngsters and they tilt towards terrorist activities and indulge themselves in drug trafficking. He blamed British government for this and stressed that these elements needed to be removed.
Muhammad Tariq47 (brother of Nazir Ahmed-member of British House of Lords) said that racial discrimination had augmented in Britain particularly after the mishaps of 9/11 and 7/7. “I myself have had to face the contemptuous conduct of the people many times on account of beard”, he pointed out.
 
Role of Media

The print media of Great Britain has also noticed the discrimination, which Britain Muslims are subjected to these days. Some unbiased writers have also started pointing out this issue through their writing, for instance, an article published in a renowned newspaper of London “Guardian”, on February 2, 2007 while depicting the same viewpoint says that the Muslims of UK are facing the same discrimination and difficulties, which were faced by the Jew immigrants many years ago. Maliha Malik, a Muslim lady law professor at Kings College of London wrote this article. According to her, these oppressed, poor immigrants along with their kith and kin got settled in the eastern area of London. Some of these people have instituted their separate religious courts. Their men used to wear dark coloured clothes and had long beards. While women used to cover their hair. To know more about these people, a Royal Commission was set up, which made these people aware of the severe consequences of their disunity with the Britain. Local Britain politicians started saying that their distinctive religious attire is the symbol of their separatism. Some of the immigrants were the members of extremist religious groups and some of them started making efforts to disintegrate the traditional western political system. To counter these activities of the immigrants a movement was started. Organizers of which called them “alien extremists”, though their race and religion was not mentioned. While speaking on this wrangling a British minister said that “we are facing the religious clash”. It’s a war between progressive and non-progressive tendencies.
Some people also see the role of British media as discriminatory as far as Muslims are concerned. Dr Thomas Reynold48 ( a renowned British psychologist and scholar)  says when these Muslims (British-Pakistanis) face any intriguing situation they are helpless in expressing their views through media, this gives the wicked media men a chance to fabricate and spread fake facts about them. When such fake Muslim stance reaches the native Britain, they establish a negative perception about them.
He further said, “When native Britain expressed their bias against Muslims then Muslims did the same and started showing dejection, this stubbornness took the form of a conflict”
He said, “My personal opinion is that British Media is more biased than Pakistani Media. British newspapers and T.V channels intentionally print and telecast hate provoking literature and stories about Muslims. The prejudiced role of British media, in creating and widening the gulf between Muslims and the native Britain, can not be ignored.”

Clash of Civilizations

The theory of clash of civilizations was coined by Samuel Huntington in 1995.49 The on-going global war against terrorism and clash of interests in regional conflicts are sometimes termed as clash of civilization by some analysts where West and the Muslims are shown the two key parties. Whenever and wherever these two forces come across, clash of civilizations is said to be the main motive and an underlying cause by the believers of this theory.
A faction of liberal scholars have made the west so frightened of the Muslims that the people become alert even by the name of Islam. The incidents of September 11 have intensified the anti-Muslim feelings. It is also being said that exile of Muslims and Islam from the west can pave the way for peace and security50.
American scholar William Knoli has declared the al-Qaeda terrorism a new danger and violence. The mayor of London recently arranged a conference in which the emphasis was on the persistence of new con that say that instead of facing the entity state they are facing a traditional collision. New cons want national security to get the status of war against fascism. Europeans have been reminded of the fight against the Nazism to provoke anti Muslim propaganda. In this regard the bomb attacks of July 7 have been used to provoke emotions world wide against one billion Muslims. Therefore the Mayor of London discouraged the talks about ‘war’, which prevented London from traditional clashes on racial basis. Some distinguished scholars have also opposed this way of thinking. They say that if we want to protect our solidarity then we should not indulge in wars rather we should counter terrorism under criminal justice51.

(The report is a part of PIPS research study on “Understanding the divided families Diaspora between UK & Pakistan”
Project Coordinator: Muhammad Amir Rana
Research Team: Mujtaba Rathoor, Fatima Talib, Safdar Sial, Muhammad Nawaz Kharal, Khurram Iqbal)

1Ethnic Research Network (http://www.mrs.org.uk/networking/ern/nl/2/facts.htm)
2Nizami Yaqoob, page210
3 Nizami Yaqoob, page213
4Irna Imran, page6
5 Irna Imran, page8
6 Nizami Yaqoob, page 213
7 Nizami Yaqoob, page 393
8 Field research, Akhtar Parvez, interview
9 Field research, Amir, interview
10 Field research, Hukm Daad, interview
11Field research, Bashir Muhammad, interview
12Ethnic Research Network (http://www.mrs.org.uk/networking/ern/nl/2/facts.htm)
13 PIPS, database
14 The Telegraph, November 16, 2005
15 Nizami Yaqoob, Page 317-352
16 Chaudhary Imran, page 35
17 Aims International, June-July 2005, page 10-16
18 Haft Roza Azam, 18-24 February 2007
19 Daily Times Monitor, “Muslim mums told to speak English at home”, January 15, 2007
20 Daily Times Monitor, “Muslim mums told to speak English at home”, January 15, 2007
21Ethnic Research Network (http://www.mrs.org.uk/networking/ern/nl/2/facts.htm)
22 Ethnic Research Network (http://www.mrs.org.uk/networking/ern/nl/2/facts.htm)
23 Ethnic Research Network (http://www.mrs.org.uk/networking/ern/nl/2/facts.htm)
24Ali Kayani, London, Akhbar-e-Jahan, weekly, 12-18 February, 2007
25 Ethnic Research Network (http://www.mrs.org.uk/networking/ern/nl/2/facts.htm)
26 Field research, PIPS, interviews, February-March, 2007
27Modood et al 1997; Brown, 2000; Dale, 2002; PIU, 2002
(http://www.socresonline.org.uk/10/4/ramji.html#brown2000#brown2000)
28http://www.socresonline.org.uk/10/4/ramji.html#burletreid1998# burletreid1998
29http://www.socresonline.org.uk/10/4/ramji.html#taylor1976# taylor1976
30 Field research, Hukm Dad, interview
31 Field research, Akhtar Saeed, interview
32 Field research, Mr Tariq (Brother of Nazeer Ahmad- member of British House of Lords), interview

33 Nizami Yaqoob, page 396
34 Nizami Yaqoob, page 396
35 SOURCE: http://www.jrf.org.uk/KNOWLEDGE/findings/socialpolicy/1960.asp

36 Nizami Yaqoob, page 397
37 Nizami Yaqoob, page 398
38 Barnie Chaudhary, Social Affairs Correspondent BBC.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/in_depth/uk/2002/race/asian_britain.stm

39 Kareem Sajjad, Mashriq-o-Maghrib, March 2007, page 16
40 Kareem Sajjad, Mashriq-o-Maghrib, March 2007, page 16
41 The research took place between January 2004 and September 2005. The 25 participants were aged between 16 and 38. All were living and working in various neighborhoods across Bradford. After spending considerable time establishing connections and trust, the researcher formally interviewed the men using unstructured and semi-structured techniques.
http://www.jrf.org.uk/KNOWLEDGE/findings/socialpolicy/1960.asp

42 <http://www.socresonline.org.uk/10/4/ramji.html>.
43 Ibrahim M Khan, Daily Express (Urdu), Sunday Express, July 18,2004, page 5
44Aims International, Jan-Feb 2005, page13
45 Aims International, Jan-Feb 2005, page13
46 Field research, Ahmed Khursheed, interview
47Field research, Muhammad Tariq, interview
48 Haft Roza Azm, 18-24 February 2007
49Ibrahim M Khan, Sunday Express, July 18, 2004, page 4
50 Ibrahim M Khan, Sunday Express, July 18, 2004, page4
51Daily Pakistan (Urdu), Sunday Magazine, March 25, 2007, page6