I see folk seething in the comments, so let me add to the burn…
Regarding our brethren from Mirpur and AJK more broadly:
- They constitute the largest single demographic among British Muslims, accounting for around one in four.
- They are one of Britain’s oldest and most established Muslim communities.
- They have been among the biggest builders of masajid and Muslim cemeteries, as well as pioneers in Hajj and Umrah services, alcohol-free eateries and Islamic finance solutions.
- Their elders and youth fought against racists from the late 1970s onwards. They continue to confront racists and Islamophobes today.
- They are among the biggest charitable donors within Britain’s Muslim community, consistently supporting Muslim causes worldwide and helping to organise dawah and activism.
- The racialised mockery and classist stereotypes directed at them by some Pakistanis bear stark similarities to how Sylhetis are viewed by some Bangladeshis, particularly those from Dhaka.
- They share many similarities with British Sylhetis, including ancestral backgrounds rooted in rural landownership and farming, as well as comparable patterns of migration to Britain.
- Muslims can walk safely through many British towns and cities today because of the sacrifices made by Mirpuri and Kashmiri men and youth during a period when South Asian elders and womenfolk could not safely do so. Those years of street battles and community defence were not fought in large numbers by Indian Gujaratis, Afghans, Kurds, Turks, Albanians, Maghrebis or Somalis. It was primarily Pakistani Muslims, particularly Mirpuris and AJKers, alongside Sylheti Bangladeshis, who held the line — Britain’s two largest Muslim diaspora communities.
Yes, they have shortcomings, just like every other Muslim diaspora, including certain cultural habits, attitudes and behaviours. But in a sticky situation, I would choose a Mirpuri or AJKer by my side over Muslims from many other communities. That has always been my experience of them, having been raised with and alongside them.
Lastly, the casual and normalised dunking on Mirpuris, and the stereotyping of Pakistanis in general by other Muslims, are distasteful, unjust and unislamic.
Despite being one of Britain’s most targeted and stereotyped Muslim and ethnic-minority communities, Mirpuris and AJKers continue to hold it down with chest and fortitude.