Problem with Paki parents moving abroad...

Re: Problem with Paki parents moving abroad...

No one moves out to the West for the love of it, they move for the opportunities. What Omer259 is trying to say is if they had the same opportunities in Pakistan they would never move. Most people settled out west would admit that.

Re: Problem with Paki parents moving abroad…

are you sure Most will? :hmmm:

Re: Problem with Paki parents moving abroad...

I know many who do. I don't blame anyone leaving for a better life, they did what they felt was best to provide for their families. But given a choice most would never leave.

Re: Problem with Paki parents moving abroad...

I totally disagree with you.I was 7 when we moved to Canada.I was young Naive and innocent. My parents played a big role in teaching me everything I know about Islam. My parents coming from an religious family never pressurd me to do things I was not ready for. If I would learn about Islam it was because of the way my parents talked about Islam. I'm 18 now and I am living in Canada still reading my namaz on time, wearing a hijab and going out of my way to learn more about islam.I think that there is this preception about kids living abroad being totally modern. I went to pakistan few years ago, and I felt like I knew more about Islam then the ones actually living there.

It comes down to how your parents brought you up.If you push a child in the direction they slowly learn to walk on that path.Islam comes from the heart not from the environment. I truly believe that if you teach your child about islam then they will always know what their true roots are. The ones you see walking the streets being pakistani but you doubt if they wre pakistani, those are the children who were let free instead of being taught about islam.Those are the people that are influeneced by the wwestren world.Actually correction. We are influeneced by the westren world.In fact it is in our homes in pakistan and everywhere we look.

Re: Problem with Paki parents moving abroad...

'*Jis thaali meiN khana, us hi meiN cheyd karn*a' tab banta hai if you make use of all the facilities and in meanwhile you keep complaining & whining sayings things like: "What has this country offered us?!" etc

Why do you need to change your nationality/identity?

Re: Problem with Paki parents moving abroad...

For someone who was born in America/Canada/Britain, and was raised for their entire life, the country is a part of their nationality and identity. Why should they be expected to claim that they are only Pakistanis? That they aren't Americans/Canadians/British?

I can understand why people who were born and lived in Pakistan for most of their lives and immigrated to a Western country later on would want to still consider themselves Pakistani. But it's silly of them to expect their children to consider themselves Pakistanis and not Americans/Canadians/British.

That being said, being a Muslim and an American is not mutually exclusive.

Re: Problem with Paki parents moving abroad...

I'm quite fine and happy with my life. Don't see anything to be sorry about. :) Spare your pity for someone who really needs it.

Re: Problem with Paki parents moving abroad...

I feel sorrier for you for having such a narrow and rigid view on life.

Re: Problem with Paki parents moving abroad...

Unos had a point with the Muslim part. First of all a lot of the Islamic value system is inhibited as a result of the society. I can tolerate people kissing in public, but a Pakistani might be shocked about it. I want to be shocked about it, but I can't bring it about in me that easily.

Also, when parents emigrate to the West for economic reasons and don't invest Islam in their children and THEN expect them to be religious that is asking for too much. Parents need to actively ensure Islam is a part of the young western child's life or else then the OP is correct.

Re: Problem with Paki parents moving abroad...

Peace Omer259

This only applies to Pakistani expatriots perhaps, but to Western born - it would actually be a reverse scenario - the fact that people are born in a given place makes them want to be identified with it.

Re: Problem with Paki parents moving abroad...

If by just saying that I want to keep my Islamic values and my Pakistani culture the most important thing in my life, makes me narrow and rigid, then so be it. The fact that you are posting on a Pakistani forum regularly, gives me hope that you still value Pakistani culture and contacts, despite the wish of some of your friends here who "came to America to become Americans".

Re: Problem with Paki parents moving abroad...

Peace to you too, you are correct that western born Pakistanis might think of themselves as Americans/British etc, but the question is do the average British/American citizens consider them to be their own or will they always be the dark skinned alien?.

Re: Problem with Paki parents moving abroad...

now only if all those supposed arab and persian ancestors of Pakistanis had not become so indian...their offspring would not be so..desi ;)

Re: Problem with Paki parents moving abroad...

^Wah!

The problem here is that Omer is right in some ways and his point cannot be discredited altogether. I mean where he says........... if the conditions were right, people had not moved out of their countries.

Also, the opening/allowing outsiders also plays part in people moving to these countries. If immigration was not allowed, very few would have migrated from far away countries.

If one is really observant, Britain and US both play strong role in the world. Both do allow immigration.

Migration is natural process and has been a great way of exposure to various places, spreading good (and bad) to far away lands.

Bringing a mixture of cultures/race to the world.

Some people feel concerned when they see loss of their talent from their countries and even African countries try ways to stop their educated people to stay in their countries by giving them incentives or asking them to pay for their education if they wanted to leave the country of their birth. This is what they call loss of human resources.

Re: Problem with Paki parents moving abroad...

Since when did the thoughts of an "average" British/American become the benchmark for how we consider ourselves?

Because goras may consider us something, we have to adhere to it?

If I consider myself American Pakistani why should YOU or the "average" American get their panties in a twist?

I am a Pakistani girl born and raised in America, I am American Pakistani and I have yet to meet an "average" American who has a problem with me yet guys like you--who hate on western desis--are a dime a dozen.

Re: Problem with Paki parents moving abroad…

Shouldn’t that be American girl born in Pakistani family? :hmmm:

Re: Problem with Paki parents moving abroad…

Actually, its the other way around.

My parents love this country. They spent their lives here, raised their kids here, educated them here, etc etc etc. They do love this place and what it has given them.

If I am born here, raised here, live here, work here, pay taxes here, etc…this is my home. Why should this not be my nationality and identity?

Pakistanis themselves are not even originally Pakistanis…they were all Indians or something else. They became Pakistani through migration and birth…how is this any different?

Why the hypocrisy all the time?

This is called being biting the hand that feeds you.

So what about Muslims that are American and converted to Islam? What do you have to say about them? They should ALL come to Pakistan because only Pakistanis go to Jannat? :hehe:

You sound like this girl who came to my house after she got married (fresh import from Pak) and she couldnt stop about how “amreeka to hum sab musalmanon ko mardena chahta hai aur ye to humko khush nahin dekh sakte aur ye to bas chahte hi yahi hein ke hum sab marjayein and blah blah blah”. If she wasnt already married and desperately trying to make sure she had her baby in the US…I would have hooked you two up. :hehe:

We dont live in the 1950s anymore buddy. The African American revolution has long been over.

And Ive never met any desi who was so concerned with how Pakistanis were treated abroad. Actually we do quite well here and plan to continue doing so. We have our masjids, communities, events, activities, social life, clothes, restaurants, etc etc etc. What more do you need?

Re: Problem with Paki parents moving abroad...

I think Sara means that the way you look down on foreign-born Pakistanis makes you narrow-minded.

Having Western citizenship doesn't mean you can't be fond of other cultures. It doesn't mean I cannot enjoy Pakistani music, Pakistani dramas, Pakistani food, and Pakistani fashion. Likewise, I enjoy Japanese and Korean entertainment, German music, Chinese food, Belgian comics and Russian novels.

My parents are from Pakistan. My ancestors are from the subcontinent. I've been to Pakistan and have had exposure to Pakistani culture due to which I am quite fond of it. That doesn't mean I must give up my Canadian identity.

It also doesn't mean I must stictly adhere to the values propagated by Western media.

Not all Westerners have the exact same set of values. Like I said, being a Canadian (in this case) and being a Muslim is not mutually exclusive.

The society is not homogeneous.

You can be a Canadian and a Christian.
You can be a Canadian and an atheist.
You can be a Canadian and a Jew.
You can be a Canadian and a Buddhist.
You can be Canadian and a Hindu.
You can be Canadian and a Wiccan.
You can be Canadian and a Teetotaler.
You can be Canadian and a vegan.
You can be Canadian and straight-edge.
You can be Canadian and be able to speak Swahili.

Each of these groups of people will possess different beliefs.

I didn't realize you had to have white skin in order to be Canadian.

From my experience, provided that Western born Pakistanis make an attempt to integrate within society, the 'goras' have no problem with calling them Canadians. (with the exception of extreme conservatives, and White supremecists.)

By 'integrated' I mean the ones who immigrate legally, learn English, work hard, pay their taxes, don't leech off benefits and are happy to live there. I haven't come across people who've considered me a 'dark-skinned alien'. I've never felt like a second-class citizen here. Like Reha said, it isn't 1950 anymore.

I have one question for you-why must you resort to ad-hominem abuse to justify your viewpoint?

Re: Problem with Paki parents moving abroad...

I am the one to launch ad-hominem attacks?. Did you not read the whole thread. I have not launched a single personal attack on anyone until now. I have been called narrow minded, like a FOB girl who visited one of the poster's house and all sorts of nonsense. I am just expressing my view, it doesn't mean that you have to attack me personally.

It is interesting that not a single desi male attacked me, it's all frustrated unmarried ABCD girls who are venting their anger against males who marry girls from Pakistan, by attacking my viewpoints supporting those males. You would never see males attacking each other like that for a view point because we have mutual respect for each other. Also it is interesting that no single male here agrees that he or his family moved to USA to become Americans. I understand that you are angry at males marrying Pakistani girls based in Pakistan, but when you show your true cranky self, you are merely confirming that stereotypes that no matter how much Pakistani values your partents have taught you, you are still very different from an average Pakistani girl from Pakistan

Re: Problem with Paki parents moving abroad…

I don’t know whether someone did it here or not…but it **IS **an accepted norm at Life1…practiced by VERY SENIOR members…its always about the person posting rather than what the content of a post is :chai: