ok so me, cousin and my uncle had a debate about this, my uncle is very anti-pakistani, he doesnt like to be called one, he says hes british first and describes himself as british asian of pakistani origin…blahhhh, we were just saying to him that whatever u say/do either way, people here will just see u as a pakistani…no way can you get awaY FROM IT, i have signed countless forms where they have asked me for my ethnicity not nationality, whys that…and i also said to him why dont you just call yourself english, seeing as we are born in england, but we dont do we,for some reason we know we are not english…so who/what are we..?those of us who live and born abroad are we pakistani? what do you call yourself and how do you support that statement…
Re: so who are we? british/American first or pakistani?
Re: so who are we? british/American first or pakistani?
You can be American/British, but you can't take out the Pakistani paindoness in the American or British.
Re: so who are we? british/American first or pakistani?
Pakistani all the way.
Re: so who are we? british/American first or pakistani?
We are muslims... locality is something the british created to differentiated us all..
Re: so who are we? british/American first or pakistani?
american and indian for me. love both countries. actually hoping all of that region would get better and progress so pakistan included, that might sound strange but anyhoo
still since i grew up here, and especially after certain world changing events, seeing how united this country stayed without any rioting or discrimination against brown people to any extreme, i do have an intense love for this country.
Re: so who are we? british/American first or pakistani?
the first american were also immigrants until present. They all have a heritage which they can link to. What makes amrika beautiful is that you have lots those different people which make American unique. Sadly, today people forget where they came from or their ancestors.
Every country and nation has problems, america and Britain included are no exception on the levels they can improve.
Re: so who are we? british/American first or pakistani?
I know plenty of Brits and Americans who love to go around saying 'we're Pakistanis first, we're Pakistanis first' but its takes them just couple of weeks to feel all 'homesick', once they land in Pakistan. Its nice to stay mindful about your origins, but at the end of the day you got to have some level of respect and affaction for the place where you're born, lived your entire childhood, youth and now earning your bread. I don't hate Pakistan by stcratch of the imagination, but I don't see any harm in calling yourself a British Asian of Pakistani origin. In fact if I have to choose calling myself British Pakistan or British Muslim, I'll probably pick the latter. So be a happy citizen, where ever you are or whoever you are!
Re: so who are we? british/American first or pakistani?
^^exactly i know it most when i start feeling homesick after a couple weeks there. I start missing the smooth highways, american culture, diversity, my friends, kind people, everything that i love about this country
alright and plus we use the resources of whichever country it is, in my case america every single day, eat the fresh fruits, veges, clean water, security personal/national...I just can't turn around and say i feel no love for it, i would have had to have developed love and caring, respect for this country too
sorry :p
Re: so who are we? british/American first or pakistani?
Pakistani all the way.
so you don't see yourself as american even a little bit? i guess you didn't grow up here then. but i know you're proud of the constitution, well you seemed like it.
Re: so who are we? british/American first or pakistani?
I see myself as a Pakistani Canadian. I was born in Pakistan and roots are Pakistani, but at the same time, I feel at home in Canada.
The question is, what describes a certain nationality? Nothing really, other than your legal status. If you talk about culture, well, then I AM a mix. It is also about where you feel like you belong. If your uncle feels like he belongs in England, well then, that's that.
My ethinicity is brown/desi. There doesn't seem to be a good, all-inclusive term for brown folk, like Caucasian etc. Your ethnicity can't be "Pakistani", that's your nationality.
Re: so who are we? british/American first or pakistani?
ok so me, cousin and my uncle had a debate about this, my uncle is very anti-pakistani, he doesnt like to be called one, he says hes british first and describes himself as british asian of pakistani origin....blahhhh, we were just saying to him that whatever u say/do either way, people here will just see u as a pakistani.....no way can you get awaY FROM IT, i have signed countless forms where they have asked me for my ethnicity not nationality, whys that.....and i also said to him why dont you just call yourself english, seeing as we are born in england, but we dont do we,,for some reason we know we are not english...so who/what are we..?those of us who live and born abroad are we pakistani? what do you call yourself and how do you support that statement...
at what point did people start becoming Pakistani, considering supposedly everyone is from arab, turkish, persian and central asian origin. Same applies I guess.
I am a Human Being, currently on earth :)
Re: so who are we? british/American first or pakistani?
still since i grew up here, and especially after certain world changing events, seeing how united this country stayed without any rioting or discrimination against brown people to any extreme, i do have an intense love for this country.
Their are plenty of cases of discrimination today due to the current world events. how many brown people get screen on airports and go through the shebang only to find that most were just regular ordinary folks with maybe a few exceptions.
Re: so who are we? british/American first or pakistani?
In the end, its totally cool where ever one considers home and what their lifestyles and experiences are.
Re: so who are we? british/American first or pakistani?
^^would you let your loved ones on an airplane nowadays, if the airport officials didn't search and carefully screen people.
i wouldn't take the chance of even getting on an airplane, they search white people too. i'm more than willing to open my handbags/purse so they can search through, i would rather my loved ones get safely home.
before it was black people that were in this position we are in now but i've never heard of rioting or violence against arabs/persians/desis ever. it was because of psychotic brown people that we're in this position now
Re: so who are we? british/American first or pakistani?
We are muslims... locality is something the british created to differentiated us all..
Not to hijack the thread or anything, but the whole Muslim vs Hindu thing is what the British played on to keep Indians (no Pakistan at the time) separated. We were dumb enough to fight over religion then and some of us are still fighting today.
As for the thread, I consider myself a Pakistani-Canadian. I wasn't born here, but did grow up here from a young age so I consider this my home. I know people here; people you meet at the gym, in a store somewhere. People you aren't friends with but know because you've spent time here.
Back in Pakistan, I know family and that's about it.
An interesting point, Obama said in a speech somewhere that he didn't consider American a Christian nation and a lot of people got upset about that. So there is still aways to go before we're totally assimilated. I think a lot of it has to do with religion and a more conservative culture.
Re: so who are we? british/American first or pakistani?
Born and raised in the US. This is my home. My parents are from Pakistan. However, before all of that I am Muslim.
If I really had to define myself...I guess I would be a Muslim American Pakistani...in that order.
Re: so who are we? british/American first or pakistani?
Born and raised in the US. This is my home. My parents are from Pakistan. However, before all of that I am Muslim.
If I really had to define myself...I guess I would be a Muslim American Pakistani...in that order.
Re: so who are we? british/American first or pakistani?
'British Asian of Pakistani origin' sounds fine to me.. calling urself just a Pakistani if u were born and brought up in the UK and can only speak broken or mixed with English Urdu or Punjabi seems a bit odd to me.. If I was born and living in Africa or the Middle-East I'd happily associate myself with them as I'd prob have more in common with those people than the Desis I might be linked with via 'blood' or culture allllll those miles away..
For people who come to live in the West in their teens or older I can totally see why they'd want to call themselves only Pakistani or Pakistani first tho..
Re: so who are we? british/American first or pakistani?
I love both UK and Pakistan. I consider myself British and Pakistani. When im in UK I miss Pakistan and when im in Pakistan I miss UK.
but the English sometimes call us Pakis......and the Pakistanis in Pakistan call us Britishers...so where do we belong?:)