What it means to be Pakistani?

Question

AoA,

I was just wondering what it means to be Pakistani and living in Canada how do we prioritise our cultural values and patriotism? Pakistani immigrants in the UK are frowned upon for their conservative ideologies and segregative nature and for their complete disregard for British values....(according to the white Britons)

Is it the same in Canada? do we Pakistani's have a ghetto mentality, furthermore what does it mean to be a Proud Pakistani... from a regional perspective we have fought wars with two of our neighbours and well Iran was on the brink of war just a few years back. Besides China and a few Gulf states we really don't have an ally, we are consumed with sectarian and regional violence, the minorities representing the "white" in our flag feel oppressed, the rich and the elite live a life of luxury whilst the majority of the country suffers...

is the picture really this gloomy or are we just going through a phase... is there any real hope for us?

Answer 1

I am a white Briton, who made the mistake of falling in love with a 3rd generation pakistani girl.  Actually I do not regret it at all, we did however have to move to another part of the country because of all the racism and hatred we received but not from the whites from people of Pakistani origin.  

Racism is not a one way street

Answer 2

I'm white and happily married to a UK-born Pakistani woman and am integrating as well into her family as she is into mine. The cultural differences are far from insurmountable and in fact it's been fascinating and fun to be involved in a family wedding and get to know her relatives better. She's always been bi-cultural and maybe I'm becoming a little bit Pak myself!

We've not experienced any overt racism and everyone on both sides appears to have been fairly accepting of us. If there were tensions they would have come from religion rather than race, but my adopting Islam has made it difficult for anyone to object (in fact the ideal of universal brother and sister-hood means they are obliged to accept me - that's handy).

Pakistani may not be as successful in terms of economy or democracy as India, but it has every chance to be - and Musharraf's booting out can only be a positive sign. There's plenty to be proud of.

I'm proud of my new family and the more I see of Pak culture the more I like. Let's not be totally uncritial: I find the tendency to gossip and stick an oar into everyone else's business is annoying, but generally, as with any culture, the good outweighs the bad.

Answer 3

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Answer 4

To be a proud Pakistani you have to go to another country and keep telling everyone where they are going wrong in their lives instead of living  back in Pakistan trying the same thing on your countryman.

Answer 5

it means youre statistically more likely to marry your cousin - fact

Answer 6

Your view of white Britons' view of British Pakistanis, and your view of British Pakistanis as ultra conservative muslims are sweeping generalisations. Many white Brits and British Pakistanis get on like a house on fire, make friends, work together, intermarry, etc. Second and thrid (these days even fourth) generation Pakistanis in Britain are far less likely to cling to Pakistani culture. A Pakistani with a Manchester or Yorkshire accent is far less likely to attend mosque or refuse to integrate.