FoleshillAndHillfieldsCommunities > PakistaniCommunity
(see also KashmiriCommunity)
Our local Pakistani community
"My parents were the first generation of pakistanis to come to this country in the late fifties and early sixties, which makes me a second generation pakistani in this country and i was born here. There hasnt been many changes in some parts of the pakistani community, as the fiirst generation and some of the second, still follow the old traditional values. Some of the second and third generation are adjusting to the British culture. The majority of the pakistanis still live in the areas where their parents lived because they feel safe and secure around their community."
I would say that in Coventry there are approximately 5,000 - 10,000 people from the Pakistani community. The large majority of them live in the wards of Foleshill and St. Michaels. This community has been in Coventry for the last 40 years and has established itself as an integral part of the wider community. The background of the majority of Pakistanis in Coventry is linked heavily with their 'homeland' and many visit on a regular basis, maybe once a year! Most of this community tend to have links with a particular area/district in Pakistan called 'Mirpur'(north). There are others which come from various areas e.g. Karachi (south), Lahore (central), although these are very large cities as opposed to districts.
The Asian community, including the Pakistanis in Coventry have, over the last 40 years, culturally constructed their own community and are flourishing in some areas more than others. They have created businesses that serve the needs of their community, community centre's, restuarants and food outlets, as well as various shared facilities.
This highlights that one community is not working and living by itself in isolation, rather that they have shared experiences and backgrounds and rely on each other to make a wider community work.
In the present day there are various opportunites and problems facing the Pakistani community. One of them is the gradual reduction of cultural influences and traditions, due to external influences on second and third generations of the Pakistani community. Another problem facing this grouping is that society view their faith in a negative way, largely down to media portrayal of incidents around the world. The majority of Pakistanis follow the Islamic faith and tend to follow it strictly, more so the first generation and those arriving in the country recently, although this trend is reversing with more young people identifying themselves as being Muslim and what that entails. Some external influences are the rise of young people listening to and adhering to the 'HIP HOP/RAP' lifestyle and culture (eg. drugs, guns, and 'bling, bling'). This has slowly eroded the traditions and culture which Pakistanis hold dear, and created a lot of tension between all generations of this and other communities. Others have been able to use external influences to create their own culture and adapt it into their lifestyle here in the UK.
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